-
More Than a Yoga Class: What Makes Balanced Planet Yoga Different
There are many places where you can take a yoga class. You can follow a video at home. Join a gym. Download an app. Walk into a studio, take your place in the back corner and leave without speaking to anyone. Those options can all be useful. But Balanced Planet Yoga was created to offer something more than an hour of exercise. Our purpose is contained in three simple words: Breathe. Move. Belong. A Yoga Studio Built Around Real People Balanced Planet Yoga opened in Marlton, New Jersey, in 2015 with a simple mission: to love and serve the people who walk through our doors. Over the years, teachers, owners,…
-
How to Choose the Right Yoga Studio: 9 Things Beginners Should Look For
Typing “yoga studio near me” into a search engine can produce plenty of results—but it does not tell you where you will feel comfortable, supported and motivated to return. Some yoga studios focus primarily on athletic movement. Others emphasize meditation, traditional philosophy, heated practices, rehabilitation, community or rest. Some offer a broad mix. None of those approaches is automatically right or wrong. The goal is to find a studio whose teaching, schedule and atmosphere match what you need. Here are nine things to consider when choosing a yoga studio in Marlton, South Jersey or anywhere else. 1. Look Beyond the Distance Convenience matters. A studio that is close to home…
-
Barre vs. Yoga Sculpt vs. Pilates: What’s the Difference? (And Why They’re All Trying to Steal Your Favorite Leg Muscles)
One of the questions we get all the time at the studio is: “What’s the difference between barre, yoga sculpt, and Pilates?” It’s a fair question. From the outside, they all involve small movements, strange-looking equipment, people shaking at unexpected times, and an instructor who keeps smiling while everyone else is questioning their life choices. So…are they basically the same? Yes.And absolutely not. What Barre, Yoga Sculpt, and Pilates All Have in Common At their core, all three practices are interested in one thing: helping you move better. Not just harder. Better. They all ask you to become aware of your body instead of simply surviving the workout. They build…
-
The Merge: Where Enlightenment Goes to Die
A holiday-season reminder: we’re all a little maxed out—so let’s stop making a merge into traffic a competitive sport. Today I had one of those tiny moments that doesn’t feel tiny when you’re inside it. I needed to merge, and there was genuinely nowhere else for me to go—lane ending, cars boxed in, the whole “this is happening now” situation. I signaled, matched speed, did the polite little I’m-not-trying-to-cut-you drift, and the driver next to me held the line like their lane was a moral position. No space, no softening—just no—and I felt that quick flash in my chest: disbelief, irritation, and the deeper “wait—are we doing this?” that lingered longer than it…
-
Yoga School for Real Life
Becoming the Helper You Needed There is a particular kind of exhaustion that seems to define our time — not just physical fatigue, but a deeper weariness that comes from trying to hold ourselves together while the world keeps shifting beneath us. It’s the fatigue of endless responsibility, constant information, and the quiet ache of disconnection. Many people find their way to yoga through this exhaustion. They unroll a mat hoping for rest, but what they often discover is something far more profound: a way back to themselves. When we talk about yoga teacher training at Balanced Planet Yoga, we’re not talking about learning to perform advanced postures or memorize…
-
Breathwork for Stress and Energy
Stress and fatigue often arrive together. Long workdays, constant screen time, or even the emotional drain of daily life can leave us both wired and tired — mentally stressed yet physically sluggish. Breathwork — intentional, regulated breathing practices — can help us downshift from stress and upshift from lethargy. In this article, I’ll cover how breathwork works in both directions, the most evidence-based practices, and highlight the systematic review by Tanya G. K. Bentley and colleagues that gives us a practical framework for doing breathwork well. When stressed, our breathing becomes shallow and fast. When sluggish or lethargic, it becomes flat and under-energized. Both disrupt balance in the autonomic nervous system. Breathwork helps by: Think of…
-
Self-Regulation Snacks: Quick Bites to Calm Your Nervous System
And the BPY Teachers Who Use Them At Balanced Planet Yoga, the vibe is more than just a serene room and a good playlist—it’s a living, breathing community of real people navigating real life. Founded by mother-daughter duo Cheryl Van Sciver and Jenna Kelly, BPY has been holding space in Marlton, NJ, for over a decade. Now firmly past the ten-year milestone, the studio remains grounded in its original mission: meeting people exactly where they are, offering practices that feel both timeless and accessible, and building a community where healing happens—sometimes quietly, and sometimes through a really good laugh. Cheryl and Jenna have both lived through their fair share of chaos—raising families, growing…
-
Understanding the Difference Between Joy and Happiness
Have you ever thought about the difference between joy and happiness, or do you consider them the same thing? I hadn’t really reflected on it until I was in my late 30s, battling chronic migraine. Years of failed treatments, terrible side effects from medications, constant pain, nausea, and exhaustion left me feeling hopeless and angry. I was spiraling deeper into depression, struggling to see a way out. During one particularly tough time, we decided to visit my in-laws’ cabin in upstate New York. Despite feeling ill, I was determined to make the best of it for my kids. The night we arrived, I sat on the porch and prayed—really prayed,…
-
Beyond the Material: Practicing Asteya in Modern Life
Asteya, or non-stealing, is a concept that’s been emphasized throughout ancient Indian texts such as the Vedas, Yoga Sutras, and the Upanishads. Gandhi even considered it so vital that he made it one of his 11 vows. But here’s the thing—Asteya goes far beyond simply not taking material possessions (we all know that’s a bad idea!). It runs much deeper and shows up in subtle, often unnoticed ways if we aren’t living a mindful, examined life. The Root Cause of Stealing At its core, stealing in any form arises from feelings of lack, of wanting, which leads to suffering. On the surface, someone might steal a loaf of bread because…
-
Autumnal Thoughts
As Autumn has arrived for her stay with us in preparation of the long cold nights of winter. We know this time of year is not only of harvest – The harvesting of the abundance of fruits of labor and storage of that abundance for preparation of those long cold nights of Winter — But it is also a time of release. We witness the trees shedding their offspring of leaves born just months ago for preparation of new growth to be re-born in the Spring. If we were to take this birth-live-release-rest cycle of life to our inner world —- from the gross (material) world to the subtle world…
