Balanced Movement aims to bring movement to all kinds of bodies and personalities in downtown Greeley

Heather Berry aims to make yoga accessible and fun for everyone. Photo courtesy of Heather Berry.

By Gabe Allen

In the midst of a crushing global economic recession, Heather Berry did the seemingly impossible: she started a business.

“It was an opportunity that I really couldn’t say no to,” she said. 

Owner of Bears Bar and Gentry’s, Ryan Gentry, needed a last-minute tenant for a hardwood and brick office space above the Moxi Theater. When he asked Berry if she would partner with him to open a yoga studio in the space, she agreed.

“For him, it was an opportunity for him to find a yoga studio for himself and go into business in a whole different direction,” said Berry. 

While many fitness-oriented businesses are struggling, low startup costs have helped Balanced Movement ease into existence.

“I opened a yoga studio in the middle of the pandemic and it’s actually been doing fairly well considering everything,” Berry said.

Balanced Movement offers a mix of yoga styles. Photo courtesy of Heather Berry.

Since July, Berry and staff instructor Katie Fischer have offered a mix of vinyasa, strength-focused and yin yoga classes six days a week. Though attendance is still (thankfully) modest, Berry already has a small cadre of regulars that have adopted the studio during this trying time.

“(Most) of my clientele so far has been people who have never done yoga before,” she said.

Berry attributes the diversity of her attendees to her unique approach to yoga. Instead of catering to the fit, new-age, stereotypical yoga crowd, she is especially interested in bringing yoga to all bodies and personalities. 

“My niche is the everyday person or more fitness oriented person who needs this kind of movement but doesn’t want to go to your typical, woo-woo yoga studio,“ she said.

Perhaps Berry’s focus on bringing yoga to a wider audience comes from her own atypical athletic resume. She competed in gymnastics as a kid and, as a young adult, competed in bodybuilding competitions. At a certain point, yoga became a necessity.

“I first got into yoga after a bout of powerlifting,” she said. “I realized that I couldn't move my body anymore because powerlifting was just wrecking it.”

Soon after she began a regular yoga practice, Berry started a teacher training course and started instructing at a local gym. The demand for yoga teachers was so high that she was soon running around Greeley teaching at five separate fitness businesses — a yoga studio, a fitness gym, a jujitsu studio, a crossfit gym and the now-closed Team Tom.

Immediately, Berry got plenty of practice working with diverse body types.

“At least 75% of the members of Team Tom were strong man competitors,” she said. “I would say ‘fold forward, touch your toes,’ and folding forward for them was just looking over their belly.”

At Team Tom, she led the class in a more instinctive, interactive format then she had ever seen at a yoga studio.

Heather Berry started practicing yoga out of necessity. Now she wants to share her love of it with others. Photo courtesy of Heather Berry.

“Those guys were really loud and obnoxious and told me everything they were feeling. It was really helpful. It helped me keep things very open,” she said.

Now, at Balanced Movement, her classes are molded off of the open format that she learned from her strong man students. She is receptive to questions and feedback during class, and she often gives more advanced attendees different versions of poses than beginners. 

“I just wanted a very open place where whoever comes in feels welcome to try something new,” she said.

Although fitness studios represent some level of risk during the pandemic, Berry argues that not exercising is also risky.

“In this time when people are inside staying still, any type of movement is going to help your body,” she said.

For more

Where: 802 9th St. 

Cost: Drop in classes cost $20. A five-punch card costs $80. Unlimited monthly access costs $89/month. 

For now, Weld County is still at Level Red on the state’s COVID-19 dial, which means gyms are restricted to 10% capacity or 10 people indoors. 

To reserve a spot in class, click here. 

For more information about Balanced Movement, go to https://www.balancedmovementyoga.com.