Local yoga teacher helps students find a piece of peace on and off the mat
- pgsonsonllc
- Oct 5
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 10
Cheryl Davenport hopes to provide a space of serenity in this current divisive climate.
Ahmad Graves-El
Updated: 10/10/25
BRIDGETON, NJ – In the current climate, when anger and volatility seem to rule the day, the ancient practice of yoga is a tool people can use to reconnect with their minds, bodies, and souls. Cheryl Davenport, 53, a yoga teacher at Eastern Sky Co-Op’s Rise-n-Flow class, hopes to provide calm and serenity for students in her classes.
“I became a yoga instructor because I wanted to share with others the peace that can be found through the practice of yoga,” said Davenport, a Deerfield resident. “I would love for my students to develop a regular practice if time allows for them to do so.”
Yoga is an ancient healing art which is said to have begun thousands of years ago in India. Yoga incorporates breathing techniques, meditation, and physical exercise to help practitioners become more in tune with their inner selves.
Davenport, who is also a neonatal nurse at Inspira Health in Vineland, NJ, loves all the benefits that yoga provides. She began practicing the ancient healing art in 1998. Her mom invited Davenport and her sisters to an introductory class and she immediately immersed herself into the practice.
“I was hooked after the first class,” she said. “Yoga helped alleviate some of the stress I encountered from being a new nightshift nurse, at the time.”
Many yoga teachers teach their students about taking their practice off the mat. They sometimes guide their students through uncomfortable positions to find comfort within and without.
In essence, if you can maneuver yourself through those “tough” poses with calmness, courage and grace, you can bring that energy into challenging situations in real life – off the mat.
Initially, this concept was challenging for Davenport.
“I always had trouble taking yoga off the mat into my daily life,” she said. “Yoga teaches us to live in the present moment and this is something I’ve struggled with for most of my life.”
“However,” she continued, “I have been practicing yoga whether it was through meditation, breathing exercises, or asanas almost daily for about the last six or seven years. I now find that I can sometimes stop what I’m doing and simply consciously breathe when I’m in a stressful situation.”
One of Davenport’s students, Adrienne Warner, 53, a pediatric homecare nurse, also enjoys the benefits that yoga offers.
“The peacefulness, because the world is so chaotic around you,” Warner said, when asked what drew her into the world of yoga. “It centers you.”
Warner, a Bridgeton resident who also teaches yoga at Eastern Sky Co-Op, explained how this mind, body, spirit unification practice helps to lower the volume of her emotions.
“If you’re in [a state of] chaos – say, if you’re up to a 10 – yoga brings it down to a one,” she said. “It calms you down.”
Warner’s least favorite aspect of yoga, in the Cumberland County area, is the lack of diversity in classes.
“Not enough people of color practice it,” she said. “I want it [to be] more open to everybody.”
Davenport shared some of information about what yoga has taught her.
“The greatest lesson of yoga that I’ve learned is to try not to take everything so seriously,” Davenport said. “Yoga is a practice and you’re not expected to be perfect. What feels good in someone else’s body might not feel right for you. Do what feels good for you.”
Overall, Davenport believes yoga can be a unifying force for humanity, especially during this volatile era.
“Yoga can help bring people together from all walks of life and to cultivate a sense of peace into our lives during these chaotic and divisive times,” she said.
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