A few years ago, Brittany Hill took a yoga class that changed her life. When she left, she thought, “This is what it feels like when I leave church.”
She wanted more people in her life to connect with yoga, but felt some resistance in the community. “I knew there was something missing [in St. Louis]. Specifically, more black people needed to know how that felt. There are not many people of color doing yoga in the mainstream image. I felt like I needed to insert myself into the scene and do something to change it.”
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That experience led Hill to create St. Louis’s first offering of Back Trap Yoga classes—vinyasa-style yoga set to the heavy beats of trap music. Trap “is a subset of rap music. It comes out of Atlanta,” Hill says. “It’s very specific in it’s messaging. It’s typically about bringing yourself up however you can. It’s about doing your best to provide for yourself.”
Get a feel for the vibe of Back Trap Yoga with a playlist Hill curated just for St. Louis Magazine.
With a blend of R&B, electronic, funk and jazz influences, Hill’s curated trap playlists aren’t the muted, meditative tunes one might expect in a yoga class. But Hill has a clear vision for the kind of experience she wants to offer the St. Louis community, and it’s all about creating a supportive environment for diverse audiences. “I want to make it more welcome for people of color by doing a class that’s authentic for me and the culture and experience of people who look like me. We know these songs. We know these messages. Music is such a connective thing. People connect to music and people can get lost in the beats.”
For that reason, Hill intentionally holds her classes in unconventional spaces to set a more inviting environment for people who wouldn’t typically feel comfortable going to a yoga studio. Meeting in unusual spaces “allows you to relax,” she says. “The music is familiar, and that lets you let go. Once you’re able to let go, you’re able to get the benefits of the poses and the breathing.” Back Trap Yoga lets the music drive the poses. Her style of teaching is less about static holding of positions and more about dynamic, pulsed movements that flow with the music, like a high-energy dance class.
“This is the yoga class that you come to have a good time,” she says. “Regular practitioners come and say, ‘Oh my God, that is so fun!’”
Back Trap Yoga classes are offered at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings in the community space above FLOAT STL (3027 Locust) and on the last Saturday of the month at 2720 Cherokee. Hill is also the outreach director and an instructor for Yoga Buzz, where she initiates community connections to serve diverse populations with accessible yoga classes. Check out Yoga Buzz’s calendar of events to learn more or take one of Hill’s classes.
