Welcome to Brick City Yoga, a community yoga studio located in Benton Park West - St. Louis, Missouri.
"As with any yoga practice, where you are matters. Where your capabilities are, where your mind is — your surroundings, your history, your goals; the entirety of the Brick City Yoga experience was built, brick-by-brick to accommodate the unique positions of the people that make up where we are — The St. Louis community."
- Kate Ewing, owner of Brick City Yoga
Anna: Tell us about your studio and the energy it brings to the St. Louis community. What is your goal or mission for Brick City Yoga?
Kate: Our name is not only a nod to our great city, but a promise to serve as a foundation for our community. We want to build something amazing with you, together. That’s what Brick City Yoga is all about, where you are and how we can make being there all the stronger.
Anna: What kind of yoga classes do you offer at Brick City Yoga?
Kate: We have something for everyone! We offer Basics, Barre, Hatha, Vinyasa, Slow Flow, Ashtanga, Restorative, Prenatal, Chair, Yin, Body Positive, and more! We strive to offer a wide variety of workshops - many focused on social justice and yoga off the mat, as well as a monthly yoga book club.
Anna: What can you tell us about the future of yoga from a small business perspective?
Kate: There’s a lot of talk that the landscape has completely changed for community yoga studios, especially when it comes to the presence of online yoga. While there may be some truth in that, I certainly don’t think this is the end of the brick-and-mortar studio. I think the future of yoga is going to be more about meaningful, authentic connections.
As small business owners, we are often told to keep personal and political beliefs out of your brand because it may lose your customers. In my opinion, that’s no longer true - especially when it comes to yoga.
I think it’s more important than ever as small business owners to be living and sharing our values — and supporting our broader communities through our work.
As we continue to move further away from COVID, I am hopeful we can continue to serve as a community gathering place, offering accessible, affordable, and inclusive yoga. I’m looking forward to seeing the studio serve as an experience, not just a class.
Anna: What are some other key elements of your studio that you feel enhance the practice of your students?
Kate: When I built the studio, I really focused on what I wanted to have a great experience in a studio. We keep our prices as affordable as we can - just $10 a class. I didn’t want to compromise the experience because of the affordable price and was committed to not cutting corners on amenities.
Our studios are stocked with Manduka props - never any rental fees!
All classes and class packs are good for a full year from the date of purchase - allowing our students the flexibility to take classes when it works.
I also made several enhancements due to COVID - UV air scrubbers, sanitation stations, limited class sizes, and the new Lightworker mat cleaning machine.
More important than these elements - it’s truly the people that make the studio great.
Our instructors excel at building meaningful relationships with one another and with our students and our students have become friends and family to us.
Anna: Is there anything else about your journey that you want to share with our readers?
Kate: Being a startup studio when a global pandemic hit certainly provided challenges, but I also saw a lot of opportunity. I saw that our community needed yoga, wellness, connection, etc.
During the pandemic, I was able to form Brick City Yoga Foundation - our nonprofit arm that provides grants to individuals in marginalized communities to take yoga classes and trainings at ANY studio in St. Louis.
As we got back to in person classes, I heard from so many friends, students, and community members that they had a renewed or newfound desire for wellness practices and care. The pandemic really highlighted how much we need to care for our whole health. This inspired me to expand the studio’s footprint by nearly 3,000 sq. feet to launch Brick City Wellness. The wellness center, slated to open early 2022, will house several independent wellness practitioners dedicated to holistic care for their clientele.
