Aunt Ruth’s Place: Where Retreat, Rest, and Realignment Begin…

In a time when so many women are logging off and turning inward, there’s a quiet movement happening: a return to meaningful hospitality. Not flashy resorts or five-star hotels, but soulful spaces filled with history, healing, and heart. Places that feel like home. Places that were never just buildings — they were always waiting to become something more.

At Elmwood Place Pilates in Palestine, Texas, we’ve restored one of those places. A 100-year-old schoolhouse once owned by Aunt Ruth — a woman who taught there as a young girl and later retired in the very same space. Her handwritten recipes still sit in a box in the kitchen. Her husband, a retired pharmacist, helped build its reputation for quiet healing. And her legacy? It lives on in every breath, every bridge, and every wildflower planted out back.

Today, that space is more than a home. It’s a full-circle wellness retreat — complete with koi ponds, crape myrtles, two pergolas, and a fire pit for quiet nights. The Pilates studio is housed in a tiny home beside the garden, where clients come to move, breathe, and reconnect.

We host seasonal retreats based on our Conscious Contact method — a blend of classical Pilates, equine-guided trust work, and nervous system restoration. We read from the Book of Ruth. We restore the body, and often the soul. And yes, we still call it Aunt Ruth’s Place.

The cloakroom is now a bathroom. The school bell waits to be mounted. The potbelly stove has been restored. And the old work table? It now sits under a pergola by the pool — surrounded by stories, sunshine, and women returning to themselves.

If you're seeking a space to unplug and remember who you are, you don’t need to go far — just inward.

🌐 Learn more or plan your stay: www.elmwoodplacetx.com
📸 Follow us: @thepilatescowgirl | @elmwoodplacetx
📅 Conscious Contact Retreats: www.elmwoodplacetx.com/retreats
🤝 Studio Owner Coaching: www.elmwoodplacetx.com/coaching
🧘 Visit our Houston location: www.thegoodspacehouston.com

This isn’t just a retreat. It’s a return — to strength, to stillness, and to the story that’s been waiting for you all along.