If this is a feeling you want more of…it lives at 46° North.
Some people arrive frayed. Some arrive numb from holding everyone else together.
What happens at 46° North isn't a workout, and it isn't a checklist of treatments to tick off — it's a slow, guided return to the body you left somewhere behind you.
Mindful movement at the water's edge.
Breath by the fire.
Wood-fired heat and the cold plunge that takes your breath and hands it back.
Hand-blended oils, a table made with love, and the mighty river holding all of it.
You leave lighter than you came.
That is the whole promise.
You walk in carrying the week — the list, the people, the weight of holding it all together. Mats under your arms, nothing to prove.
By the time the fire is lit, you have set it down.
“I have always left feeling much different than when I arrived.” Trishia M.
The nervous system settles. The body remembers how to rest. This is the return.
Each season carries its own magic — which is why so many come back through the year: a summer girls' weekend, a birthday gathering, a reset in the deep of winter.
The thaw and the greening, the first soft return of warmth by the water.
Down the bluff to the riverside deck, movement at the water, a picnic in the sun.
A riot of colour overhead, a feast on the table, blankets around the fire as the air turns.
Fondue & raclette in the cosy yurt, the sauna, the plunge, the long quiet.
Gentle, guided mindful movement, with fascia release and lymphatic drainage woven through — nothing rushed, nothing performed. In the warm months we practise on the lower deck with the Kìchì Sìbì (Ottawa River) right beside you; the rest of the year, in the light-filled studio.
The wood-fired sauna, the hot tub, and the cold plunge that takes your breath and hands it back. Heat and cold, the ancient rhythm the body knows by heart.
“The combination of cold plunges, yoga, the sauna, and the hot tub has truly changed my life.”
To gather round, under the pines, overlooking the river — wrapped in blankets, tea and treats in hand.
A real ritual of closing the day together.
Wholesome, seasonal, handmade food, served the way you would for people you love. Under the pines in summer and fall, around the table in the yurt in winter and spring.
A signature afternoon tea.
Warm scones with jam.
My own Bread & Bark.
“Ruth is an amazing chef and provided a personalized birthday dinner.”
Marking a birthday or a milestone? Tell me the cake you love most and I will make it, and we will toast with handcrafted mocktails.
Woven through the day, as gently as the light moves: breathwork and aromatherapy, guided meditation and journalling, and the quiet magic of connecting with your tribe. The nervous system softens. Something long-held begins to loosen.
Hand-crafted Truth essential oils, blended by Ruth & Trish, scent the whole day. Take a blend home with you: ask on the day, or find Truth Oils at Reco in Deep River.
A private retreat, a self-care session, or the six-week seasonal series.
One short form. I’ll be in touch personally with dates and details.
I hold the rest.
Gather your own circle for a birthday, a milestone, a girls' weekend, or a date night for couples. A bespoke day, shaped around your group, your mobility, and your reason for gathering.
Getting a group together takes a minute, so come on your own or bring a friend. A Friday night by the fire or a gentler Sunday morning in the yurt, opened through the seasons. Come as you are.
The deeper way in: six evenings with the same circle of women, through Fall, Winter and the New Year. Movement, breath, aromatherapy, then the spa under the sky.
The seasonal series · every Thursday
Winter Nights
November 12 to December 17
7:00 to 10:00pm
Fall Nights are full.
Winter is next, and the waitlist is open.
Six weeks. One evening.
All of this, every time.
Lymphatic work and nervous system care, with enough stillness for your body to finally let the week go.
Fascia work, feet to face. The tightness you've been carrying has somewhere to go now.
Qigong, core, balance. Small and steady, week after week, until strength stops feeling like a project.
Aromatherapy and breath work, the kind of quiet your nervous system has been waiting for.
Women, gathered in nature under the stars. The kind of regulation that doesn't happen anywhere else.
Sauna, hot tub, cold plunge. The cold takes your breath and hands it back to you, clearer.
It opens around the fire, setting intentions.
Six Thursdays to embody it and make a change.
We close and honour it with soup and celebration in the yurt.
You take home a six-week practice journal to track your becoming, and a hand-crafted Truth essential oil blend to carry the ritual home.
Add your name and I will be in touch with details. If enough of us gather, I will open a second night.
Can't make a night? Send a friend.
“I have never been to a better yoga class than Ruth's. She is so caring and makes everyone feel welcomed… If the sky was clear, Ruth would turn off the lights while we were in the hot tub so that we could see what looked like every star in the universe!! My favourite part will always be Ruth's awesome shavasana adjustments.”
“46 Degrees North is my happy place, my peaceful place, and so much more… No matter how frazzled I am, I leave with a sense of calm and love.”
“The yoga to sauna to cold plunge (if you wish) to sauna to hot tub is glorious. The trees, the stars, and the fresh air is so good for your soul.”
“I have been blessed to spend some birthdays, 'days with the girls', and family days at 46 Degrees North and have always left feeling much different than when I arrived!”
“Ruth is an outstanding host who really made our retreat special. The food was amazing and spending time in the yurt was very special – it is so cozy inside.”
“An amazing experience. Leaves you feeling loved, cared for and fulfilled.”
A line or two, the way you would tell a friend. It helps the next woman find her way to the river.
Leave a Google review →46° North was built by Ruth Elliffe — who left a senior marketing career in New York, found her way to this stretch of the Ottawa River, and slowly built the sanctuary she herself had been looking for. Irish roots, a table always laid, and a deep belief that we return to ourselves through ritual, nature, and being properly cared for.
She isn't teaching from a distance. She is a few steps ahead on the same path — noticing what goes unsaid, making room for it, and for a day, holding it all, so you don't have to.
Small groups. Three hours. Come as you are.
The last of the fall colour under a nearly-full moon. Mindful movement, sauna and the wood-fired tub, and a closing circle by the fire — or a gentler Sunday morning in the lamplit yurt.
Six evenings of mindful movement, breath, aromatherapy and a restorative spa under the winter sky, held by the same circle of women week after week. Fall is full and running now; the New Year series opens in January.
A small-group day of mindful movement with fascia release and lymphatic drainage, breathwork and aromatherapy, a wood-fired sauna, cold plunge and hot tub on the Kìchì Sìbì (Ottawa River), and a table made with love, in Deep River, Ontario.
A private retreat for your group is $250 per person (5 to 8 people, five hours, 10am to 3pm or 5pm to 10pm). A self-care session is $125 per person for three hours, in the evening or the morning. The seasonal series is six weeks for $450.
This season it is Winter Nights, Thursdays from Nov 12 to Dec 17.
Yes. Join a self-care session, or the six-week seasonal series. Come as you are, or with a friend.
Yes. Choose a self-care session ($125), a seat on a private retreat ($250) or a private session for two ($400). Choose “A gift card” in the form below.
Yes. Truth Oils are hand-crafted by Ruth & Trish and available at 46° North and at Reco in Deep River. Choose “Truth oils, to pick up” in the form below.
Tell me a little about what you're dreaming of —
or simply leave your name to hear when the next gathering opens.
No noise. A quiet word when something lovely is coming.
The door is always open
& the kettle on.
Prefer to talk it through? Write to ruth@46degrees-north.com, or message 46 Degrees North on Instagram.
Choose a gift card for someone you love.
Truth oils can be reserved for pickup too.
Once we have settled your date, your place is held by e-transfer to ruth@46degrees-north.com. No payment is taken on this page.