My name is Mattie Ruth. I'm from a small town in East Texas and now live in the midwest, in Cincinnati, Ohio. I am a Licensed Massage Therapist and Integrative Practitioner. I am pursuing a career in Integrative Care, working to empower people in their life-journey toward sustainable health, healing, and body-mind integration.

In Cincinnati, I live in an intentional community, co-op style, with 8 other young adults, 1 cat named Harold, and a 2 year old baby girl who's stolen my heart. Our 3-part house-mission includes: simple living, social justice, and community development. Community is a huge priority in my life. These folks are my chosen family in this life.

I am an outgoing, laid-back person, and am energized by truly connecting with people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am traveling to Vancouver (for the first time) for a training course through the Pyschosomatic Therapy Institute. There, I will embark on a journey of self transformation through careful study of the body's "emotional anatomy."

This transformative work will further equip me as a therapist to facilitate depth, awareness, and healing for those who are meant to receive it.

Couchsurfing is my favorite way to travel. I've only ever had AMAZING experiences of adventure, connection, and generosity through this community. I've made lasting friendships through couchsurfing! To me, it is simply the most authentic way to experience a place - through local knowledge, hospitality, spontaneity, and open-hearts seeking one another in the spirit of love.

Interests

I'm a healer, a writer, a scholar, a yogi... an artist of many, ever-shifting mediums. I am particularly captivated by the mind-body-spirit connection and holistic healing modalities. I crave to engage with people through conversations of 'god,' truth, our souls, and deep relationships.

I LOVE to laugh and I love to dance. Hiking, acroyoga, cycling, gardening, creating... movement of any kind serves my body and soul as medicine -- especially when it involves other people.

• writing
• coffee
• gardening
• thrifting
• traveling
• cycling
• mountains
• nature
• waterfalls
• hot springs

Music, Movies, and Books

Folk, bluegrass, red-dirt/old-school country, jazz, funk, soul, some indie stuff. It's always shifting. Anything with a banjo get's me goin! I love two-stepping and salsa.

Richard Linklater is my favorite film director. I like quirky, whimsical, tender-hearted, feel-good films.

Books of late: Into the Magic Shop, Conversations with God, The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution, (a mouthful of a title) Your Body Speaks Your Mind, Born to Run.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the most profound and amazing experiences of my life so far was a summer spent back-packing through the mountains of Colombia. I worked my way through the inland, on a permaculture farm for six weeks, a coffee farm, in a hostel, etc.

I met incredible people, ate incredible food, carried incredibly heavy bamboo up an incredibly steep mountain... it was a good time. Healing, expansive, and beautiful.

What I Can Share with Hosts

conversation, laughter, help in the kitchen and house...

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, England, Ethiopia, France, Japan, Latvia, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia