Ruth Davis

Ruth Davis is a spiritual therapist and retreat leader whose path was shaped by an early mystical awakening at the age of six, during her first ballet class. In that moment, she felt her heart open to the divine, awakening a deep joy and an expansive love for all life. From that point onward, dance became her devotional practice and a doorway to God.

Her lifelong approach, often described as The Path of Movement and Meditation, draws from extensive training in Modern, Jazz, African, Russian folk, and Interpretive dance. These studies have always been infused with devotion and enriched by the energetic disciplines of Qi Gong and inner yoga, with an emphasis on moving consciousness beyond the physical body into higher awareness.

At sixteen, in 1968, Ruth embraced Surat Shabd Yoga from the Punjab region of India as her central spiritual path. After her initiation, she traveled to sacred places throughout India, including Punjab, Rishikesh, Hardwar, Varanasi, and Tiruvannamalai. She continues to study Vedic and Tantric wisdom, as well as Mystic Catholicism, with a special connection to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, the silent saint.

Ruth studied dance, music, and philosophy at Mills College in Oakland, California. Her professional certifications include Qi Gong, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming, and Ayurvedic education. She is also a mother of two daughters and grandmother of two.

After the passing of her first husband in 1993, Ruth began leading spiritual retreats around the world with her current partner, Bruce Davis, PhD. In 2000, they founded the Assisi Retreat Center, a Temple to the World Religions in the ancient Italian city of Assisi, and opened Silent Stay Assisi in 2002. While living and teaching in Assisi in 2005, Ruth began an intensive study of the MahaVidyas, the Wisdom Mothers of Yoga Tantra, a practice she continues today.

Core contributions

• Spiritual Heart Connection: guiding students to connect with the spiritual heart, inner wisdom, and the core of being, where all answers are available.
• Sacred Movement Ritual: a meditative movement practice in the style of Chi Gung, integrating spiritual teachings and energetic practices.
• Published works: two books, Sacred Movement Ritual, Yoga Philosophy in Movement and Journeying up the Mountain with the Tantric Goddesses, an Initiation into the 10 Cosmic Powers. Silent Stay: The Enduring Peace.

In 2010, Ruth and Bruce established the Silent Stay Meditation Center in Vacaville, California, bringing the retreat experience from Assisi to the United States. In 2020, the center was destroyed in a wildfire. Ruth has described this loss as an act of profound spiritual surrender, like releasing an intricate lifelong sand mandala into the ocean’s waves. Yet the essence of Silent Stay remained: the unshakeable peace found in silence, which cannot be taken away or destroyed.

Ruth and Bruce Davis now live and work in Montecito, California, where they continue to lead silent retreats at the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Ruth also offers private sessions and guidance into the Spiritual Heart for those seeking a deeper connection to their essence and the energetic core of being, where all are one with the Absolute.