Open Table
A living room. A shared table. A place to be human.
A bi-weekly gathering devoted to real conversation, presence, and community.
This is not a class.
This is not a performance space.
This is a table we keep returning to — to listen, reflect, and remember we don’t have to do life alone.
DOORS OPEN ON 2/22
The Spirit of Open Table
Open Table was born from a longing to lead and live differently.
This space is an intentional turning away from patriarchal models that place productivity, hierarchy, and profit above people, bodies, and the living world. Instead, we return to something older, softer, and far more enduring: matriarchal wisdom.
Real matriarchs do not rule. They hold.
They hold lineage, law, memory, and care.
They guide through presence, not performance.
Their authority isn’t claimed — it’s recognized by community.
Matriarchal leadership is relational.
It listens. It tends. It sustains.
It understands that life happens in the in-between — at the intersection of nature and people, rest and action, grief and joy.
At Open Table, we remember that everything is connected.
The core message of this space is simple and profound:
I honor you as being a part of me.
This is not a space for perfection, branding, or spiritual posturing.
It’s a space for being fully human — together.
In many ways, Open Table feels like a girl’s bathroom at a club — that unspoken moment of collective care. Someone needs a tampon? It appears. Someone’s crying? She’s held. Strangers become sisters for a few minutes because that’s what the moment calls for.
It also carries the energy of boyhood — the ease, the excitement, the natural way connection happens when no one is trying to impress, perform, or prove anything.
This is peak girlhood and innocent belonging.
This is community without competition.
This is remembering how to be with one another.
Open Table is a place to gather, speak honestly, listen deeply, and practice being in right relationship — with ourselves, with each other, and with the living world.
You don’t come here to be fixed.
You come here to be met.
And you are welcome exactly as you are.
What Open Table is
Open Table is a community gathering space.
It’s a place to slow down, speak honestly, ask better questions, and sit with what’s alive — without needing to fix, heal, or optimize yourself.
Some nights we’ll gather with cacao.
Some nights we’ll simply gather as we are.
Some nights we’ll be guided by guest teachers, artists, or elders.
Some nights it will be quiet, reflective, and intimate.
All nights are rooted in presence, respect, and shared humanity.
This space is for you if you’re craving:
Real conversation (not spiritual bypassing)
Community that feels grounded and alive
A rhythm of coming together and integrating
A place where you can be 100% human
The Structure
We gather twice a month:
🌑 Opening the Month
A space to set intention, orient inward, and arrive with presence.
🌕 Closing the Month
A space to reflect, integrate, and ground what’s been moving.
🕯 Wednesdays, evenings (EST)
📍 Live on Zoom
You’ll receive gentle reminder emails:
• 1 day before
• 1 hour before (with the Zoom link and any preparation notes)
Because of the sensitivity of this space, gatherings are not recorded, honoring a trauma-informed approach and the privacy of all who attend. You’re encouraged to join live when you can — and if some evenings you can’t, that’s completely okay.
Each gathering may include:
Guided conversation & inquiry
Nervous system grounding
Optional cacao ritual
Somatic reflection
Community dialogue
Guest facilitators sharing lived wisdom
There’s no pressure to speak. Listening is participation. Presence is enough.
What we’ll do together
Explore Our Memberships
Tier 1
$15
Drop-in
Best Value!
Tier 2
$297
Annual Membership
Tier 3
$27
Monthly Subscription
Who this is for…
Sacred Tools, Practices & Integration Circles
✔ You’re tired of hyper-individual healing
✔ You miss gathering with intention
✔ You want community without hierarchy
✔ You’re curious, reflective, and human
✔ You want to be in relationship — not performance
This space is not about:
Becoming someone new
Learning how to facilitate
Spiritual superiority
Fixing yourself
It’s about remembering, together.
If you’re curious but unsure if this is the right path for you, please reach out to hello@barbieenruta.com and Barbara will personally support you in finding clarity.
MEET YOUR GUIDE
Barbara Manuela is an entrepreneur, women’s mentor, and artist who guides people back to their heart and spirit through cacao, tobacco, and sound.
Raised between New York and Ecuador, she bridges cultures and draws wisdom from both ancient traditions and modern practices. Rooted in her Indigenous lineage from the Ecuadorian Andes, she trained with elders of the Sapara Nation in the Amazon and with cacao teachers including Brenden Durell and Florencia Fridman.
She has led cacao and tobacco ceremonies for people of all ages, in Ecuador and the U.S., creating spaces for healing, self-discovery, and remembrance.
After helping build two six-figure spiritual businesses, Barbara founded her own work blending ceremony, embodiment, and creativity with entrepreneurship.
Today, she leads retreats and mentorships that empower people to reconnect with themselves, their culture, and their inner power.
A Note from Barbara
Hi, I’m Barbara.
I’ve spent the last decade studying, unlearning, and remembering — through ancestral medicine, somatic work, community leadership, and lived experience.
Open Table is born from the belief that community is medicine, and that healing doesn’t happen in isolation.
This space isn’t about me teaching you something.
It’s about us sitting together and letting something honest emerge.
What folks are saying
“Barbara created a space during our time with the Sapara that felt sacred, real, and deeply respectful. Her relationships within the community aren’t performative — they’re built on years of trust, reciprocity, and presence.
I was able to soften into the experience because she had already done the work to ensure we were entering in a good way.
With Barbara, I didn’t just attend a retreat — I experienced a reclamation.
return to the Earth, to spirit, and to my own knowing. If you’re being called to this retreat, trust the call. You’ll be held.”
MISHA, RETREAT PARTICIPANT & PSYCHOLOGIST
Have any questions? Schedule a FREE 30 minute call with Barbara.