Scent of Stillness is an intimate Toronto experience designed to help people slow their nervous systems through scent, sound, and taste. It’s a collaboration between a local artist and two Asian-owned Toronto-based businesses and it caught my attention. Presented by RUWT (pronounced “root”), a new hospitality concept rooted in community and intentional escape I was inspired to learn more.
Origins Story of RUWT
Like many great ideas, we often sprout something new from when we are seeking something fulfilling. Toronto-based Bonita Ma launched RUWT when she personally recognizing that something had to give.
Ma was working in the high-paced management consulting world for 8 years that was leading to burn out. Coupled with being raised in an immigrant family, she was taught that achievements on the corporate ladder meant a successful life.
“I was working from 6am-10pm driven by the need to fulfill ‘purpose’,” said Ma. “Yet at the end of the day, beyond my work identity, I felt unsure of who I was as a human. So, while I am highly proud and indebted to that experience, I felt that life had to be more”
She had fleeting daydreams of escape. “Picking seashells for a living, or trading a day’s work of apple harvesting for soup under an open sky,” said Ma. But when she started talking to friends, she realized those fantasies weren’t unique to her. “Most of us won’t actually uproot our lives and do it – but we still crave the freedom, simplicity, and quiet awe those images represent. RUWT exists to make that feeling possible, even just for an evening or a weekend.”
RUWT is a hospitality design studio crafting small, cinematic stays and sensory experiences that help people reset, reconnect, and remember what it feels like to be simply, yet fully, human… with fun woven in.
I am highly grateful to be able to experience such different flavours/chapters in life, as through it, I was able to filter out my true passion – to spread slowing down and intentionality to others.”
RUWT Pulls Inspiration From Multiple Places Rather Than A Single Format…
- The intimacy of boutique hotels and philosophy of ‘unreasonable hospitality’ from world-class restaurants
- The rise of analog rituals – slow mornings, the art of logging off – and the creativity in wellness trends (like social saunas)
- The ability to connect with nature though hyper-localized experiences (e.g sugaring in Ontario, truffle hunting in Piedmont, horseback riding with multi-generational ranchers in Utah)
- The way artists and theatre build installations that shift how you move through a room
- The emotional power of scent, sound, and visual texture to shift a mood instantly
But the truth is, Ma created RUWT because she was obsessed with having all these elements live together – sensory, cinematic, slow, and deeply human.
RUWT’s Inaugural Year
In its inaugural year, RUWT is about inviting people into the RUWT world through a series of intimate sensory evenings and 2–3 night nature-immersive residencies across the East Coast.
The goal is to intentionally build slowly, focusing on depth and emotional resonance over volume.
A few of the upcoming experiences include:
RUWT Residencies (2–3 nights) – A summer and fall series of nature-immersive stays hosted with design-forward cabins across Ontario and Upstate NY. Each residency will blend hyper-local nature experiences (think wildflower gathering and pressing, pine resin distillation, sunrise canoeing + soundbath), communal candlelit dinners, and sensory co-creation moments.
Scent of Stillness – a three-chapter immersive evening exploring how emotion can be deepened through scent, sound, and taste.
Table of Desire – A playful, tactile evening where guests use their hands to sculpt edible art as an expression of desire.
What Are A Few Key Components To RUWT Events?
Ma tells us there are. several factors. “That there’s real connection between guests (for example, where possible, we’ll put in temporary rules like no phones, introduce guests pre-event to one another by interests and not titles, and as hosts, lead with vulnerability where we’d like to encourage deeper sharing between guests).
We pressure test that our experiences are designed so guests have the ability to feel grounded and unshackled from the day-to-day, that our experiences evoke\ a sense of awe, and a healthy dose of play and fun.
We also obsess over the importance of details – understanding and paying attention to each guests’ preferences so we can anticipate needs and where possible, provide personalized touches so each guest feels seen and cared for. For example, we’ve found micro touches like remembering a favourite beverage of a guest and having that ready for them when they arrive goes a long way.”
What Makes RUWT And Scent of Stillness Wellness Experience So Unique?
Ma agrees. “We have great experiential events in our city. And what we’ve found are that most fall into two categories: high-stimulation entertainment or more serious wellness programming.
We love those, yet felt there was missing a middle: design-forward, sensory, intimate, and emotionally evocative – without being therapy, and without being nightlife.
What sets us apart:
- Every gathering moves guests through an emotional arc, rather than just activities
- We keep groups small and intentional to focus on building connection
- We create cinematic moments that help people feel presence and awe
- A playful undertone that keeps everything human, warm, and alive
People tell us RUWT feels like stepping into a tiny world that slows them down in the best way,” said Ma.
RUWT is for people who crave depth, beauty, and intentionality. If you love design, sensory immersion, nature experiences, intimate gatherings with sprinkles of play, you’ll feel at home with us,” ~ Bonita Ma, Founder
What Scent Of Stillness All About?
Scent of Stillness (April 30) is a three-hour, design-led sensory evening created with Ratelier, the Perfumery and sound artist Tarek Kabbani. Together, we guide guests through three emotional chapters – Exhale, Connection, and Play – each expressed through scent, sound, and taste.
Instead of a traditional workshop, guests move through the night as a fully immersive journey. In each chapter, they’ll smell fragrances, hear a live ambient score composed in real time by Tarek, and taste a cocktail or zero-proof pairing crafted to mirror the emotional theme.
Ratelier leads the guided scent creation, helping each guest blend a bespoke personal fragrance that reflects their chosen emotional notes. RUWT shapes the pacing and ritual moments that tie the chapters together.
The event is intimate – capped at 16 seats – and designed to heighten perception and slow the world down for a few hours. Guests leave with their own custom scent and a refreshed relationship to stillness, attention, and the emotional language of the senses.
Now That Ma Has Launched RUWT And Scent Of Stillness, What Brings Her Inner Peace And Grounding?
She tells us having sacred time for morning rituals (which includes affirmations, candles lit before the sun is fully up, quiet sips of freshly ground coffee), having real conversations with people she love, daily movement that nourishes her body, and putting pen to paper when her thoughts feel scattered or to note down what I’m grateful for that day.
“Increasingly, what also centres me is making space for my creativity – shaping ideas and giving myself time for my imagination to run wild, be it for RUWT or other aspects of life,” said Bonita.
What’s Her Favourite Proverb Or Mantra?
“I’m Chinese, and in my culture, there’s this proverb that roughly translates to “in quiet observation, everything reveals its meaning.”
I take it to mean that most of what we’re seeking – clarity, creativity, and even connection – tends to emerge when we slow down enough to actually notice what’s already around us. When we’re anxious and therefore acting reactively, taking a hot shower and checking in with yourself on the fear behind the anxiety and if it is true or not does wonders for me. When we pause and romanticize the small delights in life – how the morning sunlight shines on your couch, an ear-to-ear smile from your favourite barista, sharing a bottle of wine with 3 of your closest friends outside on a hot summer day – that’s living and meaning to me.
It’s become a guiding principle of RUWT as well: we don’t rush moments, we let them unfold with presence,” said Ma.
What Else Can We Expect From RUWT?
More cinematic sensory evenings, co-created with artists, chefs, designers, and soundmakers.
A series of nature-immersive residencies – collaborations with design-led stays – that blend ritual, slow-living, and playful co-creation.
And eventually – our own boutique cabins where we can offer our RUWT experiences on a more permanent and ongoing basis.
Interested In Learning More Or To Join In Scent of Stillness 002?
It’s happening downtown Toronto on April 30 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The unique experience is limited to 16 guests. Visit the site to learn more about this beautiful event and others here: www.ruwtcollective.com