Coreen Ruiz, founder of Inner Pttrn, is on a mission to create a safe and empowering space for deep healing and self-discovery. Based in Astoria, Queens, Inner Pttrn is a collective of Latinas offering holistic healing practices like embodied movement and intuitive energy work. Her goal is to help people break free from negative generational cycles, find their authentic selves, and build healthier, more fulfilling lives.
From personal crisis to purpose
Ruiz’s journey to founding Inner Pttrn was deeply personal. In 2019, despite a successful career managing operations across various companies, she found herself unfulfilled, physically unwell and disconnected. At the time, she was in a relationship, doing what she seemed to love, and traveling the world, but a health scare forced her to reevaluate.
“From the outside looking in, it looked like I was on the right path doing all the right things — and yet I was so unhappy,” Ruiz said. She ended up in the hospital, thinking she was having a heart attack. It turned out to be anxiety.
The pandemic forced Ruiz to sit with her feelings, confront suppressed emotions, and reevaluate her life. She realized she was unhappy in her relationship and in a toxic work environment. When she sought the help of traditional mental health providers, she found the experience frustrating. So Ruiz began exploring herbal medicine, naturopathy, and energy healing, which she says transformed her health.
“It was just so mind-blown that there’s this whole other world that is fully in access to us,” Ruiz said. “They’re literally plants that grow in nature that we can just go [to] but we’re so disconnected from that as a society.”
This journey inspired Ruiz to turn her personal healing into a mission to help others. In early 2023, she launched Inner Pttrn.
“What Inner pattern at its core is, is a community space where we’re safe, where we can really dive into the meanings of generational trauma, of how that affects us in current day society, and how we support each other in fulfilling and coming over that,” Ruiz said.
Building a healing community
Ruiz envisioned a space where people, especially Latinas and the BIPOC community, could feel seen, supported and empowered.
She started with Instagram posts and small gatherings but quickly realized there was demand for a physical space. In November 2023, Inner Pttrn opened a location in Astoria, offering services like reiki, astrology, flower essence therapy and ancestral readings.
Guests often remarked on how calm they felt upon entering the space.
“Somebody came in one time and she just immediately started crying,” Ruiz said. “I was like, ‘are you okay? What’s going on?’ And she was like, ‘I just haven’t felt this safe in such a long time.’ And that to me is everything.”
From soothing blue walls to essential oils and crystals, every detail of the space was designed to promote healing. But for Ruiz, the true magic lay in the connections and transformations happening within the community.
She realized they don’t need to fit into the box of what a business is ‘supposed’ to look like. Inner Pttrn leans into its strengths: creating experiences and making people feel seen.
Another important element of Inner Pttrn is a commitment to accessibility. The company frequently offers scholarships for its events, ensuring that healing isn’t reserved for the privileged few, because as Ruiz believes, wellness shouldn’t be a luxury.
A legacy of healing
Inner Pttrn’s work goes far beyond surface-level wellness. Their offerings are deeply rooted in education and cultural reconnection. For example, their course “Wisdom of the First Nations,” led by a French Algonquin elder known as Grandmother Nancy, explores the history, ceremonies, and rituals of Indigenous communities. The goal is to foster a deeper understanding of ancestral traditions.
Ruis says this will help bring attendees closer to their roots. She says Latino communities often neglect or forget their indigenous origins because of colonialism.
Adapting and evolving
Like many small businesses, Inner Pttrn struggled with access to grants and funding. “As a full-time entrepreneur, I have had a hard time getting loans, getting real funding because they’re like, ‘well, you’re not really making any money.’ I’m like, ‘okay, but all the money’s in the business.’”
It also faced challenges that are unique to nontraditional businesses. “The work we do is so deep … a lot of people are not ready for it,” Ruiz said, adding that it created communication issues. “We’re asking people to really change their lives, and that means having to change the way that they act on a daily basis. That was a bit of a challenge.”
Recently, Ruiz made the difficult decision to close the physical location. She realized she could fight to keep it going but that wasn’t a lifestyle she wanted, nor was it needed to continue helping the community. It’s having one final (free) event in the Astoria space on Feb. 22, and then Inner Pttrn will shift its focus to virtual offerings and collaborations with other community spaces across the city.
This pivot will allow Inner Pttrn to expand its reach while staying true to its mission. “We’re meeting people where they are, instead of expecting them to come to us,” Ruiz says.
Moving forward
As Inner Pttrn changes, its mission remains clear: to create spaces — virtual or physical — where people can heal, connect, and thrive. Whether through reiki sessions, meditation circles, or astrological readings, the collective is redefining what wellness looks like for communities often overlooked by traditional systems.
For Ruiz, being a small business owner is about authenticity and responsibility. She says it’s not just about making money but aligning with her values and standing up for what matters to create something meaningful. To that goal, Inner Pttrn recently closed its Instagram account in solidarity with protests against Meta.
Ruiz’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: stay true to your vision. “It can be really easy to get caught up with what others are doing,” she said. “If it’s not aligned with you, then that is more than OK. There’s so many other ways and paths. And just because things have been presented one way, doesn’t mean that’s how you need to do it.”
Inner Pttrn
Learn more about Inner Pttrn here and read its blog here.
Check out upcoming events here and the “Wisdom of the First Nations” course here.
To book your final in-person session at the Astoria location by Feb. 22, click here.
Contact Inner Pttrn here.
Epicenter NYC is experimenting with AI to help enhance the ways we can serve the community. This interview was done by a member of the editorial team, written with the assistance of AI, and edited by another member of the editorial team.
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