Ryan Ridge is the wellness practice of Steve Meldrum — a certified Fascial Stretch Therapist, Level 2 Reiki practitioner, and fitness accountability coach. One body, one mind, one approach: all of you, working together.
Fascia is a vast, interconnected 3D web of connective tissue that wraps, supports, and penetrates every muscle, bone, organ, and nerve in your body. FST is a specialized, assisted stretching technique designed to release tension in this tissue, decompress joints, and restore mobility.
Think of fascia like a continuous spiderweb — or a knitted sweater that holds your body together.
Traditional stretching isolates single muscles. FST targets entire chains of fascia with a different approach:
Dramatically improves your range of motion.
Eases joint pain, muscle stiffness, and nerve impingement.
Speeds recovery and reduces post-workout soreness.
Releases physical tension and improves deep relaxation.
Improves body symmetry, posture, and balance.
Increases blood flow for faster, healthier recovery.
Helps you move better and lowers your risk of injury.
Calms the body and supports deeper, better sleep.
For decades, fascia was dismissed as passive packing material. Modern research tells a very different story: it's an active, reactive, living network — so rich in nerve receptors that some scientists consider it the largest sensory organ in the body. It runs through three connected layers, working together for both stability and smooth movement:
Because it's all interconnected, a single tight or sticky spot can pull on the whole system — like tugging one corner of a tablecloth and shifting everything on the table.
Does this feel like you?
Five in-depth guides from Ryan Ridge — what FST is, benefits, athletes, your first session, and everyday stiffness.
FST does the deep work — these simple daily habits help it last.
Stretch a little every day to release built-up tension.
Move often and add mobility work to stay supple.
Stay hydrated — fascia needs water to glide.
Roll out tight spots and book regular hands-on sessions.
A holistic approach that meets your body, energy, and goals where they are.
Assisted, multi-planar stretching to decompress joints, release fascia, and unlock pain-free movement.
Targeted mobility work to restore range of motion, improve posture, and keep you moving for life.
Energy work incorporated into your FST treatment to calm the nervous system, ease tension, and support the body's natural balance.
A dedicated partner in your fitness journey — guidance, structure, and encouragement that sticks.
Wellness isn't only physical. As a Level 2 Reiki practitioner, Steve brings gentle, hands-on energy work into the practice — helping to quiet a busy mind, soften physical tension, and restore a sense of calm and balance.
“Level 2” refers to a deeper stage of Reiki training beyond the foundations of Level 1. Practitioners at this stage are prepared to work with more focused techniques and intention, including the traditional Reiki symbols used to support emotional balance, mental clarity, and energetic connection during a session.
Paired with Fascial Stretch Therapy, Reiki rounds out a truly holistic session: releasing the body while settling the nervous system, so you leave lighter than you arrived.
Reiki is a Japanese energy-healing technique used for stress reduction, deep relaxation, and overall well-being. The word joins two Japanese roots — Rei ("universal") and Ki ("life force energy"). The practitioner uses gentle hands-on or hands-off techniques to channel this life-force energy into the body, aiming to balance the energy centers and support its natural, self-healing processes.
The idea is simple: when life-force energy runs low or gets blocked by stress, we're more prone to tension, fatigue, and feeling run-down. Reiki helps clear those blockages and restore flow. It's a spiritual practice, but it is not tied to any religion or dogma.
Reiki is traditionally taught in progressive levels. Each level builds skill, sensitivity, and responsibility in how the practitioner works with energy.
Level 1 introduces the foundations: receiving an attunement (a ceremonial initiation into the Reiki lineage), learning hand positions, and practicing self-Reiki and simple hands-on work for others.
Level 2 — the level Steve practices — deepens that training. Practitioners learn additional traditional Reiki symbols and methods that support more intentional work with mental and emotional patterns, as well as the ability to offer Reiki with greater focus and subtlety. In practice, that often means a session can feel more refined: still gentle and quiet, but guided with clearer purpose around calm, balance, and release.
Level 2 does not mean louder, stronger, or more intense bodywork. Reiki remains a soft, supportive practice. You stay fully clothed, and the experience is typically restful — many people describe warmth, tingling, deep stillness, or simply a quiet mind.
Level 2 techniques are often used to support mental ease — helpful when stress, overthinking, or a busy nervous system makes it hard to settle.
While FST works with fascia and joints, Reiki offers a complementary layer that may help the body feel safer releasing and resting.
At Ryan Ridge, Reiki is woven into Steve's holistic approach so physical release and energetic settling can happen together.
Steve incorporates Level 2 Reiki as gentle, hands-on energy work within his wellness practice — not as a separate medical treatment. It may be offered alongside Fascial Stretch Therapy so your session addresses both the physical body and the quieter systems that influence how you feel: breath, stress response, and overall sense of ease.
You don't need prior experience with energy work. Steve meets you where you are, explains what to expect, and keeps the focus on comfort, communication, and a whole-person approach — one body, one mind, one approach: all of you, working together.
Please note: Reiki is a complementary therapy — practiced alongside traditional medicine, not a replacement for it. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any specific disease on its own. Experiences vary from person to person.
Steve doesn't treat a single muscle or a single symptom. He reads the whole person — movement, posture, energy, mindset — and builds a path forward from there.
Intuitive movement and mobility analysis to understand how your body actually moves.
FST, stretch therapy, and Reiki to free restrictions in tissue and tension in the mind.
Accountability coaching to turn one good session into lasting, everyday wellness.
Born in Ontario at the end of the '60s, Steve was practically built for movement — family lore has it he was doing one-handed push-ups at six months old and would only settle in his jolly jumper. He grew up chasing a football and dragging a hockey stick, idolizing Jack LaLanne and pretending to be the Six Million Dollar Man in a tracksuit. (He still lives in his tracksuits today.)
Gymnastics, skating, and sports filled his early years before the family moved out west. Unsure of his path, Steve served in the armed forces, where a glimpse of military fitness instruction first lit a spark for training others. Life took him through construction, night-club security, and eventually a stable 29-year career at the mill — all while volunteering at the local firehall and coaching his kids' teams for over a decade across baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, and hockey.
Weight training has been a cornerstone since age 16. Through headaches, concussions, accidents, and surgeries — he jokes he has enough metal in him to be the real Six Million Dollar Man — Steve learned to read the body and heal himself faster than physio could. After shoulder surgery, his recovery was so rapid his doctor wanted to make him a poster boy for rehabilitation.
He became a certified personal trainer in 2009, and in 2024 a former client reignited his passion. With the mill behind him, Steve retired to relaunch his practice full-time — now known for his intuitive, empathetic, observation-driven approach to fitness and recovery.
"I've always been able to find where the body needs help — and help people realize their potential." — Steve Meldrum
Whether you're recovering, stiffening up, chasing a goal, or simply want to feel like yourself again — reach out and let's build a plan around the whole you.
