24hrs with a Local, Wellness

24hrs with a Local: The Flourish Foundation’s Ryan Redman, March

Flourish Foundation’s executive director and co-founder (with his wife, Paige) Ryan Redman leads the kind of calming, wellness-centered lifestyle many in Sun Valley strive for. From dedicating hours of his early mornings to himself before work to just truly cherishing every part of living in this town, Ryan exudes contentment. Ryan’s Flourish Foundation is no different, with its vision to inspiring systemic change through heartmind cultivation, promoting personal well-being, benevolent social action, and environmental stewardship. Since its conception in 2010, the Flourish Foundation has facilitated programs that nurture life skills and transformation through ethics and values like meditation. Ryan has studied meditation and Yoga from an early age and teaches yoga in Sun Valley in addition to his work at the foundation. We asked the passionate leader, yogi, devoted husband and father of two boys what his perfect 24hrs for March in Sun Valley looks like.

How does your ideal day in Sun Valley start?

Ryan: After an incredible night’s sleep, I open my eyes and feel tremendous gratitude to have a human body, to live in such a beautiful place, and to be healthy and capable of providing service to the world and serving myself. Then, after my thoughts of gratitude, I head downstairs and sit in meditation for 1-2 hours focusing mainly on how to open my heart and mind to greater love. And then, with that in mind, I practice an hour of yoga with my lovely wife and life partner, Paige. And then I go out to the Draper Preserve and we walk along the river, my wife and I, greeting all our furry friends which often include moose and elk and bald eagles, and we savor the sunrise through Croy Canyon. And depending on the weather or time of year, we often will extend our walk into a little hike on Carbonate or mountain bike out Croy. Ideally the lupin would be in full bloom out Croy Canyon. I’m completely intoxicated by the aroma of mother earth.

24hrs in Sun Valley - March - Ryan Redman

What’s after that? Eat something?

Ryan: Then we come home and eat a wholesome vegetarian breakfast. The ideal breakfast would be some quinoa with curried garbanzo beans, sauerkraut, and roasted vegetables.

Then we are so blessed to go to work. We’re lucky because we can walk to our office at the Flourish Foundation. There, I am the luckiest guy in the whole world because I have such an incredible community there. The work we do for children and adults alike in the community, regarding inner strength and wisdom is so incredible. If it’s really an ideal day, I’ll get a chance to connect with young students in the schools and practice secular meditation and discuss human values, which is so inspiring. I just get so full being with young people who have epiphanies and get excited about caring for their own and others’ well-being.

What’s your day like after work? Do you eat dinner, relax?

Ryan: We usually don’t eat dinner. Toward the end of the afternoon, I go to Despo’s and order the zucchini or Richard burrito. I might do a little siesta at the Community Library in the chairs in the back. And then maybe a mountain bike ride or cross-country ski out Fox Creek or going Nordic skiing by the SNRA.

After we do an outdoor activity up in Ketchum, I teach yoga at Zenergy so we like to sit out in the hot tub and see the incredible view of Baldy. That’s followed by a sauna where, using my own ayurvedic oils, I gift myself love through a massage and sit in the sauna. Usually by the time we leave Zenergy, I am blissfully heading home to Hailey, maybe catching the sunset over Quigley and Croy Canyon. At night, we dedicate the good fortune we get to experience so often to all those who are really struggling and really trying to find their way, either with having enough to eat or peace of mind. I start the day with love and compassion and end the day that way.

24hrs in Sun Valley - March - Ryan Redman

Do you have any nighttime/wind-down rituals?

Ryan: Sometimes I’ll drink some golden milk [a latte-esque drink made with milk, spices, and turmeric], often reading books on yoga or Buddhist philosophy or sometimes we watch tv—right now we’re totally sucked into “Call the Midwife” on Netflix, we savor it. It’s the most inspiring show of how to serve the world and fill ourselves up with love and compassion. These characters are the perfect embodiment of that.

I feel so blessed to be alive, to be here, to be connected to such an incredible community.

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