Movement Partner Series: Ryan McIntosh

Ryan McIntosh is a trainer based in Barrie, Ontario. As an experienced athlete/runner, he started delving into the world of minimal and barefoot shoes while searching for ways to incorporate natural movement into his practice.

To Ryan, being an athlete used to mean that his ingrained beliefs demand that he achieve physical goals in a very short period of time during intensive training programs. With this mindset, Ryan set his eyes on the goal: to teach people how to run barefoot. But before he could teach it, he’d have to be able to do it himself. Ryan made Cool East Market his first step, introducing himself to our team and purchasing a pair of Xero Shoes H-Trail running sandals. He had set the intention of running a half marathon with them. Ryan began working towards his goal approaching it in the same way he did when preparing for races during training months. After succumbing to an injury due to over extending himself, he had to take a step back and reassess his methods.

“This is where yoga came into play. I wanted to listen to my body and rediscover how to connect to my body and rehabilitate the natural way, instead of going to physio and doing isolated stretching.”

With this new approach centred around listening to your body, Ryan found a new way of thinking when it came to physical training that he has continued to incorporate into every aspect of his life, especially in his approach to movement. With an emphasis on “feeling the flow of how your body wants to naturally move as opposed to meeting some sort of physical goal,” Ryan has begun shifting his focus from trying to meet hard set objectives and bringing the focus inward.  He lets his body lead his movement as opposed to resisting against the body’s needs in pursuit of some physical achievement. 

Ryan began to realise that he didn’t want to run anymore, and was able to acknowledge that his past goal of teaching people how to run barefoot no longer aligned with how he felt.

While talking to us about his journey, Ryan led us on a forest walk near his home, exploring different nooks and crannies while we tried to keep dry from the rain. He introduced us to his own approach to building strength in his feet and the unique ways in which he incorporates nature using rocks, twigs and sand along with other natural materials accessible to us all. 

“If I want to stretch and strengthen my feet, I can look into the natural world and find different structures to step on, such as rocks and twigs, and have nature show me what to do instead of looking through YouTube and seeing what the easiest, quickest and best way to accomplish it is.”

This stood out to us, as it’s so common to see people who want to get healthy purchasing heaps of gym equipment feeling like the tools will lead to change, but overlooking the tool of attunement to your body. Ryan advocates for the alternative of using  the natural resources available to everyone to get in tune with the body and introduce more movement to your life.

Being fairly new to minimal and barefoot shoes, Ryan offered us a fresh perspective on how you can begin incorporating barefoot movement into your daily practice and routine. Specifically his approach to using accessible nature locations. If you don’t have an easily accessible space, there are options available that might look like going for a stroll along the beaches at the Toronto Island, Woodbine beach or Cherry beach depending on where you are. Other options include going to a park nearby such as High Park, Rouge Park or even the Don Valley. 

If you feel like Ryan’s story resonated with you in any way, feel free to reach out directly to Ryan via email (ryanmac052@gmail.com) or social media (IG: ryans_movement_journey) to get in touch. Ryan has expressed he is open and willing to talk to more people that hold a similar perspective to movement.