Matt Sanford was nearly killed 25 years ago in a car crash in which he lost his father and older sister. He broke his neck and back, and was paralysed from the chest down.
But now he teaches yoga!
Years of conventional rehabilitation left him drained, so he started practising yoga 13 years ago. He believes his own horrific injuries have been his best teacher. "My paralysis has put me in touch with the silence within my own body."
Where once there was no sensation at all, he can now feel heat. He can also sense his bladder and bowel functions.
"I had to listen at a different level, my paralysed body changed its voice; it spoke to me more gently. Yoga has reconnected my mind-body relationship."
Matt has adapted the ancient practice of yoga to activate his own paralysed body.
"I learn yoga in reverse. I have to learn how the position feels before I can do it. Then I break it down to its integral parts and I do those that I can. Yoga is not about forcing a body into positions. We should not be locked into preconceptions of how a pose should look."
He believes: "We all have a mind-body problem. It is just that my case is more extreme. People are unhappy when they are not connected to their bodies - they are like the cliché of the absent-minded professor.
"A mind-body strategy is essential for a better life. Getting more connected with the deep silence in our bodies has a very practical result - the birth of compassion. I have never seen anyone become more aware of this silence within without becoming more compassionate and more connected with the world. We really need to change our attitude for the long-term survival of our world."
His own voyage of discovery into his paralysed body has left him a happier and more conscious person. He now teaches other disabled people and their familes and physical therapists from his base in Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA. And he hopes to bring his work to this country.
For more information visit: www.mindbodysolutions-mn.org/
