December 31st, 2007
A Conversation with Author and Speaker Matthew Sanford
“It took a devastating car accident, paralysis from the chest down, and dependence on a wheelchair before I truly realized the importance of my body.”
Matthew has dedicated his life to sharing the fundamental importance of the mind-body relationship. For him, mind-body integration is not just a personal health strategy. It is a movement of consciousness. To take hold, it must be both practical and spiritual, both inspirational and pragmatic. He works on a variety of fronts:
Matthew shares his personal story in Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence (Rodale: June, 2006). “I wrote a memoir, not to tell you something about me, but rather to show something about the mind-body relationship.” He also writes periodically for magazines including a two-part article in Experience Life that ran in November and December of ‘06.
As a Yoga teacher, Matthew teaches yoga to people of all abilities but he is a pioneer in adapting yoga for people living with disabilities. “We all live on a continuum of abilities and disabilities,” he says. “The principles of yoga apply to all people, to all bodies.”