Self-Organizing Man

Rolling Into His Body

May 25, 2006 – 8:09 am

Matthew Sanford is the yoga instructor.  The guy in the wheel chair.  When I tell other yoga folks that I found this cool teacher in Minnesota in a wheelchair jaws drop.  "Really?"  Sanford’s reality flies in the face of the super twisting poses extolled on the cover of yoga magazines.

But, of course, since our primary practice in yoga is to learn to live in our bodies, these other yoga folks recover.

Matthew Sanford’s work is a living reminder that our bodies are our allies, if we would let that birthright shine through the crap in our minds.  We must work hard to quiet our minds.  But unless we are dead, anyone can do this work.  (And for those who are curious, Sanford has his students in downward facing dog).

It took a devastating car accident, paralysis from the chest down, and dependence on a wheelchair before Matthew truly realized the importance of his body. He has been rolling into his body ever since. After the accident, Matthew spent the first fourteen years believing that his mind was shut out of his paralyzed body. He spent the next twelve years practicing hatha yoga and discovered how deeply he was mistaken. Living vibrantly through one’s whole body – whether paralyzed or not – is a powerful part of living.