Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence
Matthew Sanford's inspirational story about the car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down is a superbly written memoir of healing and journey—from near death to triumphant life.

Matt Sanford's life and body were irrevocably changed at age 13 on a snowy Iowa road. On that day, his family's car skidded off an overpass, killing Matt's father and sister and left him paralyzed from the chest down, confining him to a wheelchair. His mother and brother escaped from the accident unharmed but were left to pick up the pieces of their decimated family.

This pivotal event set Matt on a lifelong journey, from his intensive care experiences at the Mayo Clinic to becoming a paralyzed yoga teacher and founder of a nonprofit organization. Forced to explore what it truly means to live in a body, he emerges with an entirely new view of being a "whole" person. 

By turns agonizingly personal, philosophical, and heartbreakingly honest, this groundbreaking memoir takes you inside the body, heart, and mind of a boy whose world has been shattered. Follow Sanford's journey as he rebuilds from the ground up, searching for "healing stories" to help him reconnect his mind and his body. To do so, he must reject much of what traditional medicine tells him and instead turn to yoga as a centerpiece of his daily practice. He finds not only a better life but also meaning and purpose in the mysterious distance that we all experience between mind and body.

In Waking, Sanford delivers a powerful message about the endurance of the human spirit and of the body that houses it.
1110898760
Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence
Matthew Sanford's inspirational story about the car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down is a superbly written memoir of healing and journey—from near death to triumphant life.

Matt Sanford's life and body were irrevocably changed at age 13 on a snowy Iowa road. On that day, his family's car skidded off an overpass, killing Matt's father and sister and left him paralyzed from the chest down, confining him to a wheelchair. His mother and brother escaped from the accident unharmed but were left to pick up the pieces of their decimated family.

This pivotal event set Matt on a lifelong journey, from his intensive care experiences at the Mayo Clinic to becoming a paralyzed yoga teacher and founder of a nonprofit organization. Forced to explore what it truly means to live in a body, he emerges with an entirely new view of being a "whole" person. 

By turns agonizingly personal, philosophical, and heartbreakingly honest, this groundbreaking memoir takes you inside the body, heart, and mind of a boy whose world has been shattered. Follow Sanford's journey as he rebuilds from the ground up, searching for "healing stories" to help him reconnect his mind and his body. To do so, he must reject much of what traditional medicine tells him and instead turn to yoga as a centerpiece of his daily practice. He finds not only a better life but also meaning and purpose in the mysterious distance that we all experience between mind and body.

In Waking, Sanford delivers a powerful message about the endurance of the human spirit and of the body that houses it.
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Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence

Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence

by Matthew Sanford
Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence

Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence

by Matthew Sanford

Paperback(First Edition)

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Overview

Matthew Sanford's inspirational story about the car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down is a superbly written memoir of healing and journey—from near death to triumphant life.

Matt Sanford's life and body were irrevocably changed at age 13 on a snowy Iowa road. On that day, his family's car skidded off an overpass, killing Matt's father and sister and left him paralyzed from the chest down, confining him to a wheelchair. His mother and brother escaped from the accident unharmed but were left to pick up the pieces of their decimated family.

This pivotal event set Matt on a lifelong journey, from his intensive care experiences at the Mayo Clinic to becoming a paralyzed yoga teacher and founder of a nonprofit organization. Forced to explore what it truly means to live in a body, he emerges with an entirely new view of being a "whole" person. 

By turns agonizingly personal, philosophical, and heartbreakingly honest, this groundbreaking memoir takes you inside the body, heart, and mind of a boy whose world has been shattered. Follow Sanford's journey as he rebuilds from the ground up, searching for "healing stories" to help him reconnect his mind and his body. To do so, he must reject much of what traditional medicine tells him and instead turn to yoga as a centerpiece of his daily practice. He finds not only a better life but also meaning and purpose in the mysterious distance that we all experience between mind and body.

In Waking, Sanford delivers a powerful message about the endurance of the human spirit and of the body that houses it.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781594868450
Publisher: Harmony/Rodale/Convergent
Publication date: 05/27/2008
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

MATTHEW SANFORD is the founder of the non-profit organization Mind Body Solutions. He specializes in adapting yoga to people living with disabilities and teaches workshops around the country. He currently resides in Orono, Minnesota.

Read an Excerpt

Part One
(Continues…)



Excerpted from "Waking"
by .
Copyright © 2008 Matthew Sanford.
Excerpted by permission of Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     xii
Introduction: The Mind-Body Relationship     xv
Trauma and Separation
Early Morning     3
My Body Broken     7
Out of Body     21
Which Family Were We?     33
Pain and Silence     47
Mind, Not Body     59
Gin and Tonics     73
Initiation
Into Your Arms     91
Wheels, Not Legs     109
Broken Again     127
Above the Chest     143
Yoga, Bodies, and Baby Boys
Taking My Legs Wide     161
Body Memories     173
Maha Mudra     183
Broken Yet Again     201
Falling Gracefully     215
The Births of William and Paul     225
Afterword     243
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