Matthew Sanford, 41, experienced a car accident at age 13 leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. Matthew had been an athletic child, and after the accident was encouraged "go be a wheelchair athlete." He felt that doctors and rehabilitation professionals were encouraging him, and other patients, to shift focus to the mind or upper body after paralysis, ignoring the lower body, but Matthew disagreed. After 12 years of rehabilitation aimed at "overcoming" his paralysis, Matthew felt as if he had become a "floating upper torso" and missed feeling a complete mind-body connection. Matthew first began doing Iyengar Yoga with Jo Zukovitch at age 25 in an attempt to become more connected to his body.
To read more about Matthew's experience, go to http://www.ncpad.org/485/2369/SCI~-~Reconnecting~the~Body~and~Mind~with~Yoga.