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Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence
Matthew Sanford’s life and body were irrevocably changed at age 13 when his family’s car skidded off a snowy Iowa overpass, killing Matt’s father and sister and leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. 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 o
...morePaperback, 253 pages
Published
May 27th 2008
by Rodale Books
(first published June 27th 2006)
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Wow! This is a moving, accessible, page-turner of a memoir by Matthew Sanford, a yoga teacher who became a paraplegic at age 13 in a car accident in which his father and sister were killed. His paralysis has led him to a profound understanding of suffering, silence in the body and the mind-body connection/disconnection. A favorite quote: "I am without tears because I am reaching for my most familiar healing story: using the silence to achieve a deadened acceptance. I am not pounding the ste...more
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Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence chronicles both the physical and spiritual journey of a man who became a paraplegic at the age of 13 after surviving a horrific car crash. Both Sanford's father and sister were killed in the crash. He documents his own struggles as well as the struggles of the rest of his surviving family members with great empathy, from his mother's struggles as a widow raising a disabled child and his brother's burden of having to be fiercely independent and a rock...more
"Can you take your leg wide, like a big V?" The spasticity in my legs resists, but eventually they spread and stay put. I am hit by a rush of something , something feels strange, something. . . "Matt, can you put your hand on your thighs, lift your chest, and breate?"
"Matt, can you put your hand in parayer? Keep your elvows at y our sides. Stretch from your shoulders to your elvows, from your elbows to your wrists. Press your palms together, stretch throught ...more
"Matt, can you put your hand in parayer? Keep your elvows at y our sides. Stretch from your shoulders to your elvows, from your elbows to your wrists. Press your palms together, stretch throught ...more
The focus of this book is the mind-body connection and while I haven't experienced the kind of trauma the author has, I did have a new awareness and respect for my body during childbirth. That baby was coming whether I tried to stop her or not. Pretty incredible what the body can accomplish.
The story of his family's auto accident and his recovery was fascinating. And I believe that his physical therapy and therapists ignored the connection between mind and body. Perhaps that has change...more
The story of his family's auto accident and his recovery was fascinating. And I believe that his physical therapy and therapists ignored the connection between mind and body. Perhaps that has change...more
Joy
rated it
Recommends it for:
Health care professionals, people wanting to think about mind/body connection and embodiment
Recommended to Joy by:
Speaking of Faith, now Being on NPR
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I'm halfway through this book. I started it last year actually and had to put it down for a while. It is well written but a very painful story of a young man whose family is ripped apart in a car accident. He survives but is left paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 13. However, his story goes uphill and his life takes a path which is an example to all who know him or read his book. He goes on to become an Iyengar yoga teacher and teaches from his wheelchair! This is an incredible story i...more
What struck me was his notion of "healing stories" and how some of these stories did or did not work for him. The stories from the doctors that his legs were dead and there was nothing more to be found out from them, was countered by his much later studying Yoga. Through yoga he re-discovered that the silence that is his lower body, still has a lot of connectedness with the rest of his body and his mind. Through yoga he offers a different paradigm from which to understand paralysis, an...more
How can a man paralyzed from the waist down become a yoga instructor? This book tells you how in a profoundly meaningful way. I think it's one of the most important yoga books ever written in this country.
It is both a painful and uplifting read. Sanford writes with much detail about the physical ordeal of what he undergoes in order to live. In the process, however, he makes discoveries about life and about his body that are remarkable. His ability to communicate that with such ...more
It is both a painful and uplifting read. Sanford writes with much detail about the physical ordeal of what he undergoes in order to live. In the process, however, he makes discoveries about life and about his body that are remarkable. His ability to communicate that with such ...more
Matt is paralyzed as a child in a wreck that kills his father and sister. He talks about growing up and putting pieces back together while going to incredibly difficult / painful medical procedures. I found most interesting him talking about an inner silence we feel when we are not distracted by anything or wholly immersed in what we're doing. The mind body connection is vital yet we pay nearly no attention to it. Through yoga, he looks to reconnect to his paralyzed legs and lead a full life...more
Mind-body connection
Is yoga going to make all of my hardships go away? Of course not-my life is going to be hard. But without these difficulties I would not be who I am...The silence we carry is not loss. It is the presence of death as it travels within us. The energies of life and death-of movement and silence-integrate within our existence to form consciousness. It requires both a mind and a body. One to open; one to stay present.
Is yoga going to make all of my hardships go away? Of course not-my life is going to be hard. But without these difficulties I would not be who I am...The silence we carry is not loss. It is the presence of death as it travels within us. The energies of life and death-of movement and silence-integrate within our existence to form consciousness. It requires both a mind and a body. One to open; one to stay present.
This was a really interesting look at what happens with trauma when a 13 year old boy is paralyzed from the chest down. Matthew Stanford learns to read the "silence" of his paralyzed body and learn from it. It's very well done and moving account of the accident (which kills his sister and his father) and its aftermath. I will probably use it in my sports and gender course b/c it's really turns our paradigms about bodies and minds on its head.
I knew Matthew's sister, when we were in college. We were in the same pledge class. My mom plays bridge with is mother.
Years later, when Matthew's book came out, we went to the book launching party, where I met Matthew, for the first time. I have subsequently had him speak to my Rotary club, about his accident, the book and his marvelous work with yoga . . . It's a great book, filled with inspiration.
Years later, when Matthew's book came out, we went to the book launching party, where I met Matthew, for the first time. I have subsequently had him speak to my Rotary club, about his accident, the book and his marvelous work with yoga . . . It's a great book, filled with inspiration.
A powerful story of a 13 year-old boy who loses his father and sister in a car accident and finds himself a paraplegic. His doctors are not hip to the mind-body relationship (it's the 70's) and he feels more and more disconnected with 2/3's of his body and his life, his world, etc. His story is about healing, faith and the power we all have in our own bodies.
This is a real story of a young boy (tween) who was injured in a horrible car accident. If you've ever wondered what it's like to heal - physically and emotionally - from such an experience, this is a must read. And if you've ever felt challenged in a yoga class, Matthew's experience will remind you of just how able-bodied you really are. Fabulous read!
Excellent book for health care providers. His story reflects the exact reason I want to go into the health care field. I think many health care providers treat patients as just that..a patient. When in reality they are a person, and no matter how many times you have seen a diagnosis you have to treat it different as no individual heals the same way.
Matthew does a great job of explaining how frustrating it is when doctors listen but do not truely "hear". The consequence...more
Matthew does a great job of explaining how frustrating it is when doctors listen but do not truely "hear". The consequence...more
Very interesting and thought provoking. It was obviously a difficult book to write and I found parts of it painful to read, because of the subject matter - obviously a bit squeamish but I loved the sections exploring the mind body connection and I love the tenacity of the spirit that this book displays. Fascinating and well worth reading.
Matthew's experience of life as a parapalegic can be very eye-opening to how we all can ignore our instincts and even our own experiences to fit in to what's considered the "norm." He's an excellent example of how taking an alternative path can lead to a full and rich life.
Matthew Sanford's journey from devastation and loss to so-called transcendence (Sanford's words) is a bit lacking. Don't get me wrong, he most certainly has transcended the physical traumas that were inflicted upon him at such a young age. But what's lacking is an understanding or explanation of his psychological and/or emotional self. Certainly there's as much trauma to transcend in the emotional realm as the physical, if not more so.
I get the sense that Sanford is hiding behind a ...more
I get the sense that Sanford is hiding behind a ...more
Matthew Sanford was paralyzed from the chest down at the age of 13 in a car crash that killed several members of his family. In adapting yoga postures and practices to suit his body, he has come to understand more about a body he can not feel than we who have full use of our bodies. He is also trying to get the healthcare industry to start incorporating some of the practices of yoga into the therapy of paralysis.
I had the opportunity to hear him speak and to take a yoga class direc...more
I had the opportunity to hear him speak and to take a yoga class direc...more
An inspiring and uplifting read, especially for those who appreciate the practice of yoga. Matthew Sanford has endured the most incredible physical trauma and not only survived, but managed to thrive. A lesson for the relatively more able bodied of us!
Read this for UB's Student Affairs book club. Very inspiring without being schmaltzy. I can't say I totally understand the mind-body connection, but it's pretty amazing what yoga has done for this man, who's paraplegic.
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't think that I would enjoy a memoir but I really did. It really opened my eyes to how important the body is. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs, or anyone who just wants an enjoyable read.
4.5 stars. This story of what Matthew Sanford went through after a terrible car accident at the age of 13 is fascinating and well-written. Sanford vividly describes the accident and his treatments. I found myself relating to how the body deals with traumatic energy.
The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because the section on yoga bogged down some. Also, he uses Silence as a continuing metaphor. It worked in the beginning, but just got to be a bit over used at the end.
San...more
The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because the section on yoga bogged down some. Also, he uses Silence as a continuing metaphor. It worked in the beginning, but just got to be a bit over used at the end.
San...more
A fascinating discussion of the body-mind connection, plus a gripping story. I would recommend this book to almost anybody.
I found this book to be quite moving and very well written, especially for someone who is not a professional writer. Sanford is so articulate in his descriptions of the altered mental atmosphere of trauma and pain... and equally articulate about the process and sensations of healing. In particular, I was very affected by his deep connection with the quietest, most subtle sensations within the body, and how these connections affect our spirit and psyche. I'd definitely recommend this book, especi...more
I really enjoyed this book and will definitely read it again. He does an excellent job describing what it was like in the hospital after a spinal cord injury and his life after his injury. I would recommend this book for anyone who is thinking of working with people with disabilities, because it really helps put in perspective what people are experiencing after an injury and what they may be feeling and/or thinking. I appreciated his honesty and vivid descriptions of his feelings throughout his ...more
A beautiful book about devastating loss and healing of the mind-body relationship. I recommend.
A beautiful story of healing. A fabulous piece of creative nonfiction.
Iyengar yoga, mind-body connection, "silence," nonviolence
Interesting interview on Speaking of Faith (NPR) today.
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