Would you mind talking about how you became paralyzed? I was a very athletic little boy. I loved hanging upside down and playing all sorts of sports, but when I was 13, my family’s car skidded off a snowy overpass. My father and sister were killed, and I was paralyzed from the chest down. I broke my neck, my back, and my wrists. I couldn’t eat solid food for 60 days; I went from being a 116-lb thriving young boy to being 79 pounds in two months. Where did yoga come in?For about 12 years after my injury, I had basically followed along with the ideas that were drilled into my head about my condition: that there was no possibility of sensation below my point of injury, and that my only option was to make my upper body really strong and drag my paralyzed body through life. That vision just wasn’t vibrant enough for me. I followed along for a while, but then I just missed my body. I needed to find a new way to live fully through my whole body, even though I was paralyzed. So I started practicing yoga when I was 25, after a masseuse recommended I give it a try. I’ve been practicing diligently ever since. That led to teaching, which eventually led to the founding of my nonprofit Mind Body Solutions in 2002. We teach yoga instructors from around the world how to teach adaptive yoga to literally any body that comes to them—disabled or not. We also teach healthcare professionals how to incorporate mind-body principles into the delivery of their care to improve outcomes. How does yoga work when you’re paralyzed?The principles of yoga don’t discriminate. Most people think of yoga as being able to put your leg behind your head, but no, yoga is about being able to bring more awareness and consciousness to movement, rather than less. It’s about establishing that mind-body connection. What has yoga taught you about your body?That listening to and feeling all those subtle sensations is important. About two months after I was injured, and I was being told that I’d have no sensation below my chest, I tried to tell the doctors that I felt stuff—a tingling, a humming, something—but they said to ignore it. They were worried I’d get false hope about walking again. And as a 13-year-old boy, I believed them. But now, listening to those sensations is at the core of everything I teach. Connecting with your body helps you feel alive and whole, and that can’t happen if you stifle certain sensations. How could someone work on being more mindful outside of a yoga class?A mind-body practice means taking seriously what it feels like to be alive in your body, and having quality experiences within your body. It doesn’t mean that you need to go to a yoga class. First, start to feel more: Take longer showers. Feel some light on your skin. Learn to be sensual without being sexual. Pay attention to transitions between one meeting and the next. Learn to hug better—don’t be a crappy hugger! I wish people would sit on the floor more. I wish people would come home from work and go spread eagle on the floor—you know, just get big. Because doesn’t life make you feel small? Start to live in more spaces in your body. That’s what yoga poses do, right? They make you expand to spaces within your body that you usually don’t inhabit. How have you seen yoga change people?When people learn to breathe and move at the same time, it’s like a new world opens up. They start to feel a sense of strength in their whole body. They manage stress better. They’re happier. When you realize that your body isn’t something that you need to distain, regret, or think of as being inadequate, but rather, as the best home your mind will ever have, that’s the beginning of profound healing. And when I can share that experience with people, then I get company in this journey. And I think all of us need a little more company.
More from Prevention: Your Body On Yoga (Infographic)
