Nina Utne has a good article in the July/August Utne Readeron how Mathew Sanford, then 13, survived the trauma of losing a father and a sister and becoming paralyzed himself in the same car accident. Twenty years later, Sanford is a paraplegic yoga instructor who “pays close attention to the mind-body connection.” His book “Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence” was just published by Rodale.

Sanford says: “My life thus far has been like a river gaining current. I wouldn’t be the person I am if what happened to me hadn’t happened. And in fact I like who I am now. I think that I’m a better person than I would have been, although I don’t know. My whole life’s work is based on the relationship and fluctuation between mind and body, and no amount of bookwork would have given me the insight and intuition that were forced on me as a 13-year-old.”