The year 2012 marks the tenth anniversary of my non-profit Mind Body Solutions.
This blog marks the beginning of a series of blogs which will appear throughout the rest of the year that commemorate that journey. My goal is not simply to share our groundbreaking work but to offer glimpses into the personal journey, the story behind the story.
The work of Mind Body Solutions helps me make sense of my life, to make sense of a world that feels – at times – deeply out of joint. I know we all share this feeling, especially in these times. The insights that drive Mind Body Solutions are not just profound for people living with trauma, loss, and disability, but for every one of us: for you, for me, for our loved ones, and for our society at large.
Blog II:
I have a confession to make. I am a huge fan of the Dave Matthews Band. In fact, I list their music on the acknowledgements page of my book, Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence. I cannot tell you the countless hours that they accompanied me during that writing process. Currently, I am writing the screenplay for Waking because someone has bought the movie rights (a story for another day). I have also been contemplating this pivotal tenth year for Mind Body Solutions. Both stories must be told. So I have been listening to a lot of music by the Dave Matthews Band.
To tell both stories, I have been asking myself what moved me to start yoga, to write a book, and to start a non-profit. I have been listening over and over to the opening lyrics from the Dave Matthews’ song, “Lie In Our Graves,”
When I step into the light, my arms open wide
When I step into the light
My eyes searching wildly
Would you not like to be
Sitting on top of the world with your legs hanging free
Would you not like to be ok, ok, ok.
Remember that feeling of your legs hanging free from a tree branch or from a big tree swing…that feeling of sitting on top of the world….the lightness, the air, the feeling of freedom. I love that feeling.
This was not the world I woke up to after my accident. Throughout my recovery, well-intending healthcare professionals basically told me that I should forget about feeling any sensation below my chest, work on strengthening my upper body and learn to drag my paralyzed body through the rest of my life. This vision did not feel like sitting on top of the world. Instead, the world felt like it was sitting on top of me.
I lived their vision for twelve years. I carried myself through my life. I did it pretty well. I excelled in school, went to college and graduated summa cum laude, and went on to graduate school to study philosophy. I had girlfriends and friends and the appearance of success. But I was shut out of my body. I wasn’t okay. I had to find a different way.
I started to practice yoga in 1991 and started teaching in 1997.
In February 2000, my sons were born, one stillborn and one living. This was my “waking” moment. I started writing Waking that same March.
I founded Mind Body Solutions in 2002, including a yoga studio, and started to share how to hang my legs free.
In 2012, we are world leaders in teaching yoga to people of all abilities and teaching other yoga teachers how to do so. We also offer training and curriculum that revolutionizes our approach to rehabilitation, elderly care, eating disorders, and employee engagement in the workplace. There is much more work to be done.
In all four cases, I stepped out of a darker place and into the light. In all four cases, opening my arms wide and helping others was the key step in the process. In all four cases, the world makes more sense and I feel ok, ok, ok. In fact, I get glimpses of sitting on top of the world. I wish the same for you.
Making the world a better place is what we are doing at Mind Body Solutions.
Get on board and share the journey.