BUFFALO, N.Y. — There is more than one way to do yoga. In fact, as Matthew Sanford sees it, the practice can be adapted to any body for all ranges of abilities.

“Even though I can never walk again or stand up, there are ways and methods in yoga that allow me to be in my whole body," said Sanford, who became paralyzed from the chest down 40 years ago at age 13.

“I was basically guided to make my upper body really strong and drag my paralyzed body through life,” he said.

So in 2002 he founded his adaptive yoga nonprofit, Mind Body Solutions.

“We helped people transform the experiences of trauma, loss and disability by helping them connect to mind and body," said Sanford. "The importance of breath and quality breathing, the importance of moving while on balance, the importance of all the things that happen in a good yoga pose are actually good ways to live your life."

He does not just teach his students. He is bringing mind-body principles to healthcare professionals as well.

“Especially since COVID, compassion fatigue is a big deal, people in health care are being run ragged and they need to be able to be supported in ways that they can actually use and apply," he said.

Sanford is a keynote speaker at the University at Buffalo on Monday, speaking to medical students about utilizing resilience in ways that serve their patients as well as themselves.