Freedom is a State of Mind

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we forget that the door to the Universe, the portal of possibility as I like to call it is wide open. We forget that regardless of our physical circumstances we can experience freedom in our mind, heart and soul.

Victor Frankl speaks to this in Man's Search for Meaning.


At the age of 5, I contracted paralytic polio. I was one of the lucky ones not needing to be in the hospital and not needing an iron lung. I was initially paralyzed from the neck down but soon regained a little movement on my right side. My left side remained paralyzed for several months but with the help of a leg brace and an amazing physiatrist and physical therapist, I was able to walk again.

After coming out of my leg brace, my dad's alcoholism manifested in rape and rage; my mother was addicted to prescription pain meds and my grandmother was just flat out nuts and subjected me to all sorts of torture rituals when we would spend weekends with her in the Bronx.

I managed to become valedictorian of my high school class and had a stellar social work career at the VA until everything caught up with me and my body shut down; my Spirit cried out for healing in 2006 in the guise of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease.

What got me through my childhood and adolescence was my imagination. I always held onto hope and I always imagined being taken care of (often calling upon the likes of the TV doctors at the time). I was blessed to have earth angels come into my life who provided me with enough unconditional love and support to make it through.

When my life came to a screeching halt in December of 2006, I went back into a leg brace and used a wheelchair at times for mobility. I once again turned inward and I let my heart and soul speak. I started writing poetry - well poetry started flowing out of me is more to the point as though my body shutting down turned on a spigot in my heart and soul. My imagination took over and transcended all that was happening in my body as I wrote the poem, "Running the Race."

It was a foreshadowing of my 2009 Boston Marathon run. Now I couldn't just sit back and imagine that I would run the Boston Marathon, I had to train and work hard to be able to get to the starting line in Hopkinton since I'd never run a day in my life. But had I not harnessed the power of visualization through meditation and writing poetry and feeling myself cross that finish line with every training run, I'm not so sure I would have been able to get to the finish line on 4/20/2009.

Because of all that my physical body and heart/mind/Spirit has experienced, it's easy for me to default to feeling like a prisoner in my body and in my life, not walking away from situations that are draining my energy; and just having enough energy to survive. Like that bird in the cage, I can forget that the door is wide open for me to fly free.

That is transforming now. I've decided to kick fear to the curb and move forward in my training and in my life with renewed vigor and determination. I am so blessed to partner with Dr. Ryan of Elevate Health Cambridge who believes in endless possibilities; who know the body's infinite capacity to heal and who are willing to work with me, to laugh with me, to cry with me and join me on my latest quest to reignite the endurance runner within me.

When I push myself in my strength training workouts I can feel the marathoner within me fire up. While right now I am race walking, I can imagine myself running - actually running - with ease and grace and I know that one day it will all come together and happen. I can see it and feel it happening in my body; being around the running community and watching races ignites the neuromuscular pathways for healing in my own body.

And so with a chiropractic physician, a muscular therapist, my husband by my side stride by stride, a wonderful community of running family, my own fierce determination which combines meditation, visualization and a training plan I:

Pave the Path of Freedom

Frivolous frolicking filly be not deceived by her devil may care
eye of the tiger a fiery soul exceeding all limits she’ll dare.
She pounds pavement paving her way no longer driven by fright
portal to possibility all she’s ever dreamed of now within sight.
Thundrous hooves determined and strong unbecoming all that she once knew
leave her old self in the dust shedding past of all she lived through.
Pave the way to embrace herself as she was always meant to be
spirit joyful rejoicing being herself unbridled she’s free.
Competing with no one but herself she instinctively quickens her pace
no longer limping swift of foot overflowing with ease and grace.
Feeling Spirit expanding with breath nostrils flare and peace fills her soul
filled with goodness and kindness undefeated remarkably whole.

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy" - Rumi



Be blessed. Journey well. To all good things....

My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.

Running Family and The James Joyce Ramble

We are so blessed to be a part of the running community. It's an amazing sport where whether you are an elite runner or a back of the pack runner like myself, we inspire each other to be the very best we can be. We share triumphs and tribulations. We talk about and share the frustration of injuries and tips to recover from injuries. We love to regale each other with our war stories and our stories of how running has transformed our lives.

Reno Stirrat is known as the Master of Boston. He’s one of 31 people who have logged a sub-3:00 marathon for five decades in a row. We belong to L Street Running Club and connected on Facebook, meeting at the Boston Marathon Expo a few years ago when he was at the Outside Interactive Booth. He posts daily inspirational quotes about running and life on Facebook and we became close cyberspace friends. He moved to New Jersey to care for his elderly mother but when I found out that he and his wife Susan would be coming to Boston for the James Joyce Ramble this weekend, I signed Tom up for the race.

We had an amazing dinner at the Yard House in Dedham last night.



Two and a half hours seemed to fly by. There was never a gap in the flow of conversation and there was such comfort and ease along with delicious food. Reno and Susan are both coming back from injuries. They are using a combination of acupuncture, chiropractic care, PT and cross training exercises to heal and recover from their injuries. Tom is emerging from 3 1/2 years of incredible job stress so that he now has the time to train and enjoy running again. I have been helping him cross train using the exercises that Dr. Ryan of Elevate Health Cambridge has recommended to help me with recovery from my knee injury and to complement my running. As we said good night, we all felt the energy and inspiration generated by our get together that carried us into Sunday.

When we arrived at the Endicott Estate, it was like walking onto a movie set:


We bumped into one of our fellow L Streeter's, Mary Scherr:


and were able to find Reno and Susan:




The Masters Championship runners went off 3 minutes ahead of the regular field and I was able to capture these two photos of Susan before and during the start of the race:


I took a video of the field taking off:


And then moved to the finish line to see Reno run a sub 6 minute mile taking 2nd in his AG by 4 seconds:


In a stunning upset, Susan took 3rd place in her AG. Here is Team Stirrat with their medals:


And then there's Tom's PR by almost 8 minutes from his last 10K, the BAA 10K in October and I have a story to share:


Recently, Tom and I have been talking about him taking me on a run with him. In today's race, he told me that I was with him - pure Spirit - light, easy and free and he visualized me running side by side with him keeping pace at an 8:48 minute/mile pace. I could feel it. Being with Reno and Susan Saturday evening, reminiscing about when I trained for Boston and sharing my goal to run another marathon, being around the energy of the race and feeling myself running with Tom out on the course is fueling my healing and transformation. During a meditation, I had this awareness. "It's so simple. All I have to do is remember. Remember how I felt in my body before paralytic polio and violence took its toll." And with remembering how I felt combined with incredibly hard work of training and cross training, we will create the reality of us running together - running together - with ease and a steady pace.

That's what happens when you have the unconditional love and support of running family who believe that anything is possible - regardless of age or circumstances.



Be blessed. Journey well. To all good things....



My latest book, "Journey Well" is now available on Amazon along with all of my inspirational books. 50% of book proceeds are donated to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, a safe, welcoming space for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing to heal and stay in touch with one another; a virtual hub for a widely dispersed community whose lives have been impacted by the tragic events of April 15th and the events that followed.

When terror struck the world's oldest and most beloved marathon on April 15, 2013, it was a defining moment in Mary McManus’ life and the lives of all those in Boston and around the world. It was her wake up call to return to the sport and community that have been medicine and a lifeline for her throughout her marathon of healing the late effects of paralytic polio and experiencing 9 years of domestic violence as a child and adolescent. Mary captures the essence of Boston Strong through her experience of the 2014 Boston Marathon and as she profiles the people who are Boston Stronger. Through her blog posts, poems and journal entries woven together with excerpts from her memoir, “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility,” you will experience, through one woman’s journey of transformation and healing, that no matter what happens to us, we can all learn to journey well.