We teach people to:
"Whether you suffer with chronic pain or illness, treat those who suffer, or care for a loved one who does, the Breathworks methods could radically change your life for the better"
Professor Lance McCracken, King's College Londonand INPUT Pain Management Cente
Since 2001, Breathworks has offered thousands of people living with pain, stress and illness the potential to improve and transform their quality of life. Our research-tested methods are based on key elements of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and draw on the personal experience of Vidyamala Burch, who uses mindfulness to manage severe chronic spinal pain.
Courses
We offer courses in a wide range of mindfulness skills to ease the suffering associated with
These can be accessed face-to-face, through distance learning, online or online with mentoring.
Breathworks offers teacher training in mindfulness based approaches to pain, stress and illness. This training provides instruction in teaching others as well as developing mindfulness as a personal practice. The full Breathworks training leads to qualification as a Breathworks teacher to deliver specially designed Breathworks courses such as Living Well with Pain, Stress and Illness and Mindfulness for Stress.
Mindfulness is a state of awareness that enables us to make better choices about how we respond to our experiences even in difficult circumstances.
The Breathworks approach to mindfulness is based on accepting our experience of pain, illness or stress and not reacting to it. With mindfulness we can clearly perceive thoughts, physical sensations, emotions and events at the moment they occur without reacting in an automatic or habitual way.
By developing a new relationship with the conditions we find ourselves in, we begin to respond creatively. Experiences don’t overwhelm us and we can remain steady through life’s ups and downs.
Breathworks was formed by Vidyamala and her colleagues Sona Fricker and Gary Hennessey and is rapidly becoming a leader in the field of mindfulness for pain and illness management and stress reduction.
An article by Vidyamala Burch for the Healthcare Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, October 2009 (extended version) Download or View
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- Listen to an interview with Vidyamala with Sounds True, her US publisher
Vidyamala Burch - Breathworks Founder
Vidyamala sustained a severe spinal injury when she was sixteen. Twenty-five years ago she started exploring mindfulness and meditation techniques to manage her persistent pain and in 2001 began offering these skills to others.
"Vidyamala makes the practice of befriending your experience through mindfulness both commonsensical and compelling. I admire her tremendously."
(Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living)
Recorded interviews with Vidyamala