The Breathworks Foundation

Making mindfulness accessible

We are a registered charity, with a mission is to make mindfulness accessible to everyone. Being an organisation that gives back has been important to us from the very beginning. Our Founder Vidyamala was living on benefits for many years before she was able to secure funding through a disability grant to start Breathworks. We know that many who benefit the most from our services are least able to afford it, so we are committed to help those in need through bursaries, scholarships, free resources and other funding initiatives.

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Recipients of Course Bursaries

Martine Anson

Katrina Parsey

“I participated in the Mindfulness for Health online course in 2018 and I was very generously awarded a bursary. For the last seven years I have been mostly unemployed and in a caring role but have a back ground in theatre, facilitation and activism.

The bursary was not only a financial aid for me, but actually, for the first time in seven years made me feel supported.

I have practiced writing, yoga, meditation and mindfulness for many years, but I wanted to deepen my practice and reach out to others. I ummed and arghed about the right course but fora long time felt pulled towards the Breathworks courses and training. The bursary helped my decision, but I don’t think I would have chosen a different course even if I had not been awarded a grant. The style and background of the teachers felt right.I am so glad I did. What a joy the course was. Ginny was the most inspirational facilitator. She picked up and responded to all her participants, bringing us together whilst encouraging our authenticity and individuality. Working with others and their feedback was the high light of the course. This though would have been meaningless without the depth and discipline of our individual meditation and diary entries. I really did not know what to expect so it was great to discover a community of mindfulness activists and found the course highly creative in itself.

The compassion for my pain and for others also enabled my personal creativity.

A wonderful course mindfully constructed and creatively and authentically facilitated. I can and do recommend this eight-week online course in Mindfulness for Health; life affirming. I am now preparing for teacher training which I am also being supported with a bursary. I am so grateful to Breathworks and at a tough time in my life, feel blessed for being able to take part.”

Dr. William E Donald

“In 2012, I went from running marathons and participating in 40-mile timed walking competitions, to being mostly bed bound and reliant on a wheelchair and full time care support. I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), and secondary Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

One of the most important aspects for my day-to-day existence is mental resilience. I came across the Mindfulness for Health course on the Breathworks website – and the bursary from The Breathworks Foundation was vital in enabling me to access this opportunity in October 2018. What I loved most about this course was the option to participate from my own home, coupled with an online forum of other participants that provided an open space to share experiences and to support one another. This helped to overcome the barriers of accessing face-to-face courses for people like myself who are primarily housebound.

The course helped me to improve my mindfulness scores and to reduce my stress test scores. This will be invaluable in helping me to manage the risks of anxiety and depression, which are all too common in people with long-term health conditions.”

Anonymous

“I have a long term health condition spanning decades, which is aggravated by stress. I took part in the online version of the Breathworks Mindfulness for Health course earlier this year, after hearing some former participants speak very highly of it. As I am only able to work part-time, with finances being an ongoing struggle, I would not have been able to attend the course without the bursary I was granted.

I liked the fact that I could easily access the course online without having to travel anywhere, as time and energy are limited due to my health condition. The course helped me focus specifically on stress reduction and being part of a programme and a group motivated me to keep going with the mindfulness exercises. This has not been as easy to do since the course ended, but the fact that I still have easy access to the exercises for life, used throughout the course, enables me to tune back in whenever I can.

I am much more aware since the course of the effect that stress has on my physical symptoms and the course enabled me to see clearly how, when I was practicing mindfulness twice daily, those stress levels reduced and external stressors became more manageable. I would recommend the course to anyone and everyone, as stress is such an insidious and destructive thing!”

Catherine Hawkins

“I completed the Mindfulness for Health eight week course in October 2018 and I am going to begin the Introductory Teacher Training in June 2019. I live in Greater Manchester and have been a Dance Artist for over twenty five years. This has included performing, leading dance activities for a variety of groups and dance and health projects. I developed movement work in a children’s hospital for over eight years.

I had been interested in Breathworks for a while, though it took a serious injury for me to practice meditation regularly as I needed help to deal with my chronic pain. After years of back pain, rupturing my Achilles tendon was a blow to my very active body, confidence and income as I could no longer do my usual work and I also help care for my Dad who has Alzheimer’s. I could not have begun my journey with Breathworks without receiving a bursary and also support from Dancers Career Development.

I had a great group and fantastic course leaders so really enjoyed being supported to establish a regular meditation practice, gaining knowledge and strategies to meet the challenge of pain. Excepting this compassionately, pacing and looking for the positive has changed my everyday experience, I feel less pain. One lovely effect of Mindfulness is that I enjoy just being with my Dad more, how I deal with his Alzheimer’s has changed. Thanks, I’m really looking forward to Breathworks Teacher Training.”

Jo Coomer

"The difference my Breathworks course has made to my life and family has been immeasurable and I will always be so glad I participated.

Breathworks is a connected community of empathetic individuals who have created a unique environment of acceptance and support.

Having developed an autoimmune condition, severe allergies and anaphylaxis, I just couldn’t attend a local group. We didn’t know what was going on in my body or what would happen - the agonising wait and limitations and side effects in treatment and medication, complicated by caring for my son who has Autism. The online Mindfulness for Health course was the only location of meaningful help for me.

Our incredibly supportive tutor deftly deployed a range of strategies and techniques to not only teach but bring together people from all walks of life who were going through similar challenges, with whom I still keep in touch.

My children and I still benefit from resources like the guided meditations which established a new outlook for us all and painted our practice with colour and joy.

I couldn’t have done all of this without The Foundation bursary, for which I am so grateful."

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