Breathworks is a not-for-profit social enterprise and leading international mindfulness organisation co-founded by Vidyamala Burch. The organisation was born out of Vidyamala's personal journey. She first injured her spine at 17 years old and learned to meditate in 1985. In 2001 she started teaching meditation and mindfulness to people living with pain, illness and stress out of a desire to share what she had learned with others. Vidyamala is now an experienced meditation teacher who works internationally. She offers wise and practical guidance in how to bring mindfulness and kindness to experience - including difficulties such as pain and illness - so one can 'live well' with a free and relaxed mind, whatever the circumstances. Today, Vidyamala is an internationally known author of Living Well with Pain and Illness, BMA award winner Mindfulness for Health co-authored with best-selling writer Danny Penman and her latest book Mindfulness for Women co-authored with award winning editor Claire Irvin. Breathworks mindfulness courses, teacher training programme and products have been developed to meet the needs of everyone living with chronic pain, physical illness and associated stress. They are designed to ensure that regardless of your situation or condition, you can have access to the Breathworks methods. We also provide specialist programmes for organisations and for health, education and social care professionals wishing to incorporate mindfulness into their work. Breathworks programmes and products are a development of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and founded on practice-based research. Our research on the clinical benefits of mindfulness revealed that across all scales measured (mood, pain experience, quality of life and confidence in activity despite pain), the Breathworks approach showed statistically and clinically significant improvement.
