Vidyamala Burch

Founder of Breathworks CIC

Vidyamala is the founder of Breathworks CIC, a social enterprise with nearly 500 accredited teachers working in 35 countries teaching meditation and mindfulness to people living with pain, illness and stress. Breathworks came about after Vidyamala experienced a spinal injury aged 17, which caused partial paraplegia with severe long-term pain.

Today, Vidyamala is an internationally renowned author with her books, Living Well with Pain and Illness, Mindfulness for Health and Mindfulness for Women published in over 14 languages. She is a regular speaker in the media and online.

With meditations and courses on online meditation app Insight Timer, Vidyamala is reaching over 250,000 users with her recordings alone.

Vidyamala is an Honorary Member of the British Pain Society in recognition of her ‘outstanding contribution to the alleviation of pain through personal endeavour and for her work for the Society’.

In 2019, Vidyamala was one of the keynote speakers at the Mindfulness in Schools ‘A Million Minds Matter’ conference. She shared the benefits of mindfulness practice with students and teachers. She’s also been a guest lecturer at UCL offering Mindfulness-based Pain Management (MBPM) on an MSc.

She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Mindfulness Initiative, a project working with legislators around the world, helping them to make meditation and mindfulness serious considerations for public policy.

Vidyamala is also passionate about The Breathworks Foundation charity. This raises funds so mindfulness can be available to everyone regardless of ability to pay.