Vidyamala Burch

As an athletic teenager growing up in New Zealand, Vidyamala’s life was changed by two back injuries, which left her with severe chronic pain and disability. She discovered that mindfulness and compassion meditation were powerful tools to help her live with pain and has spent the last 35 years devoting herself to learning and teaching these tools. She co-founded Breathworks in 2004 and is now recognised as an international leader in Mindfulness-based Pain Management. She has written three books including the best-selling ‘Mindfulness for Health’ (co-authored with Danny Penman). This was awarded First Prize in Popular Medicine in the British Medical Association Books Awards. In 2018 Vidyamala was awarded an honorary membership to the British Pain Association for her extraordinary contribution to the field of pain management.