Today on the Being Well Podcast we explore:

• Vidyamala Burch’s personal story, and how mindfulness became a key tool in her healing journey. 
• The specific techniques used by Breathworks, which differ from more traditional mindful approaches. 
• How we can frame our pain psychologically to limit its influence on our lives. 

Chronic pain is a specter that influences the lives of millions of people. There are many methodologies for managing chronic pain, and today Forrest and I had the opportunity to speak with Vidyamala Burch, co-founder of Breathworks, which offers mindfulness-based approaches to living well with chronic pain, illness, or stress. 

The organization grew out of Vidyamala’s own experience with chronic pain as a partial paraplegic and adapts principles from Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy.

Click here if you’d like to give to the Breathworks Foundation, the charitable wing of Breathworks.

Today we explore:

• Vidyamala’s personal story, and how mindfulness became a key tool in her healing journey. 
• The specific techniques used by Breathworks which differ from more traditional mindful approaches. 
• How we can frame our pain psychologically to limit its influence in our lives. 

If you’d like to start making real, positive changes to your brain and your life, but you don’t have a lot of extra time, then you may want to check out Rick Hanson’s new program: Just One Minute. Use the code BEINGWELL at checkout for 10% off the purchase price.

Topics:

• 00:58: Vidyamala Burch’s story.
• 04:55: The story behind Breathworks’ approach.
• 12:08: Basic techniques and practices Breathworks teaches.
• 15:51: Why doesn’t mindfulness make pain worse? Why would I want to be mindful of my pain?
• 19:20: The power of fully coming into an experience of self.
• 26:58: General advice for managing chronic pain.
• 32:45: How to keep going through the bad days.
• 38:20: Recap