Recent events have highlighted much more strongly some of the issues that People of Colour face in our world.  Through deepening our awareness of these issues, we are working to meet this situation with compassionate action.  Breathworks Staff and Board members are committed to strengthening our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).  We want to take this time to reflect deeply, listen and respond in a way that can create lasting change in our organisation.

Our mission and values are inspired and informed by teachings on compassion and ethics which include an awareness of common humanity and overcoming barriers created by perceived difference. Guided by these values, we committed ourselves several years ago to engage in the equality, diversity and inclusion working group within British Association of Mindfulness Based Approaches (BAMBA).  It is important to us that people feel equally welcome, valued and safe in the Breathworks community.

Clearly, there is more work to do, and more than ever we will continue to expand the amount of financial assistance we offer to increase access to participation in our programmes. This includes bursary funding and scholarships for people who couldn’t otherwise afford access to our training. We are taking this opportunity to affirm our commitment to making mindfulness training as a tool to reduce suffering widely available to all

We stand in solidarity with all who are working towards dismantling racial inequities and other forms of systemic oppression. We warmly welcome feedback from our community and beyond to inform our work in strengthening our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.  

With kindness

Vidyamala Burch (co-founder) and Helen Sullivan (CEO) on behalf of Breathworks staff team and Board