• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Testosterone Boosters
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Multivitamins
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Tasting Protein Powder
      • Best Vegan Protein
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
      • Concept2 RowErg Review
      • Hydrow Wave Review
      • Best Jump Ropes
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Reviews

Book Review: “Living Well With Pain & Illness” by Vidyamala Burch

Author Vidyamala Burch has put together a tremendous resource for anyone who is interested in how to use meditation for chronic pain.

Written by Nicole Crawford Last updated on Nov 22, 2021

We receive free products and receive commissions through our links. See disclosures page.

Each thing –

Each stone, blossom, child – is held in place.

Only we, in our arrogance,

Push out beyond what we belong to

For some empty freedom.

If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence

We could rise up, like rooted trees…

This is what the things can teach us: to fall,

Patiently to trust our heaviness.

Even a bird has to do that

Before he can fly.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Studies have shown that meditation has significant benefits for people who deal with chronic pain. This appears to be true for people of all age groups. For example, a 2012 study suggested that older adults dealing with pain from Postherpetic neuralgia experienced significant improvement with daily meditation. Likewise, another study conducted in June 2012 found that mindfulness meditation helps children who live with chronic pain. I’ve learned a lot about meditation for acute pain in my training to be a doula, since it is well known for its benefits during labor and delivery. At this point, nearly everyone seems to be in agreement that meditation has benefits for many people who deal with pain of any kind.

That’s all well and fine, but how exactly would you apply that on a practical level? If you have found yourself asking that question, whether for your own chronic pain or to help someone else, the book Living Well With Pain and Illness is for you. Author Vidyamala Burch has put together a tremendous resource for anyone who is interested in how to use meditation to deal with chronic pain.

The book is divided into four parts. Part I, called “A New Relationship With Pain” details the author’s own story of her experience with chronic pain, which began early in life with a spinal injury and intensified after a car accident that left her with a whiplash, a crushed collarbone, a concussion, sprained wrist, and back pain that would never go away completely. She describes how her relationship with pain was transformed after a particularly intense experience after a hospital procedure:

Throughout the long hours of the night I felt impaled on the edge of madness, and it seemed that two voices were speaking within me. One was saying, I can’t bear this. I’ll go mad. There’s no way I can endure this until morning. But the other replied, “You have to bear it, you have no choice. They argued incessantly, like a vice growing tighter every second. Suddenly, out of the chaos came something new. I felt a powerful clarity, and a third voice said, You don’t have to get through until morning. You only have to get through the present moment.

That realization transformed Burch’s relationship with her pain. All that ‘live in the present’ stuff we read in meditation articles – Burch has experienced that, as she says, “in the marrow of my bones.” That personal awareness is what makes this book such a rich resource. When dealing with pain, empathy goes a much longer way than book knowledge, and Burch has both.

The second part of Burch’s book, called “Mindfulness and Healing,” is an examination of what mindfulness means and how we can obtain it, and flows well into Part 3, “Coming Home to the Body.” As Burch says, “Mindfulness practice is like any other training. If you want to become an athlete, you need to develop certain muscles so you can run with ease; to cultivate mindfulness you must train your awareness so that it becomes an increasingly reliable source of strength and stability.” Burch provides 5 concrete steps to obtaining that strength, and also describes the important distinction between cure and healing in Chapter 6.

In Parts 4 and 5, Burch delves more deeply into meditation. She examines the history of meditation in Western medicine, provides detailed descriptions of typical meditation sessions, and explains how meditation and pain work so well together. For my own purposes of working with women in labor, I found Chapter 14 on the mindfulness of breathing to be especially helpful, since it provides some concrete ways to train the body to connect to the present moment.

Burch concludes her book with a section called “Mindfulness At All Times.” I love the section on the 3 minute breathing space. Burch recommends setting aside regular 3 minute breathing space periods into the day to connect with your body and breath throughout the day. As a mom of two young children, I can personally vouch that this recommendation is not only beneficial for people who live with chronic pain, but also for people who live with the normal stresses of everyday life.

Throughout her book, Burch makes her advice applicable and relatable with real life examples, as well as diagrams and illustrations of postures and other information. I also liked how she integrates quotes by poets, meditation teachers, and other figures throughout the book. She got brownie points from me because she used quotes from one of my favorite poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, in two parts of the book.

Burch also includes a suggested program, samples of pleasant/unpleasant diaries, which she recommends for patients dealing with chronic pain, and a comprehensive resources section in the appendices. I also reviewed the CD that Burch created with Joshua Leeds to accompany the practices she outlines in her book.

“Living Well With Pain & Illness” is available in softcover for $10.69, or digital book for $9.99, at Amazon

About Nicole Crawford

Nicole's passion is helping women stay active and strong during and after pregnancy. She is a mom of four and RYT 200 certified yoga instructor. Nicole is also a certified personal trainer and women's fitness specialist (NASM) and completed the AFPA's pre- and post-natal fitness specialist program in 2009. She is also completing DONA International's requirements to become a certified birth doula.

A bookworm and lover of research at heart, Nicole has her Masters degree in philosophy from the University of Leuven, Belgium, where she wrote her thesis on the ancient Greek characterization of nature and movement. She loves running, kettlebells, dance, and yoga. The primary obstacles to her own fitness are her love for books, homebrewed beer, and good food.

View All Articles

Related Posts

A photo of the bag of XWERKS Motion on a red background
XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts
A photo of the Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X on a red background
Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?
Photos of the Peloton Bike+, Concept2 BikeErg, and NordicTrack S22i Studio Bike on a red background
13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)
Featured image of Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine supplement
Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

New Year’s Fitness Sales (2025)

XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts

Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?

13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)

Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Latest Reviews

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt Review (2025)

Omre NMN + Resveratrol, Lifeforce Peak NMN, and partiQlar NMN on a red background

Best NMN Supplement: Fountain of Youth in a Bottle? (2025)

The Titan Series Adjustable Bench on a red background

Titan Series Adjustable Bench Review (2025)

A photo of the NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Dumbbells on a red background

NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbell Review (2025): Are These Value Dumbbells Worth It?

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2025 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About