10 Rules For Survival: Mindfulness & Compassion In Challenging Times - by Vidyamala Burch

COURSE

10 Rules For Survival: Mindfulness & Compassion In Challenging Times

With Vidyamala Burch

Drawing on lessons learned during the COVID-19 crisis, Vidyamala offers a comprehensive toolkit for using mindfulness and compassion to manage challenging times. This course is applicable in the present climate as well as offering guidance to navigate tough times at any point in our lives. These evidence based mindfulness principles are designed to help you not only keep your head above water but to thrive. Through cultivating calm, care and connection we can find stability and peace of mind, even in the midst of uncertainty.


Meet your Teacher

Vidyamala has been practicing mindfulness and compassion for 35 years. Initially she was drawn to working with the mind as a way of coping with chronic pain and disability following spinal injuries. She now sees mindfulness and compassion as the key to living a rich and meaningful life. In 2001 she co-founded the Breathworks organization that has grown to offer mindfulness and compassion in over 35 countries. She is co-author of the best-selling Mindfulness for Health (published as You are Not Your Pain in the USA). In 2014 this won first prize in the British Medical Association book awards. In 2008 she wrote Living well with Pain and and in 2016 she co-authored Mindfulness for Women.

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10 Days

4.5k students

4.9 stars

16 min / day

Stress

English


Lesson 1

Rule 1 - The Power Of Awareness - SOS Quick ‘Pick-Me-Ups’

This session includes an introduction to mindfulness and compassion. Vidyamala also knows there will be times when you’re too stressed to meditate, or your circumstances don’t allow you a period of quiet. She offers some tried and tested mindfulness and compassion approaches that you can draw on any time.

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Lesson 2

Rule 2 - Now Is The Time

In this session, Vidyamala invites us to live one moment at a time and practice being in the here and now. The past is a memory and the future just an idea - the present moment is the only moment we can directly experience and make choices in how we respond to challenge. In times of uncertainty, it is easy for the mind to get swept away by worries for the future and a great antidote is to keep coming back to the here and now and cultivating calm and clarity.

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Lesson 3

Rule 3 - Breathe

In this session, we take present moment body awareness deeper by investigating breathing. Vidyamala builds on the 3 B’s of the Breath introduced in Rule 1 and expands it to include Back Breathing and being aware of releasing in the Brain. This is the 5 B’s of breath awareness. Vidyamala explains how resting awareness deeply within the flow of breath in the whole body brings online the parasympathetic part of the nervous system which is restorative and calming.

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Lesson 4

Rule 4 - Know Your Mind

Vidyamala explains how the mind can be our greatest resource once we have trained to it be present and kind. Of course it can also be our greatest tormenter and Vidyamala shows ways to be-friend your mind so it can work with you rather than against you. The mind naturally gravitates to what it is interested in and Vidyamala suggests ways to make the experience of embodied breathing more interesting than our normal compulsive ‘thought trains’. Time and again we can catch the mind wandering, and invite it back to the body to rest in the flow of breathing.

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Lesson 5

Rule 5 - Mindful Movement And Physical Fitness

In this session ,we look at the importance of Stretching, Strengthening and Stamina - the 3 S’s of movement. Vidyamala will suggest practical ways to address these three areas in any circumstances, including lockdown and social distancing. She guides some gentle mindful movements to help get an experience of moving with a soft breath and with balanced, appropriate effort. This approach can then be taken into the various movements of everyday life.

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Lesson 6

Rule 6 - Self-Compassion With Patience And Kindness

In times of uncertainty, life can feel chaotic and frightening and we can easily fall into giving ourselves a hard time. Maybe we feel exhausted and unproductive. Maybe unhelpful habits have taken hold. Maybe we compare ourselves to others and always come up short. In this session Vidyamala helps us appreciate that we are all doing our best and show ways to cultivate patience and kindness towards ourselves and others. We’ll practice a Kindly Soothing breath meditation to help cultivate this deeper acceptance and self-compassion.

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Lesson 7

Rule 7 - Opening To Goodness

When we feel under threat, our ‘negativity bias’ gets activated and it is all too easy to only notice difficult and painful experiences. But even when times are tough, we can train ourselves to notice, and dwell upon, simple pleasures. It might be the quality of light in the room or outside, soft hands or the call of birds. By dwelling upon simple pleasures, we can re-set our nervous system to a more restful and calm state. Vidyamala also introduces the importance of recognizing qualities within us and suggests ways to build these qualities in meditation. This session includes an Opening to Goodness meditation to help cultivate this skill.

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Lesson 8

Rule 8 - Body Like A Mountain, Heart Like The Ocean, Mind Like The Sky

This is a beautiful expression from the 13 century Zen master, Dogen. It points to broad yet stable awareness that we can train ourselves to cultivate. Rather than experiencing things as hard edged and static we can train ourselves to rest within the fluid and changing nature of all phenomenon. This frees us from the struggle of resisting painful experiences as if they were static and fixed, or trying to cling onto pleasant experiences only to be disappointed when they eventually fade. We can rest in broad, open, fluid awareness and taste freedom.

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Lesson 9

Rule 9 - Only Connect

Building on the previous session, we now broaden our field of awareness to include an appreciation of others and all life. Human beings are built for connection. It’s hard wired as part of our survival strategies. In times of physical isolation, such as quarantine or lockdown, we can use our imagination to cultivate empathy for others and focus on all that we share in common. Scientific evidence shows that such imaginative engagement is good for our health. It brings about a profound shift from feeling isolated to feeling connected.

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Lesson 10

Rule 10 - The 3 C’s of Calm, Care And Connection For Challenging Times

In this session, we will summarise all the key points from the previous nine days to embed the learning of the course. These can be summarised as calm, care and connection – qualities which provide a road map for greater ease, courage and resilience in the face of any kind of challenge.

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4.9 (419)

Recent Reviews

Claire

February 17, 2026

So grateful to have connected with Vidyamala…so inspiring 🙏

Mike

Mike

January 29, 2026

Excellent series of teachings and meditations.

Elke

January 6, 2026

Vidyamala Bruch‘s 10 days Rules for difficult times is so helpful. She explains the rules very clearly and with comp

Sittal

June 6, 2025

Profound wisdom and tools to live a more peaceful, grounded life

Rita

Rita

April 2, 2025

Fantastic course. I’ve been meditating and teaching mindfulness for years, and found so many helpful instructions that I’ll use in my own practice and with students. The 5 B’s of breathing has especially helped me to settle into deeper meditation more easily. With profound gratitude for your wisdom, clarity, and compassion 🙏♥️

Mary

February 14, 2025

Ms Burch’s program is amazing. I connect so easily to meditation with Her voice, her choice of words, her kindness. Every day is challenging in this world and she helps me so much to be present without fear.

Carolyn

Carolyn

November 6, 2024

Today is November 6th. I completed this valuable teaching at a very important moment. I choose kindness toward self and others because that feels most important today. Thank you.

Elinor

Elinor

October 5, 2024

Extremely helpful

Annie

August 26, 2024

So helpful, thank you!

Ann

March 16, 2024

Very helpful to a beginner. Thank you!

Arturo

February 22, 2024

Excelent

Lawana

Lawana

February 12, 2024

It was amazing. I feel like if I can apply all that you teach in daily life and life would be a breeze.

Anja

Anja

February 5, 2024

Thank you so much for your help and compassion,🙏 I will restart your course again and again, to rembember every tool for survival 🕊️ Bless 💜

Erica

Erica

February 2, 2024

Amazing and very very helpful! Deeply grateful 🙏🏼

Bruce

Bruce

January 19, 2024

Wonderful course. Great suggestions and profound wisdom.

Lori

Lori

December 19, 2023

Tools for a life time!!! Thank you!

Faye

Faye

October 20, 2023

Absolutely 💯 wonderful. Rules for life, from one of the world's

Cynthia

Cynthia

September 18, 2023

I chose to repeat a lesson for several days in a row to better embody each concept, allowing myself the pleasure of this course for over one month. Each lesson stands alone well, and taken together in sequence build upon one another into a thoughtfully constructed set of skills invaluable to navigating through challenging times. Thank you.

Annie

September 17, 2023

Thank you! I’m listening again.

Zerrin

August 22, 2023

🙏

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