[7] At the age of 23 Burch was involved in a major car accident which fractured another of her vertebrae, significantly worsening her pain and debility.

[8] The most important, which she has described as "the axis on which my life has turned",[11] occurred after having a procedure after which she was required to sit upright for 24 hours to avoid complications, causing her almost unbearable pain.

[11] The way that Burch eventually integrated these insights into her life was meditation and mindfulness practice, which she was also introduced to during her 1985 hospital stay.

A hospital chaplain guided her through a visualization meditation which she experienced as transformative, showing her that "although my body was broken to some extent... my mind could be a tool for healing and well-being".

[13][8][14] She has described her time at Taraloka as "very intense, but I knew I needed this kind of strong medicine if I was to transform my mind in any lasting and meaningful way.

[15] She has described this time as a "dark voyage", during which "I had to face my deepest and most destructive habits, especially my tendency to overdo things and then 'crash and burn'".

and Jon Kabat-Zinn (in particular his work with the chronically ill, as described in Full Catastrophe Living), as well as by the lessons of her own experience, Burch realized that she needed to "turn toward the difficult, rather than try to escape it.

[13] Gradually, Burch's daily life and meditation practice shifted into a mode of "acceptance", in which,[16] "I’m motivated to maintain what function and mobility I have, but my underlying quest is no longer to get rid of or overcome my pain.

[18] Burch recalls:[8] If anyone had told me at that point that Breathworks would go on to be an international concern with branches in fifteen countries and that literally thousands of people would go through our courses, I’d have thought they were bonkers.

I suddenly realised that there were so many people out there with physical health problems, with no idea where to turn.Those attending the "Peace of Mind" classes responded positively to them, finding the practices Burch was teaching extremely helpful.

[18] In 2002 Burch required major surgery involving the reconstruction of her lower spine, meaning that she was unable to work for around a year.

[8][18] All were members of the Triratna Buddhist Order, and saw Burch's program as a way to help those in need while also providing a means of "right livelihood".

[20] After its foundation in 2004 Breathworks grew rapidly, playing a significant part in the development of the UK mindfulness teaching community, and establishing a range of programs and an international presence.

Burch's 2002 surgery, along with the new meditation and lifestyle habits she adopted during her time of confinement, improved her health significantly, allowing her to take an active role in steering Breathworks forward, to write, and to travel nationally and internationally to teach.

[30][29] Utilizing a "six-step process" oriented towards the cultivation of qualities such as awareness, acceptance, sympathetic joy, equanimity, loving-kindness, and choice, MBPM has been seen as sensitive to concerns about the dangers of removing mindfulness teaching from its original ethical framework within Buddhism, while also providing a secular evidence-based approach appropriate for people of all faiths, and none.

[31][32] Burch has published on MBPM in academic forums,[30][32] and the approach has been subject to a range of clinical studies demonstrating its effectiveness.

[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][32] Burch was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to wellbeing and pain management.