About us
What is Headspace?
Our short video explains all.
So what is Headspace?
Headspace is meditation, but not as you know it.
For a start, there's no chanting, no sitting cross-legged, no incense and definitely no gurus. There's no religious agenda or mystical mumbo-jumbo, just simple, practical tools to help you find a bit more clarity and calm in your everyday life. And although it's simple to learn, the benefits you'll experience are pretty amazing - from feeling less stressed, to simply feeling happier.
We know that lots of people are put off meditating because they think it's something 'spiritual people' do, but that's like not liking music because of yodelling - that's just one thing some people like to do with it.
Although these proven techniques have evolved over thousands of years, they are totally compatible with modern life. In fact we've made of sure of it, by making our bespoke tools and support available online, on your mobile phone, and on your MP3 player.
Basically, we're on a mission to get people to Take10 minutes out of their day to sit in the here and now, because we believe it makes a hugely positive psychological, emotional, and physical difference to the quality of life of everyone who tries it.
Charity
Although Headspace isn’t itself a charity, it’s a significant objective of ours to donate as much money as possible to support good work being done by charities around the world.
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Starlight Children's Foundation
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ROKPA
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Centrepoint
Andy Puddicombe
Andy's a registered Clinical Meditation Consultant with the UK Healthcare Commission. He's also a former Buddhist monk. An accomplished presenter and writer, Andy is the voice of all things Headspace.
He started learning to meditate aged 11, and tried various approaches throughout his teens. In his early twenties, midway through a Sports Science degree (and through what he'll tell you was a 'pretty typical student life for a young bloke'), he decided to follow through on his suspicion that there had to be more to life, and set off to Asia to become a Buddhist monk.
His meditation training since has taken him all over the world. He became a fully ordained monk at a Tibetan Monastery in the Indian Himalayas, but spent a lot of time living in monasteries and doing retreat in Nepal, Burma (now Myanmar), Thailand, Australia, UK and Russia. Andy came back to the UK in 2004 with one simple intention: to demystify meditation, to make it accessible, relevant and beneficial to as many people as possible. And thus the seeds of Headspace were sown.
Richard Pierson
Richard is a co-founder of Headspace, a former ad-man who left to work out what it was all about – and discovered meditation.
Richard's career in marketing saw him working on a number of household brands.
Richard and Andy met through a mutual friend. Andy needed some help 'selling' meditation, so Andy taught Rich to meditate while Rich taught Andy how to market his idea. As it happened, Rich liked what he learned so much that they decided to start a business together. That business is Headspace, and the next chapters are yet to be written.
Maria Schonfeld
Maria heads up the Headspace Foundation. With her extensive background working with numerous charities and firsthand experience of the positive effects of meditation in people's lives (including her own), she's a passionate advocate for, and indispensible part of, the Headspace mission.
