Published: 13 August 2014

When is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting, talking or even thinking?

Andy Puddicombe is a meditation and mindfulness expert and he wants you to take a break -- not just from work but also from your own mind. Andy, a former Buddhist monk and co-founder of Headspace, is committed to make meditation more accessible to more people in their everyday lives. Besides being a Ted Talk speaker, Andy shares his wisdom with the Huffington Post and the Guardian on the benefits of mindful thinking for healthy living. He was recently interviewed' by Ed Halliwell, a meditation author and writer for The Guardian’s Web site, who said:

“Mr Puddicombe is doing for meditation what someone like Jamie Oliver has done for food.”

I hope you like the interview as much as did.

Enjoy!

Sunita

Sunita: How did you get to where you are today?

Andy Puddicombe: With the love, help and support of many, many different people. Having trained as a Buddhist monk, I felt really passionate about meditation and so when I came back to the UK I really wanted to make it more accessible. Then I was fortunate enough to meet my business partner Rich Pierson and that really made the change. We swapped our skills, I taught him meditation and he taught me how to make the techniques relevant and available to the public – Headspace was the outcome of that.

Sunita: Why did you get into Mindfulness?

Andy: I was at university studying Sports Science at the time and although it’s a difficult thing to put into words, one day I just found myself thinking, “I really want to become a Buddhist monk”. I had been introduced to meditation earlier in life as my mum was interested in it, and done a fair bit on and off throughout my teens. In retrospect it sounds crazy, but at the time it felt like the most natural thing in the world and a very easy decision to make.
I went away because I wanted to better understand how to stop the endless chatter inside my head and I felt I wasn’t getting that through normal education. Having trained as a monk and started to teach meditation to others, I was then keen to find a way to demystify meditation and make it available to a wider audience.

When I came back to the UK, I wanted to show people that meditation wasn’t all about sitting in the lotus position and chanting. I wanted to make it accessible, relevant and beneficial for as many people as possible. It’s been incredible to see how the perception of meditation has shifted in the ten years since then and to see how many more people are benefiting from this simple skill.

Sunita: What is Headspace about?

Andy: Headspace is a digital health platform, a gym membership for your mind. We already have well over 1 million users and that number grows every day. It is my personal wish to see the health and happiness of the world increase through the practice of meditation and the application of mindfulness. When meditation becomes just as much a part of people’s everyday routine as brushing their teeth or taking a shower, then we’ll have achieved our aim. In the meantime, we’ll continue to look for innovative ways to spread the word and to encourage people to give it a go.

Sunita: Describe a difficult challenge in your life and how you got over it?

Andy: I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in April last year, soon after moving from London to LA. I had an orchiectomy, removing the right testicle. As it was an aggressive form of cancer I was recommended secondary surgery on the lymphatic system and one round of chemo. But I found another doctor who was willing to take a less invasive approach and adopt a wait and see strategy. I get checked and scanned every few months and have been clear for nearly a year now.

I would say that mindfulness was, has been and continues to be integral to my recovery, on a number of levels. I already sat and practiced formal meditation on a daily basis, so already having learnt the skill of mindfulness made a huge difference. But I increased the amount I was doing as I was off work recovering and sat for maybe 3 sessions a day. I also had the good fortune to be in a lovely environment to recover, so I'd apply mindfulness to walking in the garden or doing my rehab exercises.

Sunita: In your opinion why are people finding it hard to balance work and life?

Andy: With the current pace of life and increasing demands - not least of which is the increasing digital chatter - there is no question that the mind is experiencing a new and potentially harmful degree of pressure. Most people assume that this stress is simply part of life, but it really doesn’t have to be that way. Meditation shows us how to live more skilfully.

Personally I’m not all that keen on this artificial separation of work and life. Work is part of life and our mind is mind, no matter where we are. Rather than try and balance something we don’t like or enjoy with the remaining hours of our day, why not find a way for the mind to be happy, no matter where we are or what we are doing? To me that’s the ultimate work-life balance.

Sunita: All the literature tells us to communicate with more compassion and more empathy but how can we practice that in the work place?

Andy: Mindfulness is about being present in the moment, free from distraction or judgment with a soft and open mind. So we practice it at work in the same way as we would anywhere else. The distinction between work and the rest of our life is really quite artificial and has nothing to do with reality. The more we practice mindfulness the more we see of our mind. By witnessing the inner struggles we go through, we start to understand what others are going through and why they might do and say the things that they do. This is empathy. The result is that we become more patient, less judgemental and less reactive, making for a calmer, more peaceful working environment.

Sunita: Could you share some of your strategies that we could use to keep more balanced?

Andy: Establishing a meditation practice is a great place to start. It can help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, improve your sleep, enhance productivity at work, improve your physical performance in sports and even help to soften the edges in relationships as we become more patient, better listeners, and perhaps a little kinder too. The range of benefits is vast and varies from person to person, but at the very least, it will make for a calmer and clearer mind. So, download the Headspace App – it’s free to try – and give Take10 a go. It’s just 10 minutes a day for 10 days and provides the perfect introduction to meditation, even for those people who don’t really ‘do’ meditation.

Sunita: What is the best piece of advice you were ever given?

Andy: To be kind. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about it in terms of being kind to ourselves or others, only when we learn to let go the judgemental aspect of mind, when we embrace forgiveness, when we acknowledge our shared human experience, when we practice kindness, will we discover true peace of mind and happiness in our lives.

Sunita: What's the next challenge for you?

Andy: Well, I’m based in Los Angeles and I think that America is somewhere that’s crying out for Headspace. But the tradition of Eastern mysticism in America, particularly in California, is very established. So, while it means there is more openness around the subject, it also means there are more preconceptions too. We think of Headspace as meditation for the kind of people who don’t really do meditation. Often they’re the ones who need mindfulness the most and it’s those people I’d like to make Headspace more accessible for.

Sunita: What's next for you?

Andy: We have just launched Headspace V2, which has been a hugely exciting journey that is still unfolding for us. It’s almost 2 years in the making and represents all of the user feedback we’ve had from V1. Not only does it look stunning, but it also has some great new functionality that gives you much more choice as a user. So you can choose mindfulness packs which are suited to you, whether that’s around health, performance or relationships. You can also buddy up with friends and family if you want and even track your progress. We’ll even give you rewards when you do a certain number of days in a row. So seeing this become established as the foremost global health platform for the mind is what we’re working on right now.

“Rather than try and balance something we don’t like or enjoy with the remaining hours of our day, why not find a way for the mind to be happy, no matter where we are or what we are doing? To me that’s the ultimate work-life balance.”

Bio

Andy Puddicombe is a meditation and mindfulness expert. An accomplished presenter and writer, Andy is the voice of all things Headspace. In his early twenties, midway through a university degree in Sports Science, Andy made the unexpected decision to travel to the Himalayas to study meditation instead. It was the beginning of a ten-year journey, which took him around the world, culminating with ordination as a Tibetan Buddhist monk in Northern India. His transition back to normal life in 2004 was no less extraordinary. Training briefly at Moscow State Circus, he returned to London where he completed a degree in Circus Arts with the Conservatoire of Dance and Drama, whilst drawing up the early plans for what was later to become Headspace.

Resources: For more information on Andy and Mindfulness visit his website below:

• Headspace www.headspace.com
• How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in 10 Minutes a Day: A Guided Meditation By Andy Puddicombe
• The Headspace Diet: 10 days to finding your ideal weight By Andy Puddicombe

Bio

Sunita has a passion for helping individuals, teams and companies to maximize their potential. With over 20 years experience both in the UK & Switzerland, she created Walk The Talk, with the sole aim, to help professionals improve their Business Communication Skills. She is of Indian origin but was born and raised in Britain before she moved to Geneva in 1991. She has a Psychology background, (specializing in Occupational Psychology) and a Post Graduate in the Development and Training of Adults from the University of Surrey. Furthermore, she recently completed a Masters of Advanced Studies in "Gestion des RH et des Carrières," (Specialising in Career Management and Coaching), at the Universities of Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchatel & Fribourg. 

Having successfully worked and operated in different cultures and languages, Sunita's strength lies in her ability to totally empathize with her clients and help them to perform their best.

www.walkthetalk.ch