Andy Puddicombe

{{Infobox person

| name = Andy Puddicombe

| image = Andy_Puddicombe.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1972|09|23}}

| birth_place = London, England

| nationality = British

| occupation = {{hlist|Author|public speaker|Meditation and mindfulness teacher}}

| years_active = 2004–present

| known_for = Headspace

| website =

}}

Andy Puddicombe (born 23 September 1972) is a British author, public speaker and a teacher of meditation and mindfulness. He, alongside Richard Pierson,{{cite news|url=http://bimaawards.com/2012-finalists.php |title=BIMA Awards |publisher=BIMA Awards |accessdate=19 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319162331/http://bimaawards.com/2012-finalists.php |archivedate=19 March 2014 }} is the co-founder of Headspace, a digital health company that provides guided meditation training and mindfulness for its users.

Puddicombe is a former Buddhist monk with a degree in Circus Arts.

Early life and education

Puddicombe was born in London but grew up in Bristol, UK. He attended Wellsway Comprehensive School in Keynsham, studied Sports Science at De Montfort University, and obtained a Foundation Degree in Circus Arts.{{cite news|url=http://paris.leweb.co/participants/speakers/andy-puddicombe |title=Paris Le Web Speakers |publisher=Le Web |accessdate=19 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319163301/http://paris.leweb.co/participants/speakers/andy-puddicombe |archivedate=19 March 2014}}

Career

=Buddhism=

In 1994, Puddicombe gave up his studies in sports science and travelled to Asia to train as a Buddhist monk. He has attributed this in part to an effort to cope with the trauma of bereavement.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/headspace-the-little-app-of-calm-mqsdhq7bc5k |title=The Times |access-date=19 March 2014}}{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/declutter-your-mind-on-the-central-line-6458946.html |title=Declutter your mind on the Central Line |work=Evening Standard|date=14 April 2010}}

His meditation training took him to India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Australia and Russia; culminating in full ordination at a Tibetan monastery in India, in the Himalayas.{{cite news |url=http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1811119/headspace-app-co-founder-and-monk-andy-puddicombe-talks |title=Headspace app co-founder and monk Andy Puddicombe talks mindfulness |publisher=POST MAGAZINE |accessdate=19 March 2014}} Having completed a one-year cloistered retreat in Scotland, he returned to Russia, where he taught meditation in Moscow for four years before reaching the end of his monastic commitment.

In 2004 Puddicombe returned to the UK where he studied Circus Arts in London while simultaneously building his own private meditation practice in the city, wanting to make "meditation and mindfulness accessible, relevant and beneficial to as many people as possible".{{cite news|url=http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/andy-puddicombe/ |title=Do Lectures |publisher=Do Lectures |accessdate=19 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319162956/http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/andy-puddicombe/ |archivedate=19 March 2014}}

=Meditation consultant=

Puddicombe set up a private meditation practice in 2006,{{cite news |url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/andy-puddicombe |title=Psychology Today |publisher=Psychology Today |accessdate=19 March 2014}} and spent the next four years working as a mindfulness consultant, while adapting the language and techniques he had previously learned. During this time he met his future business partner and co-founder of Headspace, Rich Pierson.{{cite news|url=http://paris.leweb.co/participants/speakers/richard-pierson-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319163250/http://paris.leweb.co/participants/speakers/richard-pierson-0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 March 2014 |title=Paris Le Web |publisher=Paris Le Web |accessdate=19 March 2014 }} Puddicombe has often attributed the success of Headspace to Pierson's involvement.

=Headspace=

Headspace launched in 2010, originally as an events company{{cite news |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/headspace-meditation-event |title=Time Out |publisher=Time Out |accessdate=19 March 2014}} in London. Its first online meditations were uploaded to its website before January 2012, when the first Headspace app was launched.{{cite news|url=http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/News/headspace-blog/the-launch-of-the-headspace-journey.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110193741/http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/News/headspace-blog/the-launch-of-the-headspace-journey.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 2012 |title=Headspace launch blog |publisher=Headspace |accessdate=19 March 2014 }} Puddicombe stepped back from the board in 2022 and left the company with his co-founder Rich Pierson.{{Cite web |last=Puddicombe |first=Andy |date=9 May 2022 |title=Andy Puddicombe X Account |url=https://x.com/andypuddicombe/status/1523741619614552064 |access-date=17 September 2024 |website=Twitter}}

Writing

Puddicombe has written three books, all published by Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette.{{cite news |url=https://www.hodder.co.uk/Authors/Andy+Puddicombe.page |title=Hodder & Stoughton |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=19 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319165058/https://www.hodder.co.uk/Authors/Andy+Puddicombe.page |archive-date=19 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}

Get Some Headspace (2011) is an in-depth introduction to the Headspace techniques.{{cite news |url=https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781444722208 |title=Get Some Headspace |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=19 March 2014}} (also published as Meditation and Mindfulness)
The Headspace Diet (2013) teaches readers how to use mindfulness rather than fad-diets to reach their ideal personal weight.{{cite news|url=http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/books/theheadspacediet/index.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703055628/http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/books/theheadspacediet/index.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 July 2012 |title=The Headspace Diet |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=19 March 2014 }} (also published as Mindful Eating)
The Headspace Guide to...a Mindful Pregnancy (2015) sets out to teach couples how to calmly navigate the anxieties and demands of pregnancy.{{cite news |url=https://www.hachette.com.au/Books/detail.page?isbn=9781444722192 |title=The Headspace Guide to...a Mindful Pregnancy |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |accessdate=9 June 2015}}

Puddicombe is a regular contributor to The Guardian,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andy-puddicombe |title=The Guardian |accessdate=19 March 2014}} The Times,{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/profile/Andy-Puddicombe |title=The Times |access-date=19 March 2014}} Five Books{{Cite web|url=https://fivebooks.com/best-books/meditation-andy-puddicombe/|title=Andy Puddicombe's Favorite Books {{!}} Five Books Expert Recommendations|last=Books|first=Five|website=Five Books|language=en|access-date=2019-06-06}} and Huffington Post,{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-puddicombe/ |title=Huffington Post|accessdate=19 March 2014}} writing about the benefits of mindfulness.

Television and radio

In 2013, Puddicombe was featured on the BBC science documentary, Horizon 'The Truth About Personality',{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10172168/Horizon-The-Truth-About-Personality-BBC-Two-review.html |title=Daily Telegraph review |work=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=19 March 2014}} in which the Headspace app was tested for efficacy.{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036ypxw |title=BBC|publisher=BBC|accessdate=19 March 2014}}

Puddicombe contributes to BBC News{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12263893 |title=BBC News |accessdate=19 March 2014}} and BBC Radio{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01207cq |title=BBC Radio |publisher=BBC Radio |accessdate=19 March 2014}} on matters of meditation, mindfulness, mental health and lifestyle. In 2010 he took part in the Pause For Thought series on BBC Radio 2.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/jun/26/buddhism-mindful |title=Comment Is Free |work=The Guardian|accessdate=19 March 2014}} He has made appearances on the Dr Oz show,{{cite news |url=http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/connecting-mind-body-and-soul?video_id=2732643388001 |title=Andy Puddicombe on the Dr Oz Show |publisher=Dr Oz Show |accessdate=19 March 2014}} ABC news,{{cite news |url=https://abc7.com/archive/9289912/ |title=Andy Puddicombe on ABC |publisher=ABC |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319163438/http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?id=9289912 |archive-date=19 March 2014 |url-status=live }} and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.{{Cite web |title=Andy Puddicombe on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon |url=https://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/guests/andy-puddicombe/43e7dfb515934ba1a68e531188cfe16c26a0dcae |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=NBC |language=en-US}} He also hosts a podcast named "Radio Headspace".

==Personal life==

In 2013, Puddicombe announced that he was receiving treatment for testicular cancer. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he revealed how mindfulness had helped him to cope with the physical, emotional and mental impact of the illness.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/14/cancer-meditation-aid-recovery |title=Cancer relief through meditation |work=The Guardian|accessdate=19 March 2014}}

In August 2014, Puddicombe was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics |work=The Guardian|date=7 August 2014 |accessdate=26 August 2014}}

In December 2020, Puddicombe moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where he currently lives with his wife and two sons.{{Cite news|last=Kelly|first=Guy|date=9 January 2021|title=Headspace's Andy Puddicombe: 'They should challenge Buddhist monks to home-school toddlers'|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/headspaces-andy-puddicombethey-should-challenge-buddhist-monks/|access-date=2021-03-25|issn=0307-1235}}