Meet the Former Buddhist Monk Who Launched a Successful Meditation App
Headspace has already attracted 31 million users in 190 countries.
-
CategoryExperiences, Makers + Entrepreneurs, Tech, Unwind
After a series of tragedies in his early 20s, British-born Andy Puddicombe made a life-changing decision. Once a personal trainer and competitive gymnast in London, Puddicombe left home for a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas and initially planned to remain a monk “for life.”
According to CNN, Puddicombe did eventually depart the monastery in 2004 and returned to England with teachings he hopes to shares with a wider audience. He met advertising executive Rich Pierson through mutual friends, and in 2010, they founded Headspace as a meditation events company in London.
“The popularization of mindfulness—a therapeutic technique that helps people acknowledge their feelings while focusing on the present—coincided with a time when many felt under ‘increasing pressure,’ according to Puddicombe.”
The business has raised more than $75 million from investors, and they now have a strong foothold here in California, with offices in San Francisco.
Read more here.
San Francisco. Sleep. Los Angeles. Repeat
The new overnight bus from SF to LA we’ve been waiting for.
Get to Know Surfboard Shaper Ryan Lovelace
Meet surfboard shaper Ryan Lovelace, the artist behind some of the internet’s most viral boards.
Deep Water: From the Swim Team to Drug Smuggling
In her new book, Katharine Nichols tells the story of a group of Coronado teens that trafficked drugs between Mexico and California in the 1970s.
