Andy Puddicombe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Andy Puddicombe
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| Born | 23 September 1972 London, England
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| Nationality | British |
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| Years active | 2004–present |
| Known for | Headspace |
Andy Puddicombe (born September 23, 1972) is a British author, speaker, and teacher. He teaches about meditation and mindfulness. Andy is also the co-founder of Headspace. This company helps people learn guided meditation and mindfulness through an app. Before his career as a teacher, Andy was a Buddhist monk.
Contents
Andy's Early Life and School
Andy Puddicombe was born in London, England. He grew up in a city called Bristol in the UK. For his education, he went to Wellsway Comprehensive School. Later, he studied Sports Science at De Montfort University. He also earned a special degree in Circus Arts.
Andy's Journey and Career
Becoming a Buddhist Monk
In 1994, Andy decided to stop his sports science studies. He traveled to Asia to train as a Buddhist monk. He has shared that this journey helped him deal with difficult feelings after losing someone close.
His training took him to many countries, including India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Australia, and Russia. He became a fully ordained monk at a Tibetan monastery in the Himalayas in India. After spending a year in a quiet retreat in Scotland, he went back to Russia. There, he taught meditation in Moscow for four years.
In 2004, Andy returned to the UK. He studied Circus Arts in London. At the same time, he started his own meditation practice. His goal was to make "meditation and mindfulness easy to understand and helpful for as many people as possible."
Working as a Meditation Expert
In 2006, Andy started his own private meditation practice. For the next four years, he worked as a mindfulness consultant. He changed the meditation methods he learned to make them simpler for everyone. During this time, he met Rich Pierson, who would become his business partner. Andy often says that Rich Pierson's help was key to Headspace's success.
Creating Headspace
Headspace first started in 2010 as an events company in London. They began putting their meditation guides online before January 2012. That's when the first Headspace app was launched. Andy stepped down from the company's board in 2022. He left the company with his co-founder, Rich Pierson.
Andy's Books
Andy Puddicombe has written three books. All of them were published by Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette.
- Get Some Headspace (2011): This book is a detailed guide to the Headspace meditation methods. It was also published as Meditation and Mindfulness.
- The Headspace Diet (2013): This book teaches how to use mindfulness to reach a healthy weight. It focuses on mindful eating instead of strict diets. It was also published as Mindful Eating.
- The Headspace Guide to...a Mindful Pregnancy (2015): This book helps couples manage the worries and demands of pregnancy calmly.
Andy also writes regularly for newspapers and websites. These include The Guardian, The Times, Five Books, and Huffington Post. He writes about the many benefits of mindfulness.
Andy on TV and Radio
In 2013, Andy Puddicombe was on a BBC science show called Horizon. The episode was titled 'The Truth About Personality'. On the show, the Headspace app was tested to see how well it worked.
Andy often talks on BBC News and BBC Radio. He shares his knowledge about meditation, mindfulness, and mental well-being. In 2010, he was part of the Pause For Thought series on BBC Radio 2. He has also appeared on shows like the Dr Oz show, ABC news, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He also has his own podcast called "Radio Headspace."
Andy's Personal Life
In 2013, Andy Puddicombe shared that he was getting treatment for a health challenge. He told The Guardian newspaper how mindfulness helped him cope with the physical and emotional effects of his illness.
In August 2014, Andy was one of 200 public figures who signed a letter to The Guardian. The letter was against Scottish independence before the referendum that year.
In December 2020, Andy Puddicombe moved to Lisbon, Portugal. He lives there now with his wife and two sons.
See also
In Spanish: Andy Puddicombe para niños
- Tibetan Buddhism
- Headspace
