SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/654465
3 6 S X S W o r l d | F I L M / I A M A R C H 2 0 1 6 | S X S W. C O M o you ever wish for greater calm, clarity and patience in your life? Well, since you're human, that desire is part of our natural condition, especially in these always-con- nected, hyper-competitive times. But, as SXSW Interactive keynote speaker Andy Puddicombe will tell you, fulfilling this wish is entirely within your control. With just 10 minutes a day dedicated to mindfulness meditation, you too can achieve focus and contentment. Puddicombe hasn't always been a meditation guru. Growing up in the U.K., he played sports and chased good times, but things changed suddenly in his late teens. "A drunk driver crashed into a big group of friends, killing a couple of people and injuring many, many others. I was lucky I was standing on the outside of the group—about three of us didn't get injured. It took me a few years, really, to make sense of it all. But when I did I found myself thinking: 'There's gotta be more than this.' " His quest to find that "more" took Puddicombe to the Himalayas, where he trained as a Buddhist monk. The goal wasn't to make a lifelong commitment to the Buddhist way of life, but to learn about his own mind and way of thinking while better understanding the human condition. Through intensive training and practice, he real- ized that mindfulness meditation has a truly universal reach: "The most exciting thing about meditation to me is that nobody gets to define it—not the Buddhists, not the Hindus, not the Muslims, not the Christians, none of us. It is simply life awareness and compas- sion, and every single one of us gets to choose how we apply that to our lives." Puddicombe returned to the U.K. and, with his friend Rich Pierson, started a company called Headspace. He originally focused on in- person events, resisting Pierson's urgings that technology could help broaden their reach. But as attendees increasingly asked for record- ings to continue guided practice after events ended, Puddicombe relented and began recording brief meditation guides. The first Headspace app went live in 2012. That same year, Puddicombe recorded a TED Talk that now has more than six million views. Headspace is designed to make meditation accessible to all. Or, as Puddicombe says, it's "meditation for people who don't really do meditation." The first 10 sessions are free, with more available by subscription. Each is a recording of Puddicombe guiding users through roughly 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation. What that is, exactly, depends on what the user looks to get out of it. But the general aim is to relax, de-focus and try to do nothing. Part of the key to Puddicombe's mainstream appeal is his reassur- ances within sessions that it's OK if you struggle and find your mind wandering. That very approach helped Puddicombe unlock his own potential in the Himalayas: "I wish someone had said that to me on day one, but they didn't. It took me a really long time to discover that, and when I did it was like: 'Wow, there's no pressure. I don't have to be the person who controls every thought. I can just let the mind do its own thing.' And with that came an enormous sense of relief." Between the app and website, more than five million users are learning and practicing meditation with Headspace. The company, headquartered in London, earlier this year opened an office in Los Angeles, where Puddicombe now lives. This year will see an expan- sion of the Headspace brand to guided meditations for kids and athletes—the latter developed with the English Institute of Sport in advance of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. As for what he'll cover in his keynote, Puddicombe prefers a fluid approach. Instead of a scripted session, he'll let real-time interac- tions with the people and environment guide his content: "That said, I spend a lot of time with people in the creative industry and tech- nology industry, and there are some really common things. Generally speaking, most people in those industries and at events like SXSW live a privileged life. We have all these devices … we go to these fes- tivals and events and do so many things, and yet we often really struggle in our lives. We often find ourselves getting stressed and restless, struggling to find any clarity." "We regularly convince ourselves that we're just a new job, acqui- sition or relationship away from achieving happiness," Puddicombe continues. "We're destined to carry a huge amount of stress and pressure on our shoulders, and from what I see in life, that doesn't seem to make people very happy. If we can find a way of living and working and relating with a more focused kind of approach, then I hope people will be inspired to look after the health of their mind and use the tools they need to make that a tangible commitment." T Andy Puddicombe's Interactive Keynote session, "Why Happiness Is Hard and How to Make It Easier," is on Tuesday, March 15 at 2pm, in Ballroom D of the Austin Convention Center. Headspace Bringing Mindfulness Through Meditation by Patrick Nichols D A n dy Pu d d ico m b e