Starbucks + Headspace: A meditation for the right now
Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of the popular mindfulness and meditation app, says how we work with our minds is more important now than ever. It’s why he started “Take Ten,” a daily mini-meditation and moment of mindfulness on Instagram Live to help people “pause together.” On Friday, Andy was joined by Camille Hymes, a regional vice president for Starbucks, and a handful of partners from a Potomac, Md., store.
“We’ve been trying to do this each day just as a way of reminding ourselves how important it is to take a little bit of time out of the day to pause and be quiet,” said Andy during the “Take Ten” session.
“Today is a perfect day to have this conversation, because May 1 is the first day of Mental Health Awareness month,” said Camille.
With one in five adults experiencing some form of mental illness each year, Starbucks continues to look for ways to break the stigma around mental health and to support its partners’ mental health and well-being. In March, the company announced its reimagined mental health care benefits, and in January offered partners in the U.S. and Canada a free Headspace subscription, giving them access to guided meditations on everything from stress and sleep to focus and anxiety. She said Headspace has been enthusiastically adopted by many Starbucks partners, both personally and in creating moments of mindfulness together at work.
“It really cleanses and settles the mind. Since we’ve been dealing with the COVID-19 experience, all of our partners and our communities are worried,” Camille said. “We recognize that, and want to make sure they have an outlet.”
Normally Instagram Live events are just that – live, but in case you missed it or in case you want to take another moment for mindfulness and meditation, you can “Take Ten” with Andy and Starbucks partners here (meditation begins at 15:50).
-- by Jennifer Warnick
