SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Headspace, a global leader in mindfulness and meditation, announced a call to action today, rallying people and organizations all over the world to “Be Kind to Your Mind” in honor of World Mental Health Day on October 10.
Box, Farmers Insurance, Hyatt, Snap, Spectrum Health, and National Military Family Association are among the first companies and nonprofits to join forces with Headspace in an effort to celebrate, renew, and expand their commitment to caring for the mental health of their employees and their families. Headspace is inviting leaders and companies to sign the pledge and learn more about how to ease the mental health burdens of employees at headspace.com/wmhd. Participating organizations are standing together and committing to the shared responsibility in this moment to demand a greater investment in mental health for all.
Headspace is tracking employee sentiment around a variety of factors affecting peoples’ mental health, surveying thousands of employees in May and again in September. The data show some trends heading in the wrong direction, namely:
- 48% of respondents surveyed in May 2020 said their organization provided increased access to tools and services to support employee mental health as a result of COVID-19. That slipped to only 34% in September.
- 56% of respondents surveyed in May 2020 felt that mental health and emotional well-being were priorities in their organization. That fell to 44% in September.
While research showed some great initial responses by leaders and companies, many more employees feel less supported now than earlier in the crisis.
“Our people, teams, our communities, and each of us know we are in a moment that calls for compassion and support,” said Dr. Megan Jones Bell, Headspace Chief Strategy and Science Officer. “The challenges of 2020 are bringing a lot of mental health issues to the surface. World Mental Health Day is the perfect time to acknowledge the reality that our mental health is as important as our physical health.”
So far, 600 organizations have signed the pledge, joining together to commit to their teams’ mental health and encouraging other companies to follow suit.
“Wellbeing is at the core of our purpose – to care for people so they can be their best – and a true point of difference for Hyatt,” said Malaika Myers, Hyatt Chief Human Resources Officer. “When Hyatt first teamed up with Headspace in January, we knew how important it was to make mindfulness and meditation content accessible to help employees, guests, and customers prioritize their wellbeing. With 2020 proving to be an exceptional year with unexpected challenges, now, more than ever, prioritizing our wellbeing is paramount. We can only care for others if we take care of our own mental, emotional and physical wellbeing first.”
The Headspace “Be Kind to Your Mind” pledge encourages the prioritization of mental health care beyond just World Mental Health Day. To support leaders and companies, Headspace is sharing a toolkit with educational resources and tactics to keep the spotlight on mindfulness for the next year. In the coming months, Headspace will provide additional guidance on how to continuously invest in employees’ mental health with companies who sign the pledge and with Headspace for Work customers.
In an effort to lead by example as the world grapples with simultaneous crises, Headspace has rolled out an every-other-Friday companywide mental health day (called MINDays) to support Headspace employees in taking time for themselves, knowing that it’s more difficult than ever to balance work and life. Fridays in between MINDays are mandated 'no meeting days,’ so the team can have time to focus. Each day, all employees have two mindful breaks scheduled on their calendars at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. so they can participate in a team-wide group meditation, take a walk, have a rest or take time for themselves.
“Advocating for mental health is part of our DNA as a company committed to improving the health and happiness of the world,” said CeCe Morken, Headspace President and Chief Operating Officer. “We’re incredibly grateful and proud to join with our partner companies to keep this important conversation going by normalizing care and compassion for ourselves and others.”
Headspace for Work is an employee mental health solution that provides science-backed mindfulness products and enterprise-grade professional services to help companies build healthier, more productive cultures and higher performing organizations. More than 1,100 leading companies, such as Starbucks, Hyatt, Adobe, GE and Unilever, provide Headspace for Work as a benefit for their employees.
Find more information at headspace.com/wmhd.
About Headspace
Headspace was created with one mission in mind: to improve the health and happiness of the world. Reaching more than 65 million users in 190 countries, Headspace was one of the first meditation apps in the world and remains a leader in mindfulness and mental training. Headspace is committed to advancing the field of mindfulness through clinically validated research, with one of the largest research pipelines of any digital health and wellness company. Headspace operates a B2B business (Headspace for Work) to offer its mindfulness products and services to more than 1,100 companies, such as Starbucks, Adobe, GE, Hyatt and Unilever, to help them build healthier, more productive cultures and higher performing organizations. Headspace has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies, Apple's Best of 2018, Samsung's Best of 2019 and one of CB Insights' top digital health companies, along with being selected for five Webby Awards in health and fitness between 2018 and 2019. For more information please visit us at www.headspace.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.