Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of Headspace, is on a mission, to get as many people as possible in the world to take ten minutes out of their day to meditate. In his early twenties, Andy gave up studying for a sports science degree and set off to Asia to become Buddhist monk. For more than ten years, his meditation training took him all over the world. Returning to the UK in 2004, minus his monk's robes, Andy had one aim in mind: to demystify meditation, to make it accessible, relevant and beneficial for as many people as possible.

Headspace was officially launched in 2010 to create meditation tools for modern life. Starting as an events company, founders, Rich Pierson and Andy, and the rapidly expanding Headspace team were soon inundated with requests from attendees to be able to share the techniques learnt at events with friends and family. They realised that, by making the techniques available online, many more people would experience the scientifically proven benefits of meditation.

The Headspace app has topped the iTunes Health and Fitness chart and there are now over 1 million people using Headspace and following daily guided sessions from Andy that cover everything from the basics to an in-depth practice. Almost twice as many people logged in to watch Andy’s recent TED Talk online, with over three million views to date. Headspace’s fans are motivated, loyal and numerous. Amongst them are the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Arianna Huffington, Emma Watson, Davina McCall and Millie Mackintosh .

My Favourite Website... has to be www.headspace.com. Not for my own contribution I hasten to add, but for the amazing job the Headspace team has done in demystifying meditation and creating something beautiful, accessible and practical. But I love www.liquidsaltmag.com too.

My Favourite App... tends to rotate on a monthly basis, depending on what surf contest is going on the world. I follow the ASP tour with a passion and swap the various apps out depending on who is providing live coverage. It's usually Billabong, Rip Curl, Vans or someone similar.

My Favourite Blog... is a complete coincidence, but one of my favourite websites, The Inertia, has a blog entitled 'Headspace', where they take a look inside the minds of pro surfers. I like it a lot... and not just because of the name.

My Most Recent Buy Online... was a crib for our baby boy who, all being well, is scheduled to arrive this August. It's our first and we are both ridiculously excited.

My Favourite Tweeter... I love someone who makes me laugh and Will Ferrell is usually pretty funny. For Instagram, it would have to be @iphonegrapher_hiro - I love his photography.

My Pet Hate About Life Online... I think digital is defined by the user. It's perfectly possible to have a healthy relationship with life online, but it's also really easy to use it as an escape from life offline, using it as a distraction from what's going on in our life right now, a move away from the present moment if you will.

Social Media Allowed Me to Meet... the Headspace community. Knowing there are over 1 million people using the app is an amazing thing. Understanding how they use it and hearing the stories of how things have changed in their life since starting to meditate is a beautiful reminder of why we do what we do.

My Stand Out Online Memory... probably when my TED Talk went live. It got the Headspace mission out to so many more people. It was either that or when the same talk was chosen to be featured on Netflix. Both were pretty exciting.

Most Worthwhile Newsletter... anything involving monkeys. I love what the guys at The Orangutan Foundation are doing to save the orangutans in Borneo.

9 April 2014