Headspace to offer free subscription to students of select IITs, IIMs

With the student community facing a unique set of challenges at the moment, Headspace's content library of mindful living techniques will help students manage their feelings and emotions and kick-start peer to peer conversations about mental health, it added.

Headspace, which operates a meditation app, on Tuesday said it will provide six-month unlimited access for students enrolled in select IITs and IIMs. The move follows similar efforts in the US and the UK, where Headspace provides free access to over 1,200 hours of meditation and mindfulness content to students.

"This partnership marks the beginning of a broader effort by Headspace to engage with Indian members across various communities and provide easy access to mental health care. This will be augmented by outreach to key mental health professionals across the country to facilitate mental health conversations on campuses," a statement said. With the student community facing a unique set of challenges at the moment, Headspace's content library of mindful living techniques will help students manage their feelings and emotions and kick-start peer to peer conversations about mental health, it added. Several studies have shown that students reported substantial increase in the emotions of anger, irritability, loneliness and boredom because of COVID-19 restrictions. "We know how unique and particularly challenging this year is for student communities around the world and we are committed to support them by continuing to expand our Student Plan internationally. Building on a previous fruitful visit in India last March, we are excited to make Headspace Plus available to Indian students enrolled in select IITs and IIMs," Headspace Chief International Officer Jolawn Victor said.

It is today more important than ever to take time for one's mind and build a mindful routine to help cope with these unprecedented levels of stress, he added. "We stand ready to help students in India and around the world have easy access to meditation and mindfulness content to manage anxiety, improve their focus and resilience and ultimately be happier and healthier," Victor said.

Headspace reaches more than 65 million users in 190 countries and was among the first meditation apps globally. It operates a B2B business (Headspace for Work) to offer its products and services to more than 1,100 companies, including Starbucks, Adobe, GE, Hyatt and Unilever. It also supports government entities like New York State and the UK's National Health Service (NHS) to offer digital mental health tools..