Raheem Sterling Is Headspace's New Ambassador, Aims To Break Stigma of Mental Ill-Health
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England footballer Raheem Sterling has partnered with mindfulness app Headspace, beginning a long-term partnership that aims to break down and eliminate the stigma of mental ill-health while increasing the education around meditation and mindfulness.
The partnership with the 26-year-old England and Manchester City forward will also look to provide valuable tools to support young communities across the UK. Currently, Headspace reaches around 70 million users across 190 countries, and, with science-backed meditations, is lauded being one of the first meditation apps in the world and remains a leader in the space.
Sterling and Headspace will look to demonstrate how meditation can support a healthy mind while also positively impacting performance, by increasing productivity, focus and organisational skills.
"I’m excited to embark on this great partnership with Headspace. Meditation is a practice I have benefitted from greatly as a professional athlete, supporting me in balancing my thinking, focusing, and diminishing external noises, especially during the summer’s UEFA EURO ‘20 tournament," Sterling said of the new partnership.
"There is no doubt that the practice of meditation has enabled me to perform at the highest level consistently. It’s only now that I can see the benefits of such a practice on people of all ages and I’m really looking forward to the difference we can make together in developing the conversation around mental health, educating on tools and resources that can help people manage everyday challenges."
As part of the partnership with Sterling, Headspace will also launch its Headspace for Educators initiative, which will provide schools and learning establishments with vital tools needed to train, teach and educate pupils on the efficacy of mindfulness. According to recent research, 79 per cent of UK educators feel that their occupation has been affected negatively by mental health in the past year and the partnership between Sterling and Headspace will help elevate the conversation around meditation, mindfulness, and mental health.
Sterling, 26, incorporated meditation into his training ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament in the summer, bringing a holistic advantage to his fitness, health and wellbeing. Moving forward, Sterling is ready to bring about real change with the mental wellbeing app and, like his fellow players Marcus Rashford and Tyrone Mings, is using his global platform to make actionable change off the pitch.
Watch: How can I improve my mental health?
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