Media Resources

Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. (HMI) was started in 2014 by world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson. We are a nonprofit affiliated with the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison driven by a mission to translate science into tools to cultivate and measure well-being.

HMI was created to put the decades of ground-breaking research of Dr. Richard Davidson and the Center for Healthy Minds into action.

“The first impetus for starting HMI really began with a conversation I had with a close Center for Healthy Minds donor. I ran into him in New York City and he pulled me aside and said ‘Richie do you really think that if you had the funding to do the best most important series of research studies, that the world would suddenly change in the way we all aspire it to change.’ And it was the beginning of a wake up call for me that the scientific research was necessary but it wasn’t sufficient and that we needed to really figure out how we can begin to act and disseminate in a way that was informed by the scientific research but was not the scientific research in and of itself.”

– Dr. Richard Davidson

HMI takes the discoveries and insights gleaned from the Center’s research–as well as that of our own scientific team–and translates them into tools that help people around the world build skills of well-being.

We have three major product offerings, the freely available Healthy Minds Program app, the workplace well-being program Healthy Minds @Work, and our public courses like the Healthy Minds MasterClass.. All of our offerings are made possible in some way thanks to the generosity of our donors and are built out of the Healthy Minds Framework for Well-Being.

How is Healthy Minds Innovations related to the Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison?

The Center for Healthy Minds and Healthy Minds Innovations share a common vision – a kinder, wiser, more compassionate world – and the leadership of world renowned neuroscientist, Dr. Richard J. Davidson. Both organizations are driven by the bold idea that we can reduce suffering and bring mental well-being within everyone’s reach on a global scale.

The Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison conducts rigorous scientific research to bring new insights to the world and Healthy Minds Innovations develops tools to take action on these insights.

While one organization is academically rooted and one is a service-driven non-profit, both have a deep commitment to the vision through their unique missions. The Center asks, “What constitutes a healthy mind?” and Healthy Minds Innovations asks, “How can everyone have one?” The two have a symbiotic relationship in the pursuit of well-being across the human lifespan – from pregnancy to old age – and in various settings, from schools and offices to healthcare and homes.

What is the Healthy Minds Framework for Well-Being?

The Healthy Minds Framework for well-being consists of four pillars that contribute to well-being and are trainable and measurable in the lab: Awareness, Connection, Insight and Purpose. This framework has been published in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Read more about this study here.

How can I learn more about the science behind your products?

Visit our science page to learn about the underpinnings of our work, the science of well-being and more.

For a full list of our frequently asked questions, visit FAQ and Support.

You can find most of our media mentions on our In the News category of the blog. Of particular note:

The New York Times Wirecutter: Best Meditation Apps
HuffPost: The Four Steps that will Increase Happiness, According to a New Study
Healthy Minds Psychology Today Blog
The Plasticity of Well-Being – Psychiatric Times

Read all Healthy Minds News

The Healthy Minds App

The Healthy Minds Program app is a guided path to well-being featuring hours of meditations and podcast style lessons. We offer multiple choices in both meditation position (active and seated positions) and teacher as well as insightful and informative scientific expertise to support training your mind. Unlike many meditation apps on the market, the Healthy Minds Program app is freely available thanks to the generosity of our donors.

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Healthy Minds @Work

Healthy Minds @Work brings our decades of scientific understanding of well-being into the workplace to support your employees and company culture. We offer a customizable toolkit for any company’s needs including webinars, “challenge” programs, live trainings and ongoing measures to track your teams’ progress.

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Healthy Minds Learning & Practice Public Offerings

Healthy Minds Innovations offers online live courses for the public including our Healthy Minds MasterClass, an 8-week course that deep dives into the science and practice of well-being, and the Kickstart course, a 4-week course to kickstart a meditation habit

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