Take A Beat On World Mental Health Day And Everyday With Spotify

An increasing number of people have been calling for open, honest discussions about mental health in recent years. In an effort to reach out to others and encourage them to get the help they need, celebrities, athletes, and creators alike come forward with their stories. Though it is still a long way from being destigmatized, Spotify is happy to be a part of the conversation through its platform.

Aiming to reduce stigma, the Heart & Soul mental health initiative started in 2018 with the purpose of raising awareness, educating people, providing self-care resources, and promoting professional support. As part of Spotify’s education program over the last couple years, they have provided their employees with resources to help them understand mental illness and mental health in general.

By introducing these mental health strategies, Spotify wants to create an environment where we can all feel cared for and where it is ok to not be ok. Spotify offers resources for mental health conversations to their employees, and to anyone coming to Spotify looking for moments of inspiration, relaxation, and healing.

On World Mental Health Day this Sunday, Spotify encourages everyone to “take a beat,” and “tune in to yourself,” because we believe that addressing mental health should be an everyday endeavor-not just today.

Check out these tools for Spotify users
Spotify is bringing back its curated Wellness hub this World Mental Health Day, and it’s better than ever. This updated hub provides listeners with better access to mental health resources, helps them connect with themselves, and prioritizes their well-being. As of today, the hub will appear when users open the app and invite them to “take a beat” and listen to themselves through a variety of uplifting, insightful, and calming podcasts and playlists.

In addition, listeners can find playlists and video content from mental health advocates such as Chelsea Cutler and Lyn Lapid. Check out WE THE URBAN’s Fall Healing Season, as well as MD Motivator’s Heal & Nourish. Both playlists feature songs that are useful for grounding and meditating, as well as for centering one’s own mental well-being.

Here you can find employee resources
Additionally, Spotify is encouraging our employees to acknowledge World Mental Health Day by focusing on themselves, supporting and being supported by colleagues, and taking a much-needed breath. Throughout this period, Spotify will include mental health in its everyday operations. Spotify creates a safe work environment for its personnel where they can openly discuss their mental health, and we foster a culture where employees take care of one another. It’s Spotify’s aim to make Spotify a place employees feel comfortable being themselves and belong regardless of what they’re going through.

During World Mental Health Day, Spotify will host virtual talks, workshops, and panels focusing on how we can promote our employees’ mental health. The workshop will enable individuals to develop new skills, deepen their existing self-care routines, and initiate important conversations. Spotify continues to promote the Heart & Soul local peer–to–peer ambassador program that enables employees to learn about mental health issues and support one another.

Find some healing with Spotify
The WE THE URBAN movement stands out among those who speak about mental health. Throughout the day, this online publication provides followers with soothing pictures, quotes, and mantras to help them contemplate their mental health and use those skills to improve their mental well-being in the future. In this for the Record podcast, Editor-in-Chief Willie Greene talks about how to listen to oneself and the FALL HEALING SESSION playlist.

Social media is used by the average American for more than 1,300 hours per year. Add that up, and you can honestly say that we’ve consumed 52 consecutive days of media – information from other people’s lives, news, other people’s thoughts, and everything else in between. The food we consume every day affects our mental well-being in real ways. Taking this into consideration is critical.

That’s why we need an online space like WE THE URBAN, as an antidote to the barrage of negativity we are constantly exposed to. Taking in positive daily affirmations has improved lives in very real ways. When we review the messages we receive from our audience, we see how sharing and viewing our daily affirmations has impacted many lives. Experiencing supportive and self-uplifting content can only enhance your emotional wellbeing.

Trust in your intuition. Being present is key to success. We began to improve our mental health only when we face the symptoms as experiencing them head-on. Recognizing how we feel and seeking help when we need it is a courageous act. There is some discomfort in sitting in feelings, acknowledging that you might be struggling with depression, or recognizing that you might be suffering some mental health issues, but that is how we heal – by embracing them, examining them, and feeling them out.

We often dissociate and spiral in thought when we’re grieving or experiencing heartbreak. Being present and mindful is what will save us in therapy. Clichés like meditation, journaling, being mindful, and practicing gratitude really work.

What are some of your favorite ways to boost happy feelings?
Certain people respond so well to therapy, journaling, exercise, and mindfulness about what they consume (on social media, what they eat, etc.). Music stands out as one of the best mood-boosting tools. We are constantly curating playlists and searching for music to help us cope with what we are going through, and the power that sound has over how we feel blows our minds.

The playlist for this Fall Healing Session. What approach did you use to put the playlist together?
Definitely a vibe! This song was crafted by The Urbans when they were thinking about their lifelong healing journeys. The Urbans composed each song after sharing their own personal healing experiences. While it’s nice to feel optimistic and energized at times, it can also be embarrassing to find yourself randomly crying over something you thought was behind you. These songs were chosen by the Urbans to represent every kind of feeling.