Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Meditation Tracking Startup, Dhyana, Ties Up With Heartfulness Institute to Improve the Mental Wellness of the Indian Olympic Contingent

Bengaluru, 22nd July 2021: Dhyana, the official meditation partner of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games” announced a partnership with Heartfulness Institute. Heartfulness Institute has closely worked with Dhyana to integrate all its meditation techniques into Dhyana’s meditation tracking platform to enable the athletes access to the simple and easy Heartfulness meditation practices helping them sharpen their focus or recharge themselves.


The Heartfulness Institute has also tailor-made custom meditations for the Indian contingent, which are available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, to cater to the different regions from which the players hail. These meditations are structured to help the players completely relax as well as to find their center through Heartfulness’s signature method of focusing on the heart and becoming absorbed with it.



Dhyana, the smart ring that measures the quality of meditation, will now feature all the Heartfulness meditations, i.e. Relaxation, Meditation, Cleaning and Inner Connection, within the Dhyana application from today. Dhyana’s team has worked with the Heartfulness Institute to ensure that its platform can accurately measure the quality of meditation while users perform the Institute's signature meditations.



Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General, IOA said “In light of the ongoing pandemic, we have been exploring greater adoption of technology to make our team feel safe and sufficiently motivated to give their best at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Our partnership with Dhyana is one such step in this direction. I am happy to learn that Dhyana has partnered with the Heartfulness Institute to provide guided meditation sessions, which will be made available in multiple Indian dialects on the Dhyana application. This entire experience of data-driven meditation for our players will contribute to their overall emotional wellbeing and will significantly help in enhancing their preparedness”.




Speaking on the announcement, Pullela Gopichand, Director, Dhyana and Chief Coach, Indian Badminton Team, said “It’s not easy being where the players are right now. As if the pressures associated with the highest level of sports were not enough, fluctuating restrictions around the pandemic imposed in the Olympic Village are bound to further affect morale to a certain extent. We are confident that with the help of Dhyana’s tailored guided sessions and data-driven meditation, the contingent will be able to better focus on building their overall mental health in these trying times.”



Tanya Khanna, Indian Squash Player and a Heartfulness practitioner, said “to be on top of the game a player no longer relies only on physical fitness. The thinking and feeling we carry to the game can impact the outcomes. Before Heartfulness meditation I would not be able to recognize the muscles tightening when nervous or losing a few points in the game. Now I am so much aware and have the ability to reset this. I have found in Heartfulness a very strong support in being calm, relaxed and approaching my life and the game more effectively.”



The Dhyana smart ring is capable of measuring your ‘mindful minutes’, or the amount of time you are actually focusing while in a meditation session. It does this by continuously tracking your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), or the gap in between two consecutive heartbeats, which is further broken down into the three fundamentals of every meditation session - the quality of breathing, focus and relaxation.



“We are proud to leverage India’s rich history of age-old practices like meditation, and further strengthen them through biomedical technology. Coupled with the expertise that Heartfulness Institute brings to the table in terms meditation practices and overall, wellbeing, along with Dhyana’s biofeedback capabilities that gives real-time response to users on their meditative state, we believe the Indian contingent will now be able to perform to the best of their capabilities”, said Bhairav Shankar, MD, Dhyana.



Film actress Tanya Maniktala who has been a long time Heartfulness Meditator said, “Heartfulness meditation and relaxation programs have made a huge difference to me in managing my thoughts, feelings and emotions for betterment of my performance especially the ability to handle ups and downs of my profession. I have seen its impact firsthand all these years and I am sure it will do the same for our Olympic sports contingent to rejuvenate them.” ​​



While the ‘Focus on now’ collection of wellness sessions curated by Heartfulness Institute are primarily focused towards the Indian contingent participating in Tokyo, these can also be accessed by any Dhyana user to help achieve their being in the present and stress relieving goals.