Prince Harry opened up about his mental health struggles during the virtual event. Photo / BetterUp
Prince Harry opened up about his mental health struggles during the virtual event. Photo / BetterUp
Prince Harry "needs" to meditate "every single day".
The 37-year-old royal - who, along with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, stepped down as a senior member of the British Royal family in 2020 - was joined by the couple's close friend, tennis ace Serena Williams, for a conversation around the importance of scheduling in a break from work and taking time for self-care at a livestreamed session by mental health start-up BetterUp on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex - who is the organisation's Chief Impact Officer - revealed he always makes sure to take time for himself when he's child-free.
Harry - who has 2-year-old Archie and 8-month-old Lilibet with former "Suits" actress Meghan - said at the virtual Inner Work Day event: "I now put in about half an hour, 45 minutes, in the morning when it's like 'okay, one of the kids has gone to school, the other one is taking a nap, there's a break in our programme. It's either for workout, take the dog for a walk, get out in nature, maybe meditate. I'm the same as Serena, I know that I need to meditate every single day."
Harry admitted: "Once you have to show up for other people, the self-care is the first thing to drop away."
Prince Harry gets it: doing Inner Work® can be tough, but it’s a solid foundation to build on. And once you get all of that sorted out, everything else seems to fall into place. ☁️ pic.twitter.com/C1Wn4Tj3Be
Serena, 40, then quipped that the prince is "always solving all of my problems".
She said: "I know I joke a lot but Harry is one of my coaches, whenever I see him he's always solving all of my problems."
Harry insisted life is a "discovery" and "none of us have it sorted" as he spoke of the importance of getting a "different perspective" from someone "outside your bubble".
He said: "I will push back on that and say you're the one figuring it out.
"It's just having the ability to find someone else to throw ideas, feelings or thoughts off.
BetterUp CEO Alexi Robichaux, Serena Williams and Prince Harry participated in the virtual panel. Photo / Supplied
"To find someone outside your bubble who has a different perspective. You might not always like what they say.
"To have different points of view in your life, and friends who do not worry about pushing back on what you feel, to encourage you to see it more clearly."
He went on: "I don't have it sorted, Serena doesn't have it sorted, none of us have it sorted.
"Life is about discovery. You are going to find things you don't like that are constantly pushing you back."
Harry also suggested the "bad stuff" that has happened to him in his life is the universe's way of teaching him how to be more resilient.
He explained: "Life is about learning.
"And if you're in your twenties, your thirties, your forties and even fifties and you think you've got it sorted, then bad stuff is going to happen. There's a lesson here, I'm being schooled by the universe, there's something in this for me to learn. So the next time it happens, I become more resilient, or better at being able to see a way around it to be able to achieve the ultimate goal."
The BetterUp app charges users US$494.53 ($742) a month, but 1000 free memberships had been offered to young leaders from the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, a charity of which the royal was formerly president.
