When we started our journey with sofi, we knew we would target chronic conditions. At the forefront of our focus were sleeplessness and anxiety. The more we looked at the science behind them, the more we realised they were not two perfectly separate buckets, but actually, there were shared “pathways” that made one chronic condition create flares in the other. A perfect example of this was that for many folks who suffer from sleeplessness, the main observation they make is that they can’t switch off. And one of the reasons that many struggle to switch off at night is anxiety.
So we set out to prioritise plants that affect both sleeplessness and anxiety. Valerian and Passiflora are two great examples of plants that can affect both. In my readings of how valerian impacts folks, I read that it acts as a fire blanket on cortisol levels allowing for sleep to kick in, which is why valerian is used to treat anxiety.
Up to now, we have been listening for changes in sleep patterns with our journaling on the sofi app, most recently adding the third question of how broken or solid your sleep has been. Now we will start adding a new dimension to sofi’s brain and ability to observe change, and we call this the “calm journal”.
It is a journaling experience inspired by existing medical questionnaires on stress and anxiety, translated into the sofi lexicon and user experience. Our objective by introducing the “calm journal” is to help sofi understand the level of calm in our Pioneer community and to track for changes within that. Just as we baseline our sleep, we will start baselining our level of calm ahead of introducing a plant and as we take the plant. This is particularly of interest to us as the first plants in our roadmap are known for their ability to impact shared pathways between sleeplessness and anxiety.
sofi’s calm journal is a unique and immersive way for us to journal our level of calm and starts by asking each Pioneer to select their colour palette for the experience. We introduce each colour associated with an answer on the instruction screen and use these colours to generate a wallpaper of organic gradients and shapes.
We then ask six questions for which the Pioneer picks an answer on a click wheel from totally agree to disagree. We divide the screen into organically shaped segments, with each area referring to one question. Inside every part is a number that a Pioneer can tap to answer. Again, they can be revealed and answered in any order. The numbers will sometimes randomly appear on the screen to avoid having the same questions in the same area of the screen. The key is to complete all six questions. The questions are:
01 unexpected things make me happy
02 I feel in control of important things in my life
03 I feel calm and relaxed
04 I feel confident about my ability to handle my personal problems
05 I feel that things are going my way
06 I feel on top of things
I’ve taken a few print screen examples to share how this section of the sofi calm journal works.
The objective is to keep track of the changing level of calm of our Pioneers, both pre and post plant, and to see how this measure evolves. During the journaling process, the sofi calm journal will generate a beautiful wallpaper representing a moment of calm for each Pioneer.
Each Pioneer will also be able to download the wallpaper or share it with their online community. We have also been thinking of dropping a calm mantra on the wallpaper. We have a few initial examples of these mantras, and we would love to have additional suggestions from you that you. We will update these mantras with your help from time to time to keep them fresh.
We have observed that many pioneers like to journal their sleep in the mornings, and it’s possible that we will find a pattern for our calm journal at the end of the day to reflect how someone felt throughout the day. There is no such thing as one size fits most, and we would encourage you to find the right time for you to do your journaling. What would be very helpful is once you discover the time that’s ideal for you – in the morning after your shower with your coffee or the evening after a meal, that you try to be as consistent as you can with the time and place of your journaling. Consistency is key here.
As always grateful for all the continued support, advice and feedback. I can’t wait to increase sofi’s journaling dimensions to capture calm and, importantly, for sofi’s brain to start listening for evidence of change from our medicinal plants in beginning to nudge us towards every more calm.
We aim to release the sofi calm journal within the next two weeks so pioneers can start baselining with the calm journal before taking Passiflora. Thank you again for being a pioneer with sofi and joining us on this incredible journey.
xx
pleased you are here now 
