Wellness DAO ⇒ Harmony Grant Proposal
Name of DAO
WellnessDAO
Application type
CommunityDAO
Proposal overview
What is wellnessDAO?
WellnessDAO is a community with a shared interest in emphasizing the utmost importance of mental and physical health and wellness, starting with, but not limited to, the web3 community. Our mission is to prioritize the dialogue around spiritual growth and caring for our physical and psychological needs amidst the excitement and instantaneous pace of web3 and modern life. We combine modern holistic wellness practices, along with social accountability, to live and be well together, and gradually on-ramp the wellness-oriented, crypto-curious population into web3 interactions.
Infused into the fabric of our community is a culture of care, gratitude, and connection, through digital events such as social + guided meditations, immersive sound baths, yoga, group accountability in journaling, and in-person meetups. Per community feedback, we are also planning wellness retreats across the world with our network of coaches, instructors, and spiritual guides. Ultimately, our goal is to own and operate retreat centers (both IRL and in the meta-lands) and build a holistic, integrated, global wellness community. These retreats will be practice-agnostic, serving as a blank canvas for coaches, practitioners, and instructors to create unique experiences and boldly experiment with the existing paradigms of what it means to live well together.
Our Philosophy — Our “Why”
“If you know the why, you can live any how.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Imagine a world where web3 is built by the most self-compassionate, self-aware, empathetic technologists of our generation. We are at a unique crossroads in the future of modern human society — we have the chance to reinvent the web as we know it, to build technology for humans, to decentralize and democratize communities, to infuse values of inclusivity and care into the new world order, underpinned by decentralized computing systems. The gravity and urgency of this responsibility should not be lost on us.
Even beyond the importance of building mindfully in web3, the current mental health crisis has come to dominate the public narrative, after its inclusion in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
In 2020 in the US alone, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that:
- 1 in 5 adults experienced mental illness, while only 34% of those affected received mental health treatment (down from 43% in 2018)
- 1 in 3 young adults (18-25) experienced mental illness
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-34 in the United States, and the overall suicide rate has increased 35% since 1999
- 77% of respondents in Deloitte’s marketplace survey on burnout report employee burnout (source)
These outcomes are only exacerbated for the crypto demographic, with 24/7 market volatility and the ever-present fear of missing out (FOMO) — the crypto market never sleeps, but we as humans need to care for our bodies and minds if we hope to build for the next hundred years.
Methods and Measures: The Community Roadmap
WellnessDAO exists to amplify the focus on wellness amidst the chaos of our world today; our primary mandate is to build and sustain a healthy, open, and welcoming community of people who support one another in their wellness journeys. In order to achieve our mandates, the following are the methods and measures we believe that we need to focus on in the upcoming quarters. Our three mandates (with two submandates each) are as follows:
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Proactive:
a. Practice proactive and preventative practices instead of reactive solutions, together
Host virtual sessions through things like breathwork, qigong, yoga, meditation. We will host weekly small events (social meditation, journaling) and biweekly big events (breathwork, yoga class)
Smaller sessions: Current
: 5-10 // Goal 
: 15-20Larger events: Current
: 28 (most recent sound bath) // Goal : 50+b. Consciously integrate wellness practices into the fabric of web3
Host external sessions for other DAOs and communities, what we call DAO-to-DAO services. This serves a twofold purpose: 1) distribution channel to propagate wellnessDAO’s mission and offerings and cross-pollinate mission-driven communities 2) cementing the importance of mental health and wellness resources into the “paradigm shift” that is decentralized, flexible, open employment with web3 orgs. To date, we have facilitated social meditation sessions for other DAOs and are in discussion with educational groups (Developer DAO, Gitcoin), impact groups (Toucan Protocol), underrepresented minority affinity groups (Surge, Boys Club, HerHouse) and social groups (Friends with Benefits)Feedback received: “I apparently needed your meditation session more than I was aware. About 8 minutes in I found myself welling up with emotion and crying a bit… feeling gratitude” - web3con x wellnessDAO social meditation participant
Continue hosting 3-4 sessions a month for external groups
Ongoing partnerships with brands and celebrities adopting web3 to celebrate the importance of mental health/wellness. Harry Hudson is one of our current celebrity partners championing music NFTs and mental health.Secure another A-list celebrity (>100K+ followers)
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Growth:
a. Facilitate growth of the community but also of the individual
Top-line growth. Focused on quality > quantity but it is important for exposure. We aim to grow social media and following presence to:discord members from 250 ⇒ 2000+ members
twitter from 400 ⇒ 5000+ members
The map is not the territory; wellness is more than the motions of self-care, meditation, exercise, yoga, etc. Rather, it is the holistic journey of self-compassion, best articulated by Dennis Tirch: “Self-compassion isn’t just about gentle yoga, taking baths or getting massages. It’s about consciously noticing long-term patterns of avoidance and building the skills to change those patterns. It’s about cultivating mindfulness, courage, and our sense of connection to the world.” (Source here). This is difficult to quantify but of utmost importance to measuring our impact.Encourage members to “DAO The Work” — the tough work of self-reflection, intrinsically-motivated change, self-acceptance and self-respect — and hold each other accountable for treating ourselves and each other with integrity
Host open panels and discussions that encourage, but do not force, vulnerability and courage
b. Onboard new users onto web3 through the universal need for wellness
Recruiting wellness wizards: Continue adding to the repertoire of teachers and experts across different wellness practices, who are looking to expand their businesses and audiences into web3. Already, the community includes therapists, sound meditation coaches, yoga instructors, sports psychologists, psychedelic spirituality guides. As we scale, we’ll be able to attract more targeted domain experts and curate a diverse offering of practices.Recruit 20 new wellness coaches (including yoga, qigong, martial arts, meditation, breathwork teachers) by Q2 2022
Increase the quality of instruction and classes as we attract more seasoned teachers, potentially building native, community-owned applications or curated content libraries
Establish a weekly schedule of recurring classes
Establish proof of wellness on-chain to unlock further benefits: for our first sound bath, we airdropped participation NFTs (see “What about NFTs?” below) to attendees; for some, this is the first NFT they’ve ever interacted with. Humans across web1, web2, and web3, and all future paradigms of the web, need to live well; we are bullish on the wellness onramp as a way to intersect the next 100m users into wellness and/or web3.Distribute 500 participation NFTs to new wallets
c. Connection:
Foster meaningful digital connection that humanizes the avatars behind the screen
Promoting a humanizing discourse of kindness, acceptance and shared experiences: journaling, meditating together via discord channels or Zoom.Increase # of weekly active individuals in the #journaling channel
Send a survey to people who attend social meditations.
> ex: How likely are you to recommend this to a friend? (Goal: All Very Likely) > How did you feel before? How do you feel now? (1-10) (Goal: raise by an average of 4/5 points)
Host a wellness space in Metaverse: Sandbox, Decentraland, or othersAcquire a parcel of land in the metaverse
Host metaverse meet and greet events and yoga sessions
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Bridge digital connections into physical experiences
Host in-person retreats in Bali (late 2022) with secured funding. We are in discussions with hospitality partners. Participants will drive the content and agenda of these retreats and share their experiences with the larger community to both inform personal practices as well as advise activities for future wellnessDAO retreatsHost one retreat in 2022, and 3 retreats in 2023
Provide early supporters and NFT holders with in-person meetups, branded luxury goods (leisurewear and attire), and exclusive coaching sessionsLaunch a line of wellnessDAO branded merchandise
Launch meetups in major cities (already hosted in SF and NYC)
sell $5,000 worth in AR by 2023
Continue to grow capital and reinvest funds in high-quality merchandise, wellness retreats, experiences, etc.
NFT Roadmap
WellnessDAO curates good vibes and an all-inclusive community. We use NFTs to bootstrap funding, reward early contributors and prioritize ownership and self-sovereignty.
We are launching 3 types of NFTs with utility:
- Participation NFTs: Essentially a POAP, we airdrop participants an NFT badge of wellness for each biweekly big event they attend. This serves as an onramp into web3 interactions and active community participation, and encourages positive behaviors in wellness and web3 familiarity
- Contributor NFTs: To reward our contributors/participants (1-3 hrs/a week min, exception for guest teachers), we will airdrop them a contributor NFT. This NFT will grant access to contributor swag, priority access to other NFTs and exclusive sessions proportional to contributions.
- Passport NFTs: We will be minting 500 Genesis Passport NFTs (Late April/May TBD), for 0.3-0.4 ETH each. This will provide access to the following:
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Lifelong access to wellnessDAO IRL retreats (max redemption once a year): use it or lose it, retreat access can also be gifted to another community member. Curated offerings across yoga, breathwork, ice baths, sound meditations and plant medicine. Holders collect passport stamps for retreats in different locations and methodologies. -
Exclusive, priority, and complimentary access to wellnessDAO member meet-ups, and sessions across different cities. We are partnering with local studios to offer community yoga classes in NYC, LA and SF.
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NFT-gated members-only chat on Discord to ask questions to licensed wellness coaches/clinicians around mental health, 1:1 sessions, etc.- In-person meetups with celebrities and/or licensed coaches
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IRL swag and gifts, including a wellness starter kit, and branded gear like t-shirts, hoodies -
Presale, skip the line access to future project drops -
Governance voting rights on WellnessDAO’s community wallet funds, initiatives, and future topics for sessions and seminars
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Timeline
Feb 2022
: Create discord, social media presence, and engage early community members who will guide and shape the direction of our community.
Feb / March 2022 (Current): Host our first series of events for genesis members, tracked through non-transferrable contribution NFTs and participation NFTs:
- Guided sound meditations from one of our coaches, seminar on topics of the community’s choice, in-person meetups, town hall discussions
- Organize into a DAO and start identifying how to use funds, and obtaining access to world-class instructors across practices
Q2 2022: Season 1 early supporter launch — passport NFTs which activate perpetual retreat access (one a year), token-gated community access, governance, perks, and physical wellness perks. More in “What About NFTs?”
- Continued digital experiences/sessions like yoga, breathwork, sound meditations
- Launch Merchandise Line promoted by celebrity partners
Mid-Late 2022: broader community engagement, including
- Host physical in-person meetups in LA, SF, NYC by renting out yoga studios and hiring teachers
- Host wellness sessions in the metaverse, sandbox + Decentraland
- June 2022: NFT.NYC wellness space. Will provide IRL yoga classes, space with wellness product sponsors, as well as a chill lounge to hang + meditate
Late 2022: Acquisition of community assets: acquiring parcels of land in the metaverse, and potentially a physical retreat space. Will allow DAO community to decide where!
August/September 2022: hosting a physical wellness retreat in Bali with @HighVibesNetwork
Season 2 broader community launch — NFT membership mints priced at .10 ETH (TBD), for single-use at location-specific or practice-specific events.
Early 2023 and Beyond: Continue to grow and obtain partnerships in wellness and web3.
Jan 2023: Web3 x Wellness hackathon ⇒ Built a blockchain-based application focused on wellness! Give out prizes and seed fund winners with funding.
2024 and Beyond: expand to additional assets and creation of a global membership community. Establish Wellness Centers IRL across the world!
Budget Usage (Q1 ⇒ Q4)
| Itemization | Cost Estimate ~ |
|---|---|
| People | |
| Contributors | $20,000 |
| Instructors | $20,000 |
| Events | |
| IRL events (yoga classes, etc) | $10,000 |
| Sponsorships for travel/conferences | $10,000 |
| IRL retreats | $20,000 |
| NFT Events/Partnership | $3,000 |
| Other | |
| Engineering Infrastructure + Tooling | $2,000 |
| Legal and Inc. | $5,000 |
| Swag, Marketing, etc | $5,000 |
| Total | = $100,000 |
Gnosis Safe: matic:0xAA9Ca7EB4883A9a111aA1E124404D33C6D94430A
Meet the Team
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ZiZi Zhang, zeez#9952, is a venture capital investor and web3 entrepreneur. She has previously co-founded and launched NFTs at the intersection of sports and entertainment, including partnerships with athletes, sports teams, metaverse startups and more. Her professional career spans investing, financial advisory (tradfi
), and data science. She is passionate about helping individuals discover their optimal balance between mental wellness and achievement/ambition defined in intrinsic terms, onboarding the crypto-curious and underrepresented onto today’s web3, and navigating mental health and wellness for a sustainable future web3. -
Eric Chen, the_web3_yogi#8077, is a serial technologist and yogi. He was previously a software engineer at Salesforce and is 200 YYT certified. He has worked in partnerships, ecosystem development, integrations, and currently B2B sales. He is extremely passionate about wellness and spirituality, having done many retreats, and identifies with practices like yoga and meditation. He lovingly shares his yoga, and breathwork practices, and hopes to cultivate a community of like-minded people where to help and learn from others, and eventually be in the same room to connect.
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Eric Deng, kfine#5470, is a product manager and angel investor with experience in deep tech, consumer, and robotics. He is passionate about communities and growing together as his own personal (ongoing) wellness journey has been heavily influenced by those around him and while his growth is still very much a work in progress, building wellnessDAO and providing a safe community for others to be a part of to grow together is something that he believes is critical to ~everyone’s long-term growth.
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Kajal Dayal, kajal#8147, is a portfolio analyst (in tradfi for now) and fitness bootcamp instructor. She is passionate about mental health, fitness, and daily wellness habits that she can share and develop with a community of like-minded people. WellnessDAO serves as the perfect intersection of those passions, and is a community she is very excited to help build.
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Kayla Cho, @kycc96, is an operations lead and community developer at DAO LA, an emerging IRL meetup space for web3 natives. She is a certified data scientist/analyst with an academic background in business and is currently leveraging her expertise to become a product manager. As an advocate of web3 and holistic health, Kayla is passionate about connecting people with ideas while creating value along the way.
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Tiffany Trinh @tiff#8436 is a UX designer working in the intersection of art and technology. She cares about creating meaningful experiences together while navigating her own wellness journey. She’s excited to visualize innovative concepts in the web3 space.
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Bryan Yan, @bryanyan.eth is a software engineer at a mental health startup. He’s passionate about wellness and is excited about the potential of web3 and DAOs, and building wellnessDAO is the perfect intersection of the two.
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Brian Nguyen, @ham choi boi #8687, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, He has worked with thousands of clients from all walks of life and has helped many on their path to wellness. His passions lies in helping others and allowing them to form meaningful and compassionate relationships. WellnessDAO is something he truly believes in that will allow others to grow and become healthy.
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Neil Mehta, Drøgøn#4713, is a healthcare tech strategy consultant and data scientist. He is passionate about the science behind wellness practices and the gap present currently in traditional medicine in understanding how wellness practices can help people be healthier and happier. He is excited to help build wellnessDAO into a strong community where people can learn from one another to find the specific wellness practices that can help each person live a healthier and happier life.
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Brian Sheng, @bassjackbear, is a climate tech entrepreneur who cares deeply about making a positive impact on the environment and society. Having personally been through the tremendous roller coaster of mental and physical health, running a company, and as a former athlete training for the NFL, wellnessDAO is bringing awareness to the practices and methods he wishes he knew more about in his past wellness journey.
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Sandeep Peddada, @deepsandd, is a co-founder of a venture-backed startup in the Entertainment space. Outside of sports & entertainment, he is passionate about mental health and wellness, and has been on a journey for the past 10+ years to find balance and fulfillment in his own life. He’s excited about helping others along their own wellness journeys through thoughtful conversations.
Next election date: 6/1/2022
Relevant Links
Landing Page: http://wellnessdao.life
Discord: wellnessDAO
Whitepaper: [wellnessDAO: the whitepaper — wellnessDAO]
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wellnessDAO
Instagram: http://instagram.com/wellnessDAO
to have the Harmony community participate to ask questions and provide feedbacks.