Sadie Frost: How an app helps me find equilibrium

Sadie Frost, actress, author, fashion designer, producer, busy mum, talks about how a digital app with a human face has helped her find equilibrium in her life.

‘I like to think that I take pretty good care of my health and wellbeing but I’m also juggling jobs as a working mother and my life can be pretty hectic. I’m currently on location in the Pyrenees filming Waiting for Anya, an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 1990 novel about a young shepherd who helps to smuggle Jewish children out of Germany during the Second World War. I play Madame Jollet, alongside amazing actors including Anjelica Huston and Noah Schnapp, the American actor who plays Will Byers in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things.

I’ve just finished my first novel and our production company, Blonde to Black pictures, has just completed Two for Joy, a coming of age drama starring Samantha Morton and Billie Piper. We are taking it to film festivals now for release later this year. Sometimes, I barely have time to draw breath, all the time making sure I’m there for my four kids, Finlay, 27, Rudy, 21, Iris, 17 and Rafferty, who is 15.

Yoga and meditation has been a big part of my life for over a decade, and I usually get up early to make time to practise, but even that has to compete with filming schedules, deadlines and other stuff. I’m a bit of a workaholic, and my partner Jemima French and I are just about to bring our FrostFrench yoga wellbeing clothing line into stores alongside our existing swimwear line.

In the midst of all this activity, I sometimes need to escape for a bit. I can go to a retreat and feel great and then come back home, and within two days, I’m back to square one. The problem seems to be pretty universal. We can make huge lifestyle changes, and see great results, but it’s not sustainable in our stressful modern-day lives. At least, not without the right support.

I first met Chris Nelson, the author of ‘Wake Up and Soar’, when I visited his yoga retreat in Goa, Ashiyana, and completely fell in love with the place. It’s the essence of equilibrium between mind, body and spirit and its where I feel at my happiest. In fact, everyone there just seems to be happy all the time. 18 months ago, Chris told me about his latest project – SOAR, a digital app with a human face, which is actually designed to overcome the barriers we all face to sustainable behavioural change, simply because we can’t always be in a yoga retreat next to a gently flowing river, eating wonderful vegan food.

I now have the app on my smart phone, which combines access to a Health Coach trained in functional medicine, together with digital tools throughout the app. The best way to describe it is that it’s like having a really comforting friend with you who knows a whole lot of interesting things about conventional and alternative ways to stay healthy, and in addition keeps you motivated.

Once a week, I have a video session with my health coach which lasts 30 minutes, where we go over anything that has come up during the week, and my goals for the future. We also chat by email at other times and I have built a really strong connection with her. The digital tools within the app and the smart assistant, Genie, log my behaviour, likes and dislikes, exercise and nutrition, and prompt and encourage me, or start suggesting alternative ways to improve my lifestyle. It helps give me a structure and reminds me when I need to focus on myself, either taking time out to meditate, drink more water to stay hydrated or take certain vitamins.  When I got a bone density report from my doctor which suggested that it was lower than it should be, my coach emailed me a load of information about what the results meant and how I could take steps to boost my bone density through dietary changes, and build my strength through weight bearing exercise.

The app is currently available to companies, so they can invest in their workforce’s wellbeing. It will be available to individuals through the app store in a few months. 

In the digital age, with limited time and stressful workloads, SOAR helps me harness the power of human communication and digital tools to help me restore balance in my life and optimise my wellbeing.