Overview

Jhourney is a platform that reimagines meditation as a paired practice, where one participant plays the role of a facilitator and the other as a meditator. This relational approach emphasizes presence, curiosity, and co-regulation.

To scale Jhourney’s unique approach while preserving its essence, we built an AI meditation facilitator — an agent designed to guide users through Jhourney’s practice while maintaining emotional sensitivity and present-moment awareness.

Objective

The goal was to test if an AI agent could:

• Offer a soothing, human-like experience consistent with Jhourney's values.

• Guide users through a Jhourney-style session using grounded, present-tense language.

• Adapt responsively to users' state of mind and verbal cues.

• Encourage a sense of relaxation and openness.

How It Worked

The AI agent facilitated 30+ meditation sessions with users. It used natural language cues and active listening techniques to guide the meditator through a gentle, present-focused exploration.

We tracked four core elements:

• Messages exchanged: Proxy for engagement.

• Sentiment classification: Relaxed, Neutral, or Distracted.

• Indicators of emotional outcomes: Whether the user expressed feeling relaxed or uncomfortable.

• User quotes: Key excerpts to capture the subjective experience.

Results

Emotional State Outcomes

• Relaxed: 22 sessions

• Neutral: 9 sessions

• Distracted: 5 sessions

73% of users reported a state of relaxation or made comments consistent with deepening ease and presence.

User Expressions of Relaxation

Users often expressed a felt sense of safety, love, or emotional ease, a central aim of Jhourneying.

"That relaxes me, brings an image of a father looking with kindness at a child."

"There's a big quality of love that I'm enjoying. It's like warm and in front of me. And in my chest."

"Thank you. I'm just gonna continue to sit on my own for a little bit now."

"Oh man. I feel amazing."

Distractions & Challenges

5 users showed signs of distraction or discomfort:

• Some got caught in loops of control or expressed confusion.

• A small number misused the bot (e.g., mocking or venting), showing the importance of clear onboarding and framing.

"I'm realizing how much tension there is."

"I'm not sure. It's hard to let go of control."

"Bit of fear and a bit of anxiety."

Even in these edge cases, most users remained engaged, and the agent’s non-reactive tone helped maintain the session’s flow.

Key Learnings

• The AI agent successfully reproduced Jhourney’s non-directive and present-focused language, enabling meaningful experiences for most users.

• Emotionally-aware feedback loops (via sentiment classification and language modeling) helped tailor sessions in real time.

• User feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many reporting deep relaxation and continued stillness after the session.

Conclusion

AI can be a powerful facilitator of human presence. In Jhourney’s paired meditation model, we found that a well-designed agent can support deep states of relaxation and inner connection. While human presence is irreplaceable, AI can serve as a bridge, expanding access to introspection and relational stillness — one Jhourney at a time.