Over the previous months, I’ve understood the significance of boundaries and the sample of energies. I additionally began to embrace meditation because it helps me get linked to my inside self and overcome fears and anxiousness. Although I do meditation each morning for a few minutes, being an empath I noticed I want a full-body refresh twice or thrice relying on the severity of the day, particularly throughout afternoons after I really feel like crashing on the mattress and slicing off from the world for a while.
I do not know the way, however these days, I began having fun with meditation in digital actuality (VR) for some motive. I wasn’t prepared to offer it a strive initially however I’m seeing some sort of constructive change in my life. When I began meditating in digital actuality, I assumed it will be a short-term answer to heal my wounds however this may very well be a long-term factor, supplied it has sufficient guided programs and the know-how itself will get extra mature. Here’s my expertise of utilizing a digital actuality headset for meditation so far.
I by chance found a VR headset in my closet… and it was much less of a digital distraction
Just a few days in the past, I stumbled upon an unused Xiaomi VR headset taking on area in my closet. The Xiaomi headset has two straps to repair a headset across the again and excessive of your head. On the entrance is a slot the place you may slide in any smartphone between 5 and 6-inches in measurement (I used the OnePlus Nord CE 2 to check meditation VR apps) — the smartphone display will function the headset’s show. The headset is not on the identical degree because the Oculus Quest 2; fairly it gives a barely higher match and end in comparison with the Cardboard viewer which was a rage when Google tried actually arduous to make cell VR headsets mainstream.
Although Google might have known as it quits with cell VR, you may nonetheless purchase VR headsets primarily based on the Cardboard VR on-line. Knowing the constraints of the headset and the ecosystem round it, I considered promoting it off on OLX and even listed the system on the platform. But one thing prompted me to revisit the headset and begin utilizing it for enjoyable. I had no clue what to do with the headset till I by chance downloaded a couple of meditation VR apps from the Google Play Store on my smartphone. That was the very first thing that got here to thoughts and I used to be proper.
The Xiaomi headset has two straps to repair a headset across the again and excessive of your head. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
I sat on a chair, fired up the Solas Meditation VR app on my telephone, after which strapped the headset to my headset. Upon launching the app, it’ll carry up a menu and allow you to select between VR experiences: meditation area, knowledge area, and respiration area. By utilizing the headset’s laser pointer, you may navigate via the menu and select completely different packages or change the settings.
I selected the meditation area; it is free to make use of. Once chosen, you may select the length, the voice of choice, and the background sound. For the primary few seconds, I felt distracted and wished to take away the headset. Ultimately, I did a 10-minute session after which began liking it. I swiveled to get a 360-degree surrounding and located myself in a backyard. A soothing voice-guided me to really feel the environment and set up a relationship with nature. The voice advised me to shut my eyes and take lengthy and gradual breaths. I may hear the chirping of birds, and slowly I began to give up myself to the world in entrance of my eyes. I targeted on my ideas and respiration. I used to be meditating – and was fully lower off from the surface world for these 10 minutes. It’s not that my fears begin to go away solely, however I get an area of my very own.
Why does meditation in VR work for me?
I’ve been doing meditation for months. I’m going to a park early within the morning and do meditation to chill out and launch my fears. It’s working for me – and I will not cease doing it as a result of VR is a greater medium. You can meditate wherever, even in a room of your house. That mentioned, whereas doing meditation in VR, I discovered a connection – a secure area of my very own – that was not there after I tried meditation apps on my smartphone or watched YouTube movies. The factor with digital actuality (VR) is that immersive expertise that locations you in an atmosphere that feels practical. You get a sense of being “present” within the atmosphere, even when the photographs end up just a little blurrier than you’d hope.
Solas Meditation VR app interface. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
In one of many apps I attempted, I used to be alleged to be on some fantasy island within the midst of translucent water. I hopped on a ship, the sky was clear… I may see turtles swim, sometimes butterflies come and go. Just being in that atmosphere was like taking a break from Delhi’s scorching warmth. I knew I used to be in a digital world… distant from actuality however that feeling of being surrounded by the pristine water and nature was therapeutic and stress-free. After writing a protracted piece, I often watch a YouTube video for guided meditation however I at all times really feel distracted. But doing meditation in VR is a distinct expertise altogether. It not solely helps me focus but in addition transports me to an area the place nobody is watching me. Your mind and physique reply to that area and also you turn out to be a part of the world. No one is telling you to put on a headset all day, as a result of that will turn into just a little uncomfortable however I loved VR for attending smaller meditation classes.
Is VR the way forward for meditation?
I do not personal superior headsets like Oculus Quest 2 or HTC Vive Pro however after doing meditation in VR for a couple of days, I’ve extra religion in know-how. All these years, I’ve heard analysts and tech insiders have a unfavourable opinion concerning the prospects of digital actuality. VR as tech nonetheless has plenty of challenges and tech firms want to determine the way to make VR headsets extra accessible. I attempted on a primary VR headset however nonetheless discovered a use case. I want Google had caught to the concept of cell VR for just a little longer. That would have given builders a leap of religion in cell VR.
VR as tech nonetheless has plenty of challenges and tech firms want to determine the way to make VR headsets extra accessible. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
Right now, there are solely a handful of meditation VR apps on the Google Play Store and to be sincere, they don’t seem to be nice. Beyond some extent, your eyes get strained although I’ll nonetheless proceed my meditation journey on VR, regardless of the tech’s limitations and lack of content material. I’ll nevertheless not urge you to purchase a VR headset for meditation. But I do think about a future the place I will probably be utilizing a VR headset for lots many issues. I favored the concept of taking quick guided meditation classes utilizing VR, with out the necessity to step out in the summertime. I’ve heard lots about Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 and hope to get the headset quickly. For now, I need to persist with a budget VR headset I’ve and can proceed to make use of it for meditation.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
