No matter how hard I try, I’m not a calm person.
I don’t mean violent — okay, I’ve had some brutal run-ins with spotted lanternflies — I’m talking more of an inside story. My brain is a noise of intrusive thoughts, plagued by social media, low self-esteem, and lots of fun and destructive impulses. Or, at any rate, that’s what therapy taught me.
I say this not to emotionally criticize you, dear reader, but to make the point that I (who have been out of action for a long time) could probably benefit from meditation. It’s from. I know that deep down. I know that, but I don’t practice what I preach.
This is exactly why apps like the hugely popular Headspace are so appealing to me. They promise a structured way to help me live in the moment and clear my mind. Or at least take a little bit of “The Good Screen” to help you take a break from The Bad Screen (attention-stealing apps like TikTok and Instagram) (anything that helps you stop obsessive use) ). The problem is, I’m really bad at shutting things out and staying focused. When it comes to distractions, I am the proverbial moth to the flame.
Headspace XR creates a metaverse-like world that aims to make meditation fun.
headspace
That’s why when we learned that Headspace was moving everything to VR, we jumped at the chance to see what further immersion could bring when it comes to meditation. Perhaps if you can truly confine yourself to a meditative world, you can actually gain the focus and clarity you need to finally understand what it means to be “present in the here and now.” may be possible.
So…could VR be the holy grail of meditation for my ever-distracted mind?
Mental health in the metaverse
I recently had a chance to preview Headspace’s first foray into VR at Meta’s offices in New York, and was surprised to find that the experience was completely different than I expected.
If you’re expecting me to describe a calming, isolating experience, like encouraging breathing or gazing at an inert, meditative floating sphere, you’re partly right; Also completely wrong.
The first experience I was shown was actually a kinetic exercise where you move your arms in different formations (stars, circles, or a combination of the two) to collect all the floating energy dots orbiting around you . Think of it as yoga or tai chi with his VR visual aids.
The first demonstration I was shown was this movement meditation exercise aimed at activating the body.
headspace
Again, it’s not what I expected when I thought of “meditation,” but I think it can’t hurt to energize your body with some light stretching. But if that experience surprised me, the next part of the Headspace app came completely out of left field.
The main component of Mixed Reality (XR) Headspace is actually a standalone VR world with different areas to explore and meditative activities to participate in. What this actually means is that you’ll be teleported away as a weird little avatar on a choose-your-own adventure. Style meditation playground and explore different domes with different activities. Sometimes I “paint” by grabbing a strange, colorful geometric pattern that encourages me to “breathe” and throwing it against the wall and watching it splatter.
There’s a bit of meditation in the world of Headspace XR. a lot of the metaverse.
headspace
They are also instructed to become more introspective, and take to the podium to tell the app how they’re feeling, whether they’re sad, angry, or bored. From there, you will be given simple instructions on how to deal with it. Emotions of the day. I also experienced all of this in a multiplayer environment. Other members of the media and I thoroughly perused Headspace’s Meditation Wonderland.
It’s the Metaverse — no — it’s meditationPoetry.
Even though it’s not like any meditation app you’ve used before, you don’t have to feel alone. This isn’t just Headspace, it’s Headspace: The Game. Headspace XR is intentionally designed to be different, and that difference is meant to be especially appealing if you’re a member of Generation Z. Headspace has this to say about the new app:
As part of our efforts to bring mindfulness and meditation tools to younger generations, especially Gen Z, through new and innovative mediums, Headspace has teamed up with Meta and award-winning developer Nexus Studios to help people We’ve created an immersive experience that helps strengthen your mind. -Create a physical connection through movement to help you feel more relaxed and heal from the day’s fatigue.
The conceit is simple. Kids don’t want to meditate, so what if we turned meditation into a game? In theory, it makes sense. in fact? good…
Meditation: Games
Turning meditation into a game seems like a good idea. While it may sound as simple as sitting, closing your eyes, and breathing, meditation is actually a lot of work. You have to make time, stop moving, and perhaps the worst part, check in with yourself and your inner self (sucks).
Although the benefits of meditation are well-documented, meditation can sometimes even be a stressful process. Once you’re able to remove all surface-level distractions, you might start thinking about other things you’ve been pushing down. I don’t know about you, but I really value my suppression skills.
I feel like if you turn meditation into a game, it stops being meditation.
This just goes to show that meditation, even if it’s really good for you, isn’t always the most enjoyable. So, in theory, making meditation an immersive game could increase motivation to participate. I say “in theory” because in practice, at least in Headspace It’s from.
Sure, you can tell them to breathe, tell them to check in with their emotions, or just make them paint the walls with weird geometric patterns shot out of a slingshot without thinking, but they can Making it fun (while fun) doesn’t necessarily make it more effective. I love spending time with friends, but when it comes to meditation, multiplayer may not be for you.
The most meditative experience I found was the single player breathing exercises.
headspace
The most meditative moments I found within Headspace XR were actually the moments when I was able to break away from the group and experience the app on my own. For example, a room where I was shown a series of light visualizations that encouraged me to breathe in and out at four-second intervals.I did not do it need Of course, you’ll need VR to make that happen, but it certainly didn’t hurt. And by the end, I felt truly more relaxed than before I entered the VR room.
Other apps, such as Endel, which I used with Apple Vision Pro, take up similarly simple space. Endel welcomes you with lots of soft, floating orbs of light and ambient music. There are no prompts. You do not have friends. There are no mini games. In many ways, this is the bare minimum of what can be considered meditation, or even the bare minimum of what can be called an app. But it works, at least for me.
And what about Apple’s mindfulness app? Same. Simple; functional; effective. More advanced meditators would say this is bare-bones, but like the Apple Watch mindfulness app, its simplicity makes it easy for people to make it part of their daily routine. This is probably the biggest hurdle to effectively starting or continuing to meditate. .
…There are some things in life that are not meant to be, or cannot be, gamified.
and what does it work for I don’t It does just as much as it does. I want to meditate, and I think more people should meditate, but there are some things in life that aren’t meant to or can’t be gamified. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m sure people said similar things before Peloton gamified fitness or DuoLingo gamified new language learning. But for me, meditation and mental health are still exclusive to single player, and no amount of Metaverse-esque shenanigans can convince me otherwise.
