As part of my study on whether VR combined with meditation can alleviate symptoms of anxiety, stress and discomfort, it was suggested that I also study a control group that used a similar meditation without VR. I created a guided meditation using imagery similar to the environments being created in VR.
For instance, the root chakra begins:
We begin with the Root Chakra, Muladhara. Imagine a red ball of energy situated at the base of your spine near your tailbone. Inside this glowing red ball of light are things that remind you of the earth. Think of all the things rooted in the earth – crystals underground, roots, creatures that live underground and help plants thrive, minerals and soil… Allow yourself to feel secure, grounded and connected to the earth.
For each of the seven levels of the chakras there is an appropriate description.
I invited people via social media (acquaintances and members of a local yoga studio) to volunteer to be part of the study. There were two sessions – one took place in a yoga studio, another in a home. The study was briefly explained, along with all necessary information about voluntary consent to participate in the study. Participants were given a preliminary questionnaire that asked basic questions about how they were feeling and whether they had ever done guided meditation before. Their heart rate was measuring using cell phone sensor and apps or wrist-mounted fitness trackers.
After the meditation, participants were asked a nearly identical set of questions about how they were feeling, to gauge if their feelings had changed any. Their heart rate was also measured again post-meditation. Below are the findings.
| Pre-test | Heart Rate | |||
| A. Current feelings anxiousness | B. Overall sense of health & wellbeing | C. If worried, how hopeful for improvement? | D. Describe current mood | |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 84 | |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 91 |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 71 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 65 |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 85 |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 72 |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 89 |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 59 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 86 |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 84 |
| 2 | 1.833333333 | 2.5 | 2.416666667 | 78.6 |
| Post-test | Heart rate | |||
| A. Current feelings anxiousness | B. Overall sense of health & wellbeing | C. If worried, how hopeful for improvement? | D. Describe current mood | |
| 0 | 3 | 4 | 80 | |
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 86 |
| 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 65 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 75 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 84 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 70 |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 89 |
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 54 |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 76 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 70 |
| 1.166666667 | 2.666666667 | 2.6 | 3.25 | 74.9 |
| -0.833 | 0.833 | 0.1 | 0.833 | -3.7 |
Feelings of anxiousness decreased by .83, overall sense of health and well-being increased by .83, hopefulness improved .1, current mood increased by .83, and heart rate decreased by 3.7.
Although this was a small sample size of only 12 people, it did seem to show that anxiousness and mood improved, while heart rates lowered, indicating that meditation had a beneficial, calming effect.
Next step will be to finish the VR simulation and do a similar study on participants to see how people respond to the VR simulation vs. guided meditation.