Putting Oneself in the Body of Others: A Pilot Study on the Efficacy of an Embodied Virtual Reality System to Generate Self-Compassion.
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2019 Ausiàs Cebolla, Rocío Herrero, Sara Ventura et al.
A self-compassion meditation procedure using a virtual reality body swap illusion (the machine to be another system) was compared with a standard audio-only meditation in 16 participants. Both conditions increased positive qualities toward self/others, decreased negative qualities toward self, and improved awareness of mental events and bodily sensations immediately after practice, with no differences between groups. After two weeks of home practice, both groups showed similar meditation frequency and increases in self-care behaviors, though clinical self-care behaviors were significantly higher in the VR group. Lower visual and cutaneous imagery ability moderated the VR condition's effectiveness in increasing adherence, suggesting embodied VR may help those who struggle with mental imagery in compassion-based interventions.