Meditating Together: Practices, Benefits and Challenges of Meditation on Social Virtual Reality

L. Liu; Xi Lu; Pei-Chun Chiang; Daniel A. Epstein; K. Squire

doi:10.1145/3706598.3713172

Meditating Together: Practices, Benefits and Challenges of Meditation on Social Virtual Reality

L. Liu, Xi Lu, Pei-Chun Chiang, Daniel A. Epstein, K. Squire

International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 25, 2025 DOI: 10.1145/3706598.3713172 (opens in new tab)

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Characteristics	Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Sample size	13
Population	Regular social VR meditators
Topics	Meditation
Key findings	Meditators in social VR used platform features to engage in community-driven group practices, manage session flow, employ avatars and body tracking for kinetic practices, and experiment with novel meditation forms. Participants reported both benefits and challenges related to individual and social aspects of their meditation experiences. The authors argue that avatars and virtual others can positively affect practice, while also identifying emerging tensions and opportunities for social VR meditation.

Abstract

Meditation and mind-body practices offer many benefits for both mental and physical well-being. Recently, social virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising platform to support well-being activities. While Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research has explored technologies for meditation, little is known about how users appropriate social VR for meditation, particularly group practice, and how it shapes their experiences. To bridge this gap, we interviewed 13 regular social VR meditators to explore their practices, perceived benefits, and challenges. We found that meditators utilized platform features to engage in community-driven group practices, manage session flow, employ avatars and body tracking for kinetic practices, and experiment with novel forms of meditation. Participants reported benefits and challenges related to the individual and social aspects of their meditation experiences. Based on these findings, we discuss the implications of using social VR for meditation, including how avatars and virtual others positively affect the practice, as well as emerging tensions and opportunities.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study	Year	Design	Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan...	2017	Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system	2004	Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety	2006	Exploratory mixed methods study	n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context	2001	Qualitative study	n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators	2013	Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

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