How To Use VR for Relaxation: Top 12 Virtual Reality Relaxation Apps

Stress is an unwelcome and prevalent guest in the lives of many. It often occurs while we try to balance the different aspects of our lives: careers, relationships, finances, and social expectations. Our body naturally responds to stress by releasing hormones such as cortisol, which leaves us fatigued, raises our blood pressure, and affects our mood and overall body system. Relaxation is a healthy and essential practice we all must engage in.
The body can release beneficial hormones such as dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin through relaxation. These hormones not only help to relieve stress but also improve our mood and overall well-being. Several techniques can be applied to relieve stress, and a lesser number of avenues through which it can be practiced efficiently, one of them being VR.
In recent times, the application of Virtual Reality has evolved beyond playing games and has become a significant tool used in the wellness sector. As we continue, this article will take a comprehensive look at how VR is used for relaxation and the top VR relaxation applications.

The recent developments in Virtual Reality have made it a tremendous and life-changing tool in the wellness sector, especially with the advent of its application for relaxation. Virtual Reality uses immersive technology to create calming and relaxing user experiences. With a VR headset, users can transport and immerse themselves in virtual and serene environments, such as beaches and calm forests, all from their homes.
Using Virtual Reality for relaxation helps us escape the chaos and demands of our daily lives. VR relaxation experiences incorporate escapes into serene environments, guided meditations, breathing exercises, and creative experiences such as art and drawing to achieve their aim. Using VR for relaxation has a lot of benefits, some of which include;

• Relieves Stress: Using a VR headset for relaxation immerses users in serene environments virtually, calming their mind and body and ultimately eliminating stress.
• Improves Sleep: Virtual Reality provides relaxation experiences that will enhance the quality of sleep for its users
• Reduces Anxiety: Virtual Reality relaxation offers guided meditations and calming environments, which help reduce anxiety and improve users' health.
• Increased Focus: Mindfulness exercises and a serene environment also help promote concentration.

Guided meditation is an effective tool for calming the mind and promoting relaxation. In guided meditation, as the name implies, a guide or teacher takes you through a meditation process. This guide can take on different modes, from one-on-one sessions to group sessions, recorded audio, and online videos. Usually, guided meditation combines soothing sounds, calming images, and deep breathing exercises that help to quiet the mind and allow you to pay full attention to the present moment.
This naturally results in peace, calmness, mindfulness, and a relaxed mind and body. It is important to take note of the components of guided meditation as they contribute to its effectiveness in promoting relaxation. The key elements of this deep relaxation practice include;

1. Guided Instructions: A guide provides soft and gentle instructions throughout the meditation process, calming your mind, giving direction to your thoughts, improving focus, and self-awareness.
2. Soothing sounds: Sounds are essential in meditation as they help to create a calming atmosphere for deeper meditation, which improves relaxation and relieves stress.
3. Deep breathing exercises: This is a very powerful component that promotes relaxation and calmness. Each step of this exercise is performed with an open mind, an absence of judgment, and self-awareness. Just sit down, breathe, and enjoy the power of this component of guided meditation and see how it completely relaxes your body.
4. Calming images: A unique component of guided meditation is the use of vivid images that transport you to a peaceful environment and help you to relax.

When incorporating guided meditation into your activities, it is important to use a quiet place, choose a regular time, and practice regularly to get the best results. Finally, ensure you are patient with the process, and give yourself time to settle into the meditation to ensure optimal relaxation.

Virtual Reality therapy has transformed the treatment of mental health conditions as it has been found effective in the management of conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias, and depression. It provides an interactive, immersive environment that enables patients to overcome their conditions. It is important to note that Virtual Reality therapy does not replace the standardized treatments for mental health conditions; it is, however, used by clinicians as an additional therapy for managing mental health conditions.
VR therapy utilizes VR technology as a tool for treatment. It creates simulated scenarios and environments that trigger real physical and emotional responses, allowing patients to face and overcome their fears in a safe and controlled environment. The use of VR in mental health will enable people to revisit past events and face their phobias in a safe place. A significant factor that contributes to the effectiveness of VR therapy in managing mental health conditions is the inability of the brain to differentiate between real and simulated experiences.
The first paper on VR therapy was published 25 years ago by a group of researchers, and this technology has since advanced and has become more useful in treating more mental health conditions. Some of such conditions include the following;

• PHOBIA: The major line of treatment for phobia is the use of exposure therapy, and this involves exposing an individual to their fears in small and gradual steps. Virtual Reality has made exposure therapy very easy by simulating these scenarios and gradually increasing the severity with the client's permission. For example, VR therapy can help an individual with a phobia of wild animals simulate an environment with wild animals and eliminate the danger of being in such environments.
• Anxiety and depression: VR can recreate challenging social scenarios, which allows patients to practice their coping strategies in a controlled system. A scoping review done in 2021 assessed nine studies that combined Virtual Reality with CBT and discovered that VR is effective in the treatment of anxiety and depression.
• PTSD: Therapists make use of Virtual Reality in the treatment of PTSD by simulating past traumatic experiences in a safe and controlled environment, which allows the patient to face and process their memories. A 2019 review of nine previous studies made a comparison between the effects of VR exposure therapy and no therapy on PTSD symptoms. The results revealed that the Virtual Reality therapy reduced PTSD symptoms, and the impact of this therapy was maintained for at least three months after treatment stopped.

Using Virtual Reality for relaxation has become a growing trend that has helped many people escape stress and recharge themselves. With a VR headset for relaxation, many individuals can escape stressful situations and simulate soothing and calm scenarios such as mountain fields, tranquil forests, swimming with dolphins, etc., ultimately relaxing the body and mind. Virtual Reality makes use of the following to enhance your relaxation experience:

• Immersive Experience: VR provides an immersive environment that shuts distractions and promotes focus, mindfulness, and relaxation.
• Calming Environments: This is essential for optimal relaxation using VR. VR relaxation transports users to calm and peaceful environments tailored to individual preferences, from beaches to forests.
• Guided Meditation: A guide takes you through the meditation process, passing instructions with a soft voice so that you can quiet your mind and be in the present. This mode of virtual reality relaxation helps the individual focus and relaxes the mind.

One of the most significant challenges for chronically stressed people is the noise in their minds, the constant worry, and the inability to be present in their environment.
Virtual Reality can fully immerse users in calming environments, offering a complete escape from life's stressors and allowing them to be truly present and at peace with themselves. VR relaxation transports you to a place where worry fades out and the sense of calmness overwhelms you.
When VR relaxation transports you to a calming environment, the brain's default mode network is activated, which promotes mindfulness and introspection. In addition, immersive environments in VR relaxation are also responsible for reducing cortisol levels and, in turn, increasing feel-good hormones like endorphins and dopamine.
Several immersive environments can provide total escape, examples of which include;

• Nature-based Environments: In nature-based environments, users are immersed in serene natural settings such as beaches and oceans, forests, mountains, skies, and underwater caves.
• Fantasy settings: In this case, users get immersed in fantastical scenery like the mystical realms and magical gardens designed to provide an escape from life's challenges.
• Interactive activities: Deep breathing exercises can provide a soothing and calm environment.
• Guided Meditations: Guided meditations, when performed in serene environments such as the beach, mountain, or forest with a gentle voice guiding throughout the process, are immersive and perfect for calming a troubled mind and promoting relaxation.

If you are looking for a total escape from life's daily stressors, an immersive environment is an excellent choice. While you are just starting, it is important that you start with short sessions, which gradually can increase as you get more familiar with them. It is also equally important to make VR relaxation a regular part of your routine to get maximum benefits from the exercise.

Mindfulness can be described as the art of paying attention to what is happening in the present moment, your thoughts, emotions, and sensations, without judging or condemning them. It often involves staying and being conscious of one's present state. This is why it is deeply rooted in stress relief and relaxation.

Over time, Virtual Reality has become a very effective tool for enhancing mindfulness and stress relief. Several studies have shown that VR-based mindfulness training improves mindfulness more effectively than conventional mindfulness training. With VR-facilitated mindfulness training, the mindfulness and meditation experience are found to improve significantly, and not only that, stress and anxiety levels have also been observed to reduce substantially

Furthermore, Virtual Reality has a wide range of guided mindfulness exercises that can now be personalized to suit individual preferences. This helps to improve its accessibility and its effectiveness in the management of stress.

VR for mindfulness and stress relief also provides the body with amazing benefits such as an improved mood, increased focus, and self-awareness.

While VR for Relaxation is growing in popularity due to its unique and immersive experience, users encounter several challenges that restrict them from fully benefiting from this innovation. These challenges include the following;

Health and safety issues are a significant concern among users of Virtual Reality. The continuous use of a VR headset for relaxation for an extended period can lead to physical discomfort and even harmful physical effects for its users. Harmful effects such as;

• Eye strain: The prolonged use of VR headsets and screens over the eyes can result in strain on the eyes, which can be very discomforting for users. If this challenge is not tackled early, it can result in long-term vision damage.
• Motion sickness: Many VR users have reported feeling nauseous or having motion sickness. This feeling stems from the disparity between what their eyes can see and what their body perceives through other senses, such as movement. This can be quite discomforting and limit their ability to relax.
• Balance and Disorientation: Virtual Reality is immersive, posing a disorientation or balance challenge when users try to adjust to the real world.
• Physical pain or discomfort: prolonged use of a VR headset can lead to discomfort or pain, especially if the headsets are not appropriately adjusted.

Virtual Reality's immersive nature takes users from their actual physical environment. As much as this provides an escape for its users and helps them to relax, spending a prolonged amount of time in VR's immersive environment isolates users from people. Users gradually move away from face-to-face interactions, and consequently, this leads to loneliness and social isolation. Prolonged stay in virtual Reality's immersive environment has also raised concerns of desensitization from real-world experiences, disengagement from Reality, and the tendency of users to get addicted to it.

The high cost of VR headsets and equipment is a major challenge that limits their accessibility to many people. Despite the amazing benefits of VR, especially in improving the health and well-being of people, many organizations and individuals will be unable to adopt it because of its very high price point.

Millions of people all over the world are dealing with anxiety and stress. The constant demands of our modern life, from pressures of work, family, social media, and finances, can take a significant toll on the mental and physical health of many. Stress and anxiety, when left unmanaged, become chronic and can lead to several health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, a weakened immune system, and digestive problems. Virtual Reality relaxation, however, is offering a solution to manage anxiety and stress effectively. VR relaxation achieves this by transporting us to calm and peaceful environments and engaging our senses to discover a sense of calm and well-being.

VR relaxation has been shown to reduce the production of cortisol and adrenaline. These two hormones are crucial in the human body's response to stress and anxiety. VR relaxation not only reduces stress hormones but also aids the production of serotonin and dopamine, which are responsible for improving mood and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Virtual reality relaxation has also been shown to influence brain activity to reduce stress and enhance relaxation. VR relaxation has the ability to reduce brain activity in areas associated with stress and anxiety.

Several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of VR-based interventions in managing stress and anxiety, and they revealed that virtual Reality is associated with significant reductions in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.

A case study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of VR combined with relaxation techniques in patients with general anxiety disorder (GAD) by comparing VR-based relaxation with standard mental imagery (MI) relaxation. For the study, 58 individuals with confirmed GAD were recruited and divided into two groups: VR and MI groups. Afterward, specific virtual environments were recorded using an inexpensive game engine/level editor (GLE). Psychometric scales and physiological instruments were employed to assess the effects of relaxation therapy on anxiety, depression, quality of life, presence within virtual environments, and cybersickness.

The study showed that both the VR and MI groups demonstrated significant improvements in anxiety, worry, and mental quality of life scores. The VR group showed a noticeably higher protocol completion rate and increased heart rate variability during VR therapy. These findings suggested that teaching and practicing relaxation in VR holds therapeutic potential for treating GAD. Further research leveraging advanced sensory equipment and artificial intelligence agents is warranted to improve therapeutic outcomes and explore additional applications.

A case study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Singapore in 2015. The purpose was to investigate the effect of a VR-based stress management program on people with mood disorders. Twenty-two individuals with mood disorders were recruited for this study, and they were subjected to 3 daily, 1-hour sessions that incorporated psychoeducation and VR-based relaxation practice. The participants who completed the program were observed to have significantly lowered subjective stress, depression, and anxiety. The other positive feedback observed amongst the participants includes increased skin temperature, perceived relaxation, and knowledge.

VR relaxation is known to have long-term benefits on the mental health of its users. By incorporating VR relaxation into your routine, you are setting yourself up for a long-lasting improvement in your mental health and overall wellness. The long-term benefits accrued to individuals who make use of VR for relaxation include;

1 Reduced Stress and Anxiety
Stress and Anxiety are common mental health conditions that have affected the quality of life of millions of people across the globe. VR relaxation therapy has been discovered to be a powerful tool in the management of symptoms of stress and anxiety. Regular VR leads to decreased cortisol levels, also known as stress hormones. This, in turn, makes the body release dopamine and endorphins, which relax the body and consequently reduce stress and anxiety.

2 Enhanced Cognitive Function
VR relaxation therapy's effect is so strong that it affects even our brain functions. VR relaxation quietens our mind, increases focus and concentration, and improves cognitive function. Virtual Reality relaxation also enhances the memory and learning of its users, which points to enhanced cognitive function.

3 Improved Mood
VR relaxation experience helps to increase the production of serotonin in the body. Serotonin is a hormone responsible for improved mood and reduction in symptoms of depression. The immersive and engaging experience created by VR promotes positive mood and improves the mental health and well-being of its regular users.

4Enhanced Self-Awareness
Virtual Reality relaxation's ability to immerse its users in calm environments helps them to shut out the noise in their minds and allows users to be truly present with their emotions, thoughts, and feelings. VR relaxation's unique immersive experience helps its users to truly explore their inner world and be more aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and the things that motivate them. This increased self-awareness also helps users manage their emotions well, have a more positive relationship with themselves, reduce self-criticism, and be kinder to themselves.

5Improved Quality Of Sleep
Improved sleep quality is one of the amazing benefits of regularly using Virtual Reality for relaxation. VR relaxation helps to calm the mind and relax the body, which ultimately results in improved sleep duration and quality. Insomnia has a significant impact on the quality of life, and this can be mitigated through regular use of VR for relaxation.

Virtual reality relaxation apps are here to stay as they have transformed the art of relaxation and made it possible for their users to unwind, relax, and stay calm from the comfort of their homes. Before considering any VR app for relaxation, it is important to understand your specific needs and specifications. Consider the type of relaxation you are looking for, the kind of environment you want, whether you want an immersive or passive experience, and finally, what you are trying to achieve with VR relaxation. Once you decide on your goals and specific needs, choosing the right VR app for relaxation will be easier.

As a user new to VR relaxation, choosing the best VR apps for relaxation might seem like a herculean task, as there are several apps to choose from. Here we would be making your selection process a whole lot easier as we explore the factors to consider when choosing the right VR relaxation app.

The essential factors to consider when choosing a VR app for relaxation include the features, usability, and content. Combining these factors forms a fail-proof system that will help you select the perfect VR relaxation app that meets your needs. Let's look at these factors more closely:

When selecting the right VR relaxation app for yourself, leveraging public user reviews and recommendations can help provide you with valuable insights that go beyond what the app's official description might cover. With reviews and recommendations, you get to understand different user experiences and perspectives about other apps, helping you know what to expect and which VR app delivers the best relaxation features you require.
To effectively draw actionable feedback while assessing the reviews and recommendations of different users about a VR app, it's important that you:

• Consider Review Recency: VR apps are bound to improve and get updated over time. As a result, you must prioritize recent reviews during your assessments to understand each app's current state.
• Seek Out Expert Recommendations: The recommendations of individuals with technical know-how are generally more credible. You must look for recommendations from technology reviewers, mental health professionals, and VR enthusiasts who can provide a more detailed evaluation.
• Look Beyond the Star Ratings: While the star rating gives a general overall assessment of a VR app's quality, carefully reading the individual reviews is more beneficial. This gives you a more comprehensive understanding of the user's experience rather than a vague perception.
• Identify Consistent Patterns: Oftentimes, multiple users mention the same strengths or weaknesses in their reviews of the same VR app. These patterns are most likely the app's genuine characteristics, which is very important to look out for when aiming for assessment accuracy.

TRIPP is a popular VR relaxation app designed to offer users immersive and relaxing experiences. The app has a variety of content, such as guided meditations and mindfulness sessions, which are aimed at relieving its users from stress and promoting relaxation. TRIPP is compatible with several Virtual Reality headsets, such as Meta Quest and PlayStation VR, making it readily accessible to its users.

Additionally, TRIPP incorporates an emotional wellness AI companion called Kokua. This AI support is optimized to engage users in reflective conversations during VR relaxation sessions, helping them process their emotions and thoughts in a guided and gentle manner. Over time, the AI support learns from users' input and helps to provide tailored reflections that align with the individual's needs and produce a better therapeutic effect.
TRIPP's uniquely designed virtual environments and real-time feedback make the relaxation experience more engaging and an ideal choice for truly enjoying a relaxing experience.

Nature Treks VR is a renowned relaxation app that helps users find moments of peace and quiet in today's fast-paced world. This VR relaxation app provides an escape to its users by transporting them to beautiful natural environments that promote calmness and relaxation. Nature Treks VR provides its users with up to 11 different virtual environments, allowing them to select the ones that suit them best. These virtual environments are not only stunning, but they are also customizable to your preferences, and they give you a 360-degree experience. The app offers immersive experiences, guided meditations, and soothing sounds, making it a fantastic relaxation choice.

Hoame is a VR app designed to provide an escape for its users from the daily stressors of life and help them truly relax and be at peace with themselves. This app offers its users immersive experiences in the most beautiful destinations, even from the comfort of their homes. With the Hoame VR, users have access to hundreds of studio classes where they learn different relaxation techniques, postures, and guided meditation with seasoned instructors as their guide. Additionally, the Hoame VR app uses soothing sounds like the vocals, crystal bowls to help their users achieve a deep relaxation state. The Hoame VR app allows users to set goals and track their real-time progress.

It is a remarkable app that helps its members achieve their goal of a relaxed body and calm mind and improves mood and overall well-being.

Maloka VR app for relaxation is a uniquely designed app that helps users achieve relief from stress and anxiety in a busy world. It achieves this by offering guided meditations with renowned tutors as guides and immersive experiences in a virtual world. The app combines visual and auditory sensations to reduce stress, increase focus, promote relaxation, and create a sense of calmness for its users.

The app features a virtual island where users can enter to practice several relaxation techniques and access several guided meditations. Another exciting feature of this app is an island spirit guide that encourages users to practice consistently. The Maloka VR app for relaxation uses a reward system, such as island upgrades, plants, and other items to decorate and personalize their island. This reward system encourages consistency, and through regular use, users get to transform their overall health and well-being using the app.

Alcove virtual reality app for relaxation is the first VR app whose primary focus is connecting families and loved ones. This VR app aims to solve the problem of social isolation among senior citizens by providing a virtual home where they can connect and interact with their loved ones worldwide and engage in therapeutic activities. Studies have shown that more than one third of adults aged 50 - 80 feel lonely and isolated. Alcove VR serves as an excellent solution to this growing health concern.

The ability to change the scenery of the virtual home to calming and nature-based sceneries makes it a perfect choice for relaxation and stress relief. The app also allows its users to listen to calming and nature-based sceneries, enabling them to relax and unwind. Alcove VR virtual home allows families to come together to play games, watch videos, and engage in guided meditation; this serves as the perfect distraction from worries and anxiety, allowing users to truly relax and find peace in this noisy world.

ZenVR is a virtual reality app that was designed with the comfort of its users in mind. The app offers its users immersive experiences in calm and nature-based environments, which enhances relaxation and promotes the overall well-being of its users. The virtual classroom experience is the highlight of this app, where expert teachers teach users relaxation techniques and a detailed meditation curriculum. This classroom experience helps users manage stress and anxiety much better.

The skills gained in this virtual classroom can be applied in users' everyday lives, helping them manage their emotions better.

The liminal VR app is a carefully designed app with numerous immersive experiences that help its users relax and unwind from stress. The experiences available on this virtual Reality app cuts across six categories: awe, calm, energy, pain relief, focus, and sleep. These experiences induce relaxation, improve focus, relieve pain, and improve the mood of its users. Each category is designed with the benefits users stand to gain in mind.
The liminal VR app offers users over 130 experiences, nature-based scenes, and creative activities, allowing them to choose and tailor their experiences to individual needs.

PsyTechVR is a comprehensive and advanced virtual reality platform that is optimized to ensure maximum relaxation and wellness through immersive therapeutic experiences. The platform is integrated with over 30 relaxation levels, including mindfulness exercises, guided meditations, calming nature scenes, and even art therapy – all modified to help users escape their stressors and mentally and physically relax. It is also enhanced with biosensor support, which allows for real-time monitoring of heart-rate visibility, focus, and stress levels that help to provide actionable feedback during the VR relaxation sessions.

To further improve the therapeutic experience of its users, the PsyTechVR app has a dedicated AI that helps to customize the virtual environments to meet the unique needs of each user. Furthermore, the AI system helps to adjust VR exposure levels and relaxation exercises by leveraging the app's biosensor support to determine the user's progress and emotional responses.

The PsyTechVR app is also compatible with some of the best VR headsets, which allows for high-quality graphics and highly immersive environments essential for an effective VR relaxation session. Examples of these headsets include the Meta Quest Series, the PICO headsets, and the HTC Vive Series. In addition to its effectiveness, PsyTechVR's compatibility with these headsets makes it possible for its users to access its VR relaxation content on devices that best fit their needs and budgets. 

Flow is a VR relaxation app optimized to help users relax, de-stress, and build emotional resilience by providing an immersive and calm virtual space that allows the practice of guided meditations and breathwork. Unlike the exploration-based VR apps, Flow VR provides users with structured sessions that consist of a great combination of voicing guidance and soothing landscapes such as beaches, forests, and abstract calm spaces. Additionally, the sounds integrated into the app are tailored to help with emotional balancing and mental reset.

The sessions in this app are short (ranging from 5- 20 mins each), engaging, and therapeutically effective. Furthermore, the app does not require any VR controllers or the need to stand, making it accessible for different categories of people, especially those with less technological know-how. The Flow VR app is compatible with several platforms, including Meta Quest, Pico, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift.

Ocean Rift is a unique VR relaxation app that provides users with the experience of being transported into a vast marine world filled with sea life and other natural wonders. The serene underwater soundscapes and fluid visuals configured in the app create a soothing effect that creates an escape from everyday stress. Ocean Rift provides up to 12 immersive marine habitats where users can freely explore without pressure to win or solve anything. The pace in this app is slow and intentional, making it ideal for users searching for a sense of calm and awe through exploration.

Furthermore, the app provides the option of an educational narration in each habitat, where a programmed calm voice gives facts about the animals in marine environments. The Ocean Rift app is compatible with several platforms, including Oculus Rift, SteamVR, Meta Quest, and PlayStation VR.

Cubism VR app is a virtual reality puzzle game with a soothing piano sound, making it an excellent choice for players to relax. The game involves creating complex 3-D pieces as it progresses. It particularly relaxes individuals who enjoy brain teasers, as they can think deeply and create various exciting blocks and shapes. Cubism VR puzzle game uses psychological therapy by distracting players from everyday stress, increasing their focus, and promoting relaxation.

Puzzling Places can be described as a VR puzzle game configured to provide a calming and meditative experience as users assemble beautifully detailed 3D jigsaw puzzles. There is no scoring system in the game, and the users get to select how many pieces a puzzle should contain, ranging from 25 to 400 pieces. This helps to remove the pressure to win and shifts the game's focus to be centered only on relaxation, spatial thinking, and the satisfaction of building something beautiful piece by piece. Another huge relaxing component in this app is the spatial audio, as the sounds attached to each scene help to improve the user's feeling of presence and calm.

Puzzling Places only allows for a single player, and it is available on platforms such as MetaQuest and PlayStation VR.