Notre Dame's Maddy Westbeld joins the show to discuss her love of basketball, how coffee and meditation in the morning is a big part of her process, being recruited to Notre Dame, meeting Dara for the first time, and how the team has come together over the five game winning streak.

3:00 - When she fell in love with basketball

4:02 - Development of perimeter game

5:35 - First interaction between Dara and Maddy

7:35 - What it was like to play with Mabrey

9:10 - Recruiting process

11:05 - Love of coffee

14:25 - Importance of meditation and rituals

23:28 - Thoughts on Notre Dames five-game winning streak

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Dimes with Dara | Notre Dame's Maddy Westbeld On Hoops, Coffee, Meditation & Winning - Irish Sports Daily

In an era where digital innovation seeks to transcend traditional boundaries, a groundbreaking collaboration between Headspace and Meta has brought forth Headspace XR, a virtual reality (VR) application designed to redefine the contours of mental wellness. This novel venture combines the immersive capabilities of VR with the ancient practices of meditation and Tai Chi, aiming to offer users a unique and engaging approach to mindfulness and well-being. At a time when the mental health landscape is clamoring for innovative solutions, Headspace XR emerges as a beacon of hope, leveraging technology to foster a deeper connection with the self.

Funded by Meta, Headspace XR is not just an app but a pioneering platform that marries the tranquility of meditation with the dynamic engagement of a Tai Chi-inspired game. Its development represents a significant leap in making mental health practices more accessible and appealing, particularly to a younger, tech-savvy demographic. Through the lens of the Meta Quest virtual reality headset, users are transported into a serene virtual environment where the hustle and bustle of the outside world fades away, replaced by a peaceful sanctuary designed for reflection, relaxation, and personal growth.

The essence of Headspace XR lies in its ability to create a fully immersive experience that goes beyond traditional meditation practices. By incorporating activities such as a Tai Chi-inspired movement game, the app not only promotes mental well-being but also encourages physical activity, blending mindfulness with motion in a seamless and engaging manner. Such innovative approaches to mental wellness underscore the potential of VR technology as a tool for enhancing mental health. However, the journey of integrating VR into mental health practices is still in its infancy, with ongoing research and user feedback being crucial to understanding its long-term benefits and limitations.

While the collaboration between Headspace and Meta signals a promising direction for the future of mental wellness, it also brings to light the challenges of ensuring that such technological interventions are accessible to all. The reliance on VR headsets, such as the Meta Quest 3, highlights a potential barrier in terms of cost and accessibility. Moreover, as Headspace XR gathers user data and feedback, the importance of privacy and ethical considerations in digital mental health interventions cannot be overstated. Despite these challenges, Headspace XR represents a forward-looking approach to mental health, offering a glimpse into how technology can be harnessed to create more inclusive and engaging wellness practices.

In a world where mental health is increasingly at the forefront of societal concerns, Headspace XR stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation. By blending the ancient with the futuristic, and the physical with the digital, this venture offers a new pathway to wellness, one that promises to evolve and adapt as it explores the vast potential of virtual reality in promoting mental health.

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Headspace XR and Meta Innovate Mental Wellness with Virtual Reality Meditation - Medriva

Headspace, the company behind the sleep and meditation mobile app, announced the release of Headspace XR, which combines social VR connection and a number of mindfulness techniques that aims to combat loneliness, anxiety and depression.

Developed by Nexus Studios and published by Headspace, Headspace XR arrives exclusively on Quest today, bringing with it both mixed and virtual reality experiences that include mood-boosting games, one-on-one guided meditations, and techniques the company says help users strengthen their mind-body connection through movement and breathwork.

Headspace describes its new XR app as a virtual playground where you can move, play, meditate, or just explore on your own or adventure with your friends all in breathtaking immersive environments.

The company says with Headspace XR, its especially reaching out to younger generations since they tend to feel loneliness more acutely, noting that 27 percent of Gen Z report feeling very or fairly lonely which usually comes alongside physical or emotional symptoms due to things like stress, such as feeling depressed or sad, or lacking interest, motivation or energy.

This age demographic is at a critical juncture of learning how to build lifelong mental health habits, the studio says. With the extended reality activities in Headspace XR, players can learn how to incorporate mindfulness techniques into their everyday lives, while also participating in positive socialization and community building with their friends.

Additionally, Headspace says its conducting a randomized control trial at Virginia Tech later this year to evaluate how Headspace XR helps people with social health and connection, as well as perceived and objective stress.

Headspace XRis now available on the Quest Store for a one-time purchase of $30.

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Headspace Launches Social VR Mindfulness App on Quest Thats More Than Just Meditation - Road to VR

In an era where digital wellness and mental health are at the forefront of societal conversations, a pioneering collaboration emerges, promising to revolutionize how we approach mindfulness and meditation. Headspace, a leader in the digital health domain, renowned for its commitment to improving mental well-being through meditation and mindfulness, has joined forces with Meta, the tech giant behind the Quest virtual reality platform, to introduce an immersive meditation experience like no other. This partnership aims to harness the power of virtual reality to make meditation not only more engaging but also more accessible to a broader audience, offering a unique blend of technology and wellness that could potentially transform the landscape of mental health practices.

The product of this collaboration, Headspace XR, is more than just a meditation app; it's an invitation to explore mindfulness in a virtual reality setting. Designed to cater specifically to the Meta Quest VR headsets, Headspace XR offers users an array of meditation and mindfulness activities, ranging from tai chi-inspired movements to guided meditations and interactive relaxation games. With the aim of appealing particularly to Gen Z users, the app seeks to address the mental health needs of younger audiences by providing a platform that is both innovative and engaging. Sara Cohen, Vice President of Content Creation at Headspace, expressed the company's ambition for the app to make a significant positive impact on the mental well-being of its users, emphasizing the potential of virtual reality to enhance the meditation experience.

The launch of Headspace XR on the Meta Quest platform marks Headspace's foray into the realm of extended reality. The app is designed as a virtual playground, where users can delve into various activities such as breathing exercises, mood tracking, and one-on-one meditations. Features like the Moodstream with its colorful bubbles, the Boxy Treehouse, and the Energy Dome, among others, aim to make mindfulness practices not only more interactive but also more enjoyable. By gamifying relaxation and meditation, Headspace XR strives to encourage users to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines, making it a habit rather than a chore. This approach also allows for social interaction within the app, offering users the opportunity to connect with friends in a serene virtual environment.

Available on Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, Headspace XR is part of a broader mission to enhance access to mental health support on a global scale. Building on Headspace's already significant impact on over 100 million people across 200 countries and regions, this initiative represents a significant step forward in democratizing mental wellness. Unlike traditional meditation apps, Headspace XR is available for a one-time fee of $30, making it an accessible option for those looking to explore mindfulness without committing to a recurring subscription. With guidance from Headspace instructors Dora Kamau and Kessonga Giscombe, and set in metaverse-style environments, the app not only offers various meditation techniques but also introduces a community element to encourage consistent practice through engagement and social activities.

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Headspace and Meta Team Up to Launch Groundbreaking VR Meditation App on Quest Platform - Medriva

Movies

Much is open-ended about this realist yet dreamlike exploration of midlife crisis and regret set in Vietnam

The question of what the title means, or what the movie means, remain open; even so, this is a quietly amazing feature debut from 34-year-old Thien An Pham, born in Vietnam and based in Houston, Texas. Its a jewel of slow cinema set initially in Saigon and then the mountainous, lush central highlands far from the city; it is a zero-gravity epic quest, floating towards its strange narrative destiny and then maybe floating up over that to something else. Its compassionate, intimate, spiritual and mysterious in ways that reminded me of Tsai Ming-liang or Edward Yang.

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is presented in a calm, unforced realist style with many long, unbroken middle-distance shots, with closeups a rarity. There is a flashback and a dream-sequence presented in exactly the same way, leading to the woozy feeling that past and present, reality and reverie are all folding in on each other. The refusal of explicit emotion does not prevent one fiercely erotic kissing scene, or a moment where a young woman declares her adoration for Frank Capras Its a Wonderful Life and wonders aloud: Why cant they make movies like that any more? I can actually imagine Bob Rafelson making this film in 1972 (at half the length) with the same narrative structure, the same elements of midlife male crisis and regret.

In the noisy, bustling city, Thien (Le Phong Vu) is having an unhurried conversation with his friends about religious faith and the meaning of life at an outdoor cafe when they are stunned by a deafening motorbike crash just a few yards away. His later session at a massage parlour is tragicomically interrupted by a call on his smartphone. The fatality in that crash turns out to have been his sister-in-law, Hanh, whose five-year-old son, Dao (Nguyen Thinh), miraculously survived. Now it is Thiens duty to take Hanhs coffined body in a rented van to her home village for burial (with little Dao as well).

This is also his own home village and that of his brother, Tam, Hanhs husband, who ran out on her and his son years ago. Thien must make a reckoning with Thao (Nguyen Thi Truc Quynh), a young woman from that village with whom he once had a romantic understanding; she could help him to do something about poor little Dao, whose grief about his mother can only be guessed at. He must also track down his runaway brother and what? Break the news? Use this tragedy as a path to reconciliation? Or make sense of his own life and his place in a vast, placidly indifferent world?

The camera drifts and turns with the slow deliberation of an aircraft carrier: characters will move out of shot and keep talking off screen until the camera catches up with them and they are back in the frame. A still tableau will turn out to be an almost imperceptibly slow zoom. Thien has arresting encounters: an old man who once fought with the South Vietnamese at the Battle of Vung R, and an old woman who is as enigmatic as a wraith. One entire sequence is simply Thiens viewpoint, in silence, as he drives on his motor-scooter down roads where the headlights of oncoming traffic flare into a screen-filling dazzle.

Is Thien having a breakdown? Or are these recent, desperately sad events simply giving articulation to a breakdown he might have had anyway? If Hanh had not died, would he not have muddled on with his unsatisfying, anonymous life in the city, and never thought to contact Thao or Tam ever again? The panoramic intelligence of this film is a wonder.

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is at the ICA, London, from 8 March.

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Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell review jewel of slow cinema is a wondrous meditation on faith and death - The Guardian

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. From facebook.com

The Tergar Meditation Community, founded by the revered Dharma teacher and master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan BuddhismYongey Mingyur Rinpoche, has announced that Mingyur Rinpoche will lead an online meditation workshop from 30 March on the theme Three Life Skills.

Meditation is much more than just focusing on the breath,, Tergar said in an announcement shared with BDG.In this half-day meditation workshop with renowned meditation expert Mingyur Rinpoche, learn how meditation can develop three lifelong skills for greater peace: being present, being kind, and being curious. Whether at home, school, or work, these skills can be applied anytime and anywhere to bring more joy, well-being, and resilience in the face of lifes ups and downs.

The half-day workshop will examine the essence of meditation, and explore how to be present without worrying about the past or future, how to accept oneself and others with kindness, and how to develop wisdom through cultivating curiosity about the nature of reality.

Thousands of people worldwide have found Mingyur Rinpoches meditation teachings simple yet transformative, Tergar observed. Enjoy the unique opportunity to receive practice guidance to apply three life skills anytime and anywhere. Practice with fellow students around the world and engage in small discussion groups. (Tergar)

Mingyur Rinpoches meditation workshop Three Life Skills will be conducted in English, with interpretation into Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, and live-streamed at the following times:

Auckland: 3am, Sunday, 31 March Canberra: 1am, Sunday, 31 March Seoul, Tokyo: 11pm, Saturday, 30 March Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei: 10pm, Saturday, 30 March Bangkok, Jakarta: 9pm, Saturday, 30 March New Delhi: 7:30pm, Saturday, 30 March Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris,Stockholm: 3pm, Saturday, 30 March London: 2pm, Saturday, 30 March Montreal, New York: 10am, Saturday, 30 March Los Angeles, Vancouver: 7am, Saturday, 30 March

Mingyur Rinpoche, the founder of the Tergar Meditation Community, which has centers and practice groups across the world, is a renowned teacher and best-selling author whose books include:The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret & Science of Happiness(2007);Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom(2009); andTurning Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism(2014).

Born in 1975 in the Himalayan border regionbetween Tibet and Nepal, Mingyur Rinpoche received extensive training in Tibetan Buddhist meditative and philosophical traditions from his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (192096), considered one of the greatest modern Dzogchen masters, and subsequently at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India. After just two years, at the age of 13, Mingyur Rinpoche entered a three-year meditation retreat and then completed a second immediately afterward, serving as retreat master. At 23, Rinpoche receivedfull monastic ordination.

Mingyur Rinpoche famously undertook a four-year solitary wandering retreat through the Himalaya from 201115.In recounting how he came to terms with the realities of his ambition to practice in the manner of a wandering yogi, Rinpoche revealed that he confronted many personal and spiritual challengesincluding, at one point, his own mortality. Rinpoche has described the years he spent wandering in the Himalaya as one of the best periods of my life.*

Meditation is really quite simple. All we have to do is embrace each experience with awareness and open our hearts fully to the present moment. When we are completely at ease with our own being, the ripples of awareness naturally spread out in all directions, touching the lives of everyone we meet. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

*Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Returns from Four-year Wilderness Retreat(BDG) andYongey Mingyur Rinpoche Releases Video Offering Insights Following His Retreat(BDG)

Tergar Tergar Asia

Online Dharma: Tergar Meditation Community Announces Live Teaching with Jetsun Khandro Rinpocheon Mahamudra: Revealing Our True Nature Online Dharma: Tergar Meditation Community Announces Living, Dying, and Beyond Retreat with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Mingyur Rinpoche to Embark on Teaching Tour of Australia Tergar Institute in Nepal Welcomes Inaugural Cohort of Buddhist Students Online Dharma: Tim McHenry from New Yorks Rubin Museum of Art Shares His Unique Meditation Journey

The Good News of Suffering: Four Questions on the Four Noble Truths with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Living with Awareness, Practicing with Intent: An Interview with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Exclusive Interview: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche on Living Life with Balance and Awareness

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Online Dharma: Mingyur Rinpoche to Offer Meditation Workshop on Three Life Skills - Buddhistdoor Global

If it always feels like you can predict the upcoming full moon just by sensing the vibes in the air, then you may not need the Moonly app, but youll definitely still enjoy it.

This wellness-meets-astrology app, which has over 6 million downloads, offers a host of healing practices based on the ebbs and flows of the lunar calendar. Since each phase of the moon has a unique energy, the idea is to keep track and navigate your day accordingly.

Moonly offers rituals and practices to follow, like tarot readings and morning affirmations, as well as personalized recommendations based on your astrological birth chart, including whether you should cut your hair, make big decisions, or even go on a date on a particular day.

To say this app has a lot going on is an understatement. It also has a guided meditation library, a dream analyzer, and built-in articles you can read to brush up on your astrology knowledge, tarot skills, and more.

Ive been unpacking the app for a week, and I still feel like I spot something new every time I open it up. Keep reading below for my honest review of Moonly, including my favorite features so far.

The Moonly app helps you tune into the monthly rhythm of the moon, which is said to impact how you feel.

For example, a new moon can be an energizing time, which means you might want to manifest or set new goals, while the full moon brings about a sense of resolution and release. When you pay attention to the phase of the moon thats occurring on a given day, you might be able to better harmonize your life.

Theres also a practice section within the app where you can flip through virtual tarot cards or reveal your daily rune. The idea is to ask the tarot cards or runes a question, and then analyze what they reveal.

From there, you can head to the healing tab, which is where youll find dozens of sound-based and guided meditations. Theres everything from relaxing rain sounds and crystal singing bowls, green and white noise, and even meditations to help alleviate anxiety, address trauma, and express gratitude.

The app also includes a wisdom section thats packed with mini-articles about seemingly every topic within the holistic wellness realm, including aura cleansing, healing breath and pranayama, full moon rituals, chakras, aromatherapy, and even gardening based on the lunar calendar.

This app is absolutely mind-boggling at first glance. Even though it has a beautiful interface and mystical graphics, it also has a ton of content. Thankfully, the moon phase is listed right at the top of the screen above the chaos.

This is where youll find a little lunar forecast for the day ahead. For example, on March 6 there was a waning moon in Sagittarius, which brought with it a sense of curiosity and a craving for excitement. Funnily enough, I actually felt inspired to go to a comedy show that night with friends, even though it was a dark and rainy Wednesday.

Today, on the other hand, theres a more low-key waning moon in Capricorn, which might explain why I will absolutely be staying in.

Below the moon phase info is a Daily Activity and Personal section based on your birth chart. To unlock this feature I paid $14.99 and entered my birthday and birth location into the app. Once I did, I got my natal chart and a wealth of knowledge about who I am according to the stars.

Turns out my birthday landed near a full moon, which means I have bright moon personality traits. If the moon is fully illuminated when youre born, it can mean that it has a stronger influence on your chart.

Since the moon represents emotions, it can also mean that youre sensitive and emotionally intelligent. And if you feel out of whack, it means harmonizing your practices with the moon can help set you right again. Ive tried a lot of astrology apps, and yet this was my first time learning about the moon and how it impacts my chart.

Paying for a birth chart also gave me access to personal daily tips, including whether its a good time to cut my hair, go on a date, or change something for my health. Today, my chart is telling me that its a good day to rest and enjoy some self-care and that I should avoid doing anything beauty-related, so Ill take the hint and try not to trim my bangs.

While its always nice to have some astrological guidance to get through the day, one of my favorite parts of Moonly has been the brand-new dream analyzer feature.

Once you scroll past the lunar phases, youll eventually come across a little animated bunny called Moody who presides over a text box. This is where you can type out your dream, which is then immediately processed by artificial intelligence.

After having a particularly interesting dream the other night, I woke up, immediately typed in the details, and an explanation popped up that actually did shed a lot of light on what was going on in my brain. It was like a little digital dream debrief.

Beyond that, Ive been having a good time flipping tarot cards, learning more about runes, and reading my daily affirmations. Today mine says, I let go of the need to criticize myself and thats always good advice.

Many features within Moonly are clickable, so you can tap the screen to learn more. The tarot section, for instance, explains how to read your tarot cards within a three-card spread and it explains what tarot is, the history, and the meaning of the major and minor arcana, all using beautiful graphics.

Remember when I said Moonly has a lot going on? Weve talked runes, tarot, dream analysis, and lunar phases, and I havent even gotten to the Healing tab.

I actually find myself gravitating here a lot, since it has countless meditations with intriguing titles like Comfort and Peace and Earth Kingdoms Unification, which promises to help you tune into the planet.

Other options include sound healing and mantra chants, shadow work, instrumental pieces with gongs and flutes, yogic voices speaking on gratitude and self-love, nature sounds, and more.

Ive been playing relaxing bird sounds in the morning, a white noise recording when I need to concentrate, and gentle rain sounds to create a cozy atmosphere at night.

I also like that the spoken guided meditations, while the tiniest bit cheesy, have helpful messages, like Meeting Your Inner Child and Clearing Unconscious Patterns. The other morning I laid on my yoga mat and listened to one called Gift of the Present and it did help me to feel more grounded.

Moonly has a lot of content, so it feels like you can use it every day and never run out of things to do. IMO, thats a good thing for an app that requires you to pay for a lot of its features.

To test the app, I spent $3.99 for a monthly subscription and $14.99 for a birth chart, but it does feel like Ive been getting my moneys worth.

After trying it for a week, Id say Moonly is a good astrology app to download if youre into all things esoteric, especially if you want to learn more about tarot, moons, and mantras, while also putting them into practice. Nothing beats starting the day with a few positive words.

Personally, Ive been loving the lunar phase calendar, which seems to accurately explain the energy of the day. I also love the dream analyzer, which I find to be just as cute as it is helpful. For that alone, Ill be keeping Moonly on my phone.

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Moonly App Review: Price, Features, & What To Know - Bustle

by Selena Hill

March 4, 2024

Originally Published Mar. 19, 2019

Are you having one of those days when youre buried in paperwork while your boss piles on a list of unrealistic demands and a difficult co-worker manages to get on your very last nerve? If so, then it may be time for you to step away from your desk and take some time to meditate.

Weve all had tough days like this while working on the clock. However, we dont always deal with the stress of challenging situations and people at work in a healthy way. Thats why BLACK ENTERPRISE invited entrepreneur, wellness expert, and author Quentin Vennie to share advice on how and why we must meditate.

Vennie explained why its imperative for everyone, especially working professionals, to give themselves a mental break andpractice mindfulness.

So often throughout the day, were faced with so much adversity, so many things, so much stress, [and] were trying to multitask, he said. Sometimes I think its important to just take yourself outside of that. Focus your attention on one thing and move forward from that point.

In a nutshell, here is why Vennie says mindfulness is crucial for success:

Vennie also talked about using meditation as a tool to overcome affliction. Watch the full interview below.

Vennie, who says meditation has personally helped him overcome drug addiction and severe depression, was also recognized as a 2017BE Modern Man of Distinction, where he shared his story. Heres an excerpt:

I was born and raised in a single-parent household on the west side of Baltimore. My father was a heroin addict, and by the time I was 12 I had been shot at and spent more time visiting prisons than most of the people I was close to. Despite spending a lot of time in my old neighborhood in West Baltimore, I went to predominantly white schools in the suburbs of Baltimore County. I experienced racism, discrimination, prejudice, you name it. I was diagnosed with acute anxiety and mild depression when I was 14, and then diagnosed with severe generalized anxiety and panic disorder, and mild to severe major depressive disorder, at 26. I endured a two-year addiction to my anxiety medication, survived an accidental overdose and two failed suicide attempts, but was fortunate to discover a wellness system that saved my life (yoga, meditation, and fruit/vegetable juicing). Not only did it help me get off all medications, but it also made my anxiety and depression easier to manage.

I started telling my story of my battles with anxiety, depression, and addiction in 2012 when I first started my journey into sobriety, and on May 30th of 2019, my first book, Strong in the Broken Places: A Memoir of Addiction and Redemption Through Wellnesswas published in the U.S. and Canada, and published in Australia and the U.K. on July 1st. I was able to successfully turn my trial into a triumph that has positively impacted people worldwide.

Now, its time for you to meditate with us! Follow along with this 14-minute meditation session guided by Quentin below.

RELATED CONTENT: Its Giving Stress-Free: 5 Ways To Manage Stress

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Don't Pop Off At Work, Instead Pop Into The Power Of Meditation - Black Enterprise

Headspace, the provider of the worlds most accessible, comprehensive mental health system, andNexus Studios, an award-winning global studio in film and experience design, today released an immersive reality experience calledHeadspace XR, available exclusively in the Meta Quest Store. A first-of-its-kind, immersive playground for the mind,Headspace XRincorporates both mixed and virtual reality experiences, including mood-boosting games, one-on-one guided meditations, and techniques to help users strengthen their mind-body connection through movement and breathwork.

Headspace XRwas designed to engage younger generations particularly Gen Z with mindfulness and meditation tools through a new and innovative medium. According to astudyconducted by Gallup and Meta, a quarter of adults worldwide feel very or fairly lonely. Younger generations (ages 19-29) feel loneliness more acutely, with 27 percent reporting they feel very or fairly lonely. Additionally, a recent analysis of NHS data byThe Independent showed that one in five 8 to 25 year olds have a probable mental health disorder in 2024, up from one in eight in 2017. This age demographic is at a critical juncture of learning how to build lifelong mental health habits. With the extended reality activities in Headspace XR, players can learn how to incorporate mindfulness techniques into their everyday lives, while also participating in positive socialisation and community building with their friends.

Research showsthat when humans play, our brains are activated in a way that can impact overall life satisfaction and emotional well being. Unfortunately, our day-to-day lives are often stripped of this opportunity, said Sara Cohen, vice president of content creation at Headspace. Together with Meta and Nexus Studios, were thrilled to combine the power of play with meditation and mindfulness in an immersive experience that also allows you to build community by engaging in Headspace XR together with your friends.

Later this year, Headspace will conduct a randomised control trial to evaluate how Headspace XR helps people with social health and connection, as well as perceived and objective stress, at Virginia Tech. The study aims to explore the direct mental health benefits of mindfulness in virtual environments, specifically providing evidence supporting the effectiveness of using Headspace in the metaverse. This will also contribute to the scientific exploration of the applicability of immersive reality in the future of digital health.

For Meta Quest owners, Headspace XR is a single or multiplayer experience designed to help users:

Players keep saying to us, I didnt know mindfulness could be like this! We love that theyre getting to experience the benefits of these science-based mindfulness techniques while having fun and spending time with friends, said Deborah Casswell, executive creative director, Nexus Studios. This response really encapsulates our ambition for the project. Nexus Studios took the best of the Quest platform its social, immersive, playful qualities and reimagined Headspaces powerful mindfulness techniques for a younger audience.

Headspace XR, developed by Nexus Studios and published by Headspace, is available in English on Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro beginning March 6, 2024, in single and multiplayer Immersive 360 formats. Headspace XR will be available for 22.99 as a one-time purchase. The experience is rated E (Everyone).

To try out Headspace XR for yourself, visit theMeta Quest Store.

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HEADSPACE LAUNCHES IMMERSIVE MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION APP - Tech & Digital - Verge Magazine

A mother has expressed her heartache after her 22-year-old daughter killed herself during an intense meditation retreat.

Nathalie, fromOntario, Canada, told the Financial Times' podcast,The Retreat, how her daughterJaqui checked into a 10-day Goenka retreat in Merritt - but the 'free spirit' left early and took her own life.

The podcastexamines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of intensive meditation known as Vipassana, which sees people meditate for 10 to 11 hours a day over 10 days, in silence.

Some people who have been to the retreats referred to them as 'like a voluntary prison sentence' and accused the teachers of 'exhibiting irresponsible behaviour, bordering on malpractice.'

Podcast host Madison Marriage says she has been receiving emails from desperate families who are looking to highlight the dangers of the meditation group by sharing the harrowing stories of their children, who suffered from hallucinations and psychosis afterwards.

The FT explained: 'Thousands of people go on Goenka retreats every year to learn Vipassana meditation.

'High-flying tech moguls in Silicon Valley rave about it. Getting a place on one is like getting Glastonbury tickets: theyre coveted.

'But some who go to these retreats suffer. They might feel a deep sense of terror, or a break with reality - and afterwards, theyre not themselves anymore.'

Host Madison added: 'I found out that although most participants leave the retreats feeling okay, and some even feel euphoric, lots of people have experienced sheer terror during Goenka retreats around the world.'

Jaqui appeared to be a free spirit, she wanted to be an artist and had converted her van intoa miniature house on wheels to travel around the country.

The 22-year-old would post updates about her van life on Facebookand she found work planting trees on a farm inBritish Columbia in the spring of 2022.

While there,Jaqui, who wasn't new to meditation, decided to sign up to do the 10-day silent meditation retreat in Merritt.

Her mother said: 'She was a very spiritual person. She had been meditating daily, I would say, for a couple of years, she found it really helped her, just calm her.'

During the application process for the retreat, Jaqui had to complete a questionnaire probing her mental health.

In emails with the retreat Jaquis admitted that she had contemplated suicide seven years earlier when she was 14 years old.

She added: 'I have not had any issues with suicidal thoughts in seven years. No considerations and absolutely no action.'

When she showed up at the centre, the volunteers that checked her in took her phone and the keys to her van.

Jaqui embarked on 10 hours of daytime meditation starting at 4 am, with no dinner, talking or eye contact, and she watched old tapes of Goenkas teachings at night.

Nine days into the retreat, Nathalie received a phone call from the retreat staff to say Jaqui 'left the course during the night' and they werent able to locate her.

Nathalie tried messaging and calling Jaqui that day but couldnt get through and the following day she called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to file a missing person's report.

However Nathalie became alarmed when the retreat staff admitted thatJaqui had an emotional few days at the centre before her disappearance.

She said: 'The office admin person who had reached out to us got the assistant teacher on the phone with us, and all he basically said was she had a difficult day, she was crying.

'She was obviously struggling. And so we said, "so you sent her to bed?" And he said something along the lines of, ''well, we were going to work on it tomorrow.'''

Nathalie knew something was wrong when police found Jaqui's van,abandoned on the side of the road, 50km from the Goenka centre, but she wasn't inside.

Over the next week, an intensive search party with volunteers, friends and family was launched to find Jaqui, searching miles of woodland.

On the eighth day of the search police let the family know that they had found Jaqui's body.

Nathalie said: 'It was just inconceivable. It was just unbelievable. And, I remember I fell to the ground. Uh, it was awful.'

During their investigation the police found that Jaqui left the centre between 9pm and 8am the next morning. She drove away in her van until it apparently ran out of petrol.

The police report claimed that staff at the retreat stated Jaqui was having a difficult time with classes.

It read: 'She was having constant emotional episodes. Episodes were not uncommon. The ongoing nature of them was unusual.

'Jaqueline appeared ashamed of something she had previously done, but did not disclose what it was. Jaqueline did not show signs of suicidal ideation or self-harm though.'

Members of the public reported seeing a woman by a lake, 15km from where Jaqui's van was abandoned.

The coroner determined the date of Jaquis death as October 2, 2022.

Nathalie feels if the centre had flagged Jacqui's distressed state sooner then it might have been possible to help her in time.

She said: 'She wasnt just struggling the day that this happened. She had actually been struggling for days, and they even said to the RCMP that it wasnt unusual for someone to struggle.

'It was unusual for someone to continually struggle for days. I had no idea the severity, of the possible severity, of the state that she might be in.'

Jaquis parents believe that the centre should have alerted the police and that Jaqui should not have been allowed to drive away in her van.

The retreats own website states participants will not have access to their vehicle for the duration of the course.

Natalie said: 'Somehow she had her keys. And if your policy is to have people hand in their keys, theres a reason for it. So enforce that policy.'

This troubling experience is much more widespread thanJaqui as others have also experienced mental breaks while meditating, including twin sisters.

In the first episode host Madison received an email from a desperate father, whose daughters Emily and Sarah (not their real names), had spiralled into despair after getting involved in the meditation retreats.

Episode one followed Emily, a high-achieving Oxford student, who went on a series of retreats after taking a year out of her studies to 'breath and travel'.

After learning a lot about meditation while travelling around India, the student signed up to her firstGoenka retreat once she returned home, at a centre close to her parents' home in Herefordshire.

Speaking on the podcast Emily said: 'The first night they tell you, "you should surrender to the whole process".

'They say it's like an operation of your mind.If you leave in the middle of it, it's dangerous.It's like leaving during an operation which is in the process of happening when you're cut open.'

Even though she thought about leaving initially, she stayed and after day one she stopped being able to sleep, despite never having any sleep issues previously.

The sleeplessness aside, she felt it had done her some good and she eventually signed up to volunteer at another retreat, however she said this one did something different to her mind.

She said: 'Itreally started to f*** me up, so I'd stopped sleeping.So I'd have major emotional, like big emotional reactions to things. And then I would have like lucid dreams, almost hallucinatory dreams,which I never had before.

'But the whole narrative that was like, 'Oh, it's good, you know, that's what we're here for. You're feeling anxious or upset or anguished, it's part of the process.''

Emily said she no longer was able tofocus or think rationally, eventually she dropped out of university and started travelling alone,meditating for several hours a day as it was what the Goenka course recommended.

She said: 'My brain was like, falling apart and I wasn't sleeping, and I didn't know what the hell was going on. I was kind of, like, slightly tripping the whole time.'

When Emily returned home her parents said she was 'stick thin' and she had looked like an 'old woman' but she refused to see a doctor.

Emily's dad Stephen said: 'She was there physically and she could talk. But it was as if her personality had been removed.'

Emily's mother Kate and Stephen started to look for ways to help their daughter and they called the Cult Information Centre, who told them that 'psychosis can be brought on by meditation' and they needed to get specialist help.

They contactedGrahamBaldwin, the director of Catalyst, which is a charity that helps families and individuals who have been damaged by abusive relationships and groups.

Meditation can cause mania, depression, hallucinations and psychosis, psychological studies in the UK and US have found.

However, 60 per cent of people who had been on a meditation retreat had suffered at least one negative side effect, including panic, depression and confusion, a study in the US found.

And one in 14 of them suffered profoundly adverse effects, according to Miguel Farias, head of the brain, belief and behaviour research group at Coventry University and Catherine Wikholm, a researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Surrey.

The shortage of rigorous statistical studies into the negative effects of meditation was a scandal, Dr Farias told The Times.

He said: The assumption of the majority of both TM [transcendental meditation] and mindfulness researchers is that meditation can only do one good.

This shows a rather narrow-minded view. How can a technique that allows you to look within and change your perception or reality of yourself be without potential adverse effects?

The answer is that it cant, and all meditation studies should assess not only positive but negative effects.

The British study involved measuring effect of yoga and meditation on prisoners, and its findings were published yesterday in the psychologists book, The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You?.

Inmates at seven prisons in the Midlands took 90-minute classes once a week and completed tests to measure their higher cognitive functions in a ten week randomised control trial.

The prisoners moods improved, and their stress and psychological distress reduced - but they were found to be just as aggressive before the mindfulness techniques.

He told the family that it sounded like their daughter was in a state of psychosis from too much meditation and they needed to get her to stop meditating right away.

After six weeks Emily started to act and feel better, she started coming back in touch with reality, but she still wasn't able to function properly in society.

Unbelievably, Emily's twin sister, Sarah, started to get into meditationaround this time and became hooked on the same form of Vipassana meditation taught by Goenka.

After university Sarah was feeling a little lost and shewas also struggling to find a cure for a debilitating nerve pain in her arms.

Emily, recommended going to a Goenka retreat as she thought meditation would help her sister.

Sarah decided to go to a retreat centre in Herefordshire which initially actually helped her symptoms and made her feel incredible.

She said: 'I remember finding it quite incredible what would happen if you observe, like if you stay that concentrated for a long time. It kind of felt like my mind was becoming very clear, very sharp, and I felt like I was getting into a state of mind that's quite above ordinary.

'It's basically like a sober psychedelic experience. It's very, very mentally altering. It was as if I'd taken psychedelic drugs for 10 days.'

Her nerve pain also completely disappeared and she said it felt like she had 'cleaned her body.'

By the fourth day, Sarah felt overwhelmed by emotion and she broke down crying, however she was advised to stay at the retreat to finish the 10 day program.

She said: 'I felt like I kind of went to a different planet. I don't know if that makes sense. I kind of felt like I could see through all the problems in the world and I just felt like my mind had been so transformed.'

However this also meant that she viewed her family in a new light and she was convinced they were 'bad'.

She said: 'Afterwards basically, I felt like I didn't trust my family or I was always kind of convinced that they were like bad and that this was the way to be good and it kind of made me feel like very euphoric, but also very at odds with everything in my life.'

Sarah eventually signed up for three more retreats , even flying to France for one of them, and eventually she became a volunteer at theGoenka retreats.

She said: 'Once I'd started the whole thing, I felt like I couldn't really function without it. I honestly just felt like I had to keep doing it.

'They say that you're becoming more independent, and more self-sufficient by practising meditation.

'But actually the opposite is true. And I think it's like anything that's very mentally altering, it has the potential to become addictive.'

Sarah started struggling to sleep, sometimes only getting two hours a night, and after three years of meditation she broke down.

She said: 'Felt like, um, something in my kind of psychological structure had been really just broken and really damaged.

'I basically felt like I didn't actually have any of my own trauma to surface, and it was kind ofall this like trauma was surfacing from, I can only think of it as like from other lifetimes.

'I felt like I was in a war zone, or I was like witnessing someone being raped, or I was like aperpetrator, and I was like, killing people. And that was kind of what was going on in my brain. It was horrible.'

Sarah began to spiral out of control and after six months of feeling this way she was in 'full blown psychosis'.

'Basically, I was, like, hallucinating for like, probably three weeks straight, and I was convinced that I was like going to go to hell, and going to go to these places where all this, like, torture. And I was actually convinced at one point that I was going to die.'

Sarah's mother Kate said she was living in fear that her daughter would take her own life and she hid all the medication in the house.

Herself and her Stephen slept in shifts to make sure one of them could keep an eye on Sarah at all times.

Kate said: 'It was horrific. She would be wracked by these terrible sobbing fits. We'd try and take her out for a walk to try and relax her. She'd suddenly be convulsed with crying fits and be immobile.

'She was so sick, she was making awful, awful noises, like growling, shrieking. Animal guttural noises and just screams.'

Eventually a local doctor put Sarah on a combination of medications that helped her to sleep and after years of sleep deprivation they began to slowly help Sarah.

S.N. Goenkawas an Indian teacher of Vipassan meditation.

Born in Burma to an Indian business family, he met with Sayagyi U Ba Khin, who started to practise Vipassana meditation in 1937, andGoenka spend 14 years learning the technique of Vipassana from him.

Goenkajis mission become spreading his meditation technique around the world. He moved to India in 1969 and started teaching meditation.

In 1982 he began to appoint assistant teachers to help him meet the growing demand for Vipassana courses.

He traveled yearly outside of India, visiting countries in Europe including the UK and France, he also visited North America, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Before he passed away in 2013, he left behind a comprehensive system for training and appointment of future teachers in the tradition.

In all these places and more, centers sprang up dedicated to providing opportunities for learning and practicing Vipassana as taught by Goenkaji.

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Dark side of silent meditation retreat loved by Silicon Valley moguls: Woman, 22, took her own life while othe - Daily Mail