Meditating with our Silent Mind XR Enhances Self-Compassion, Study Finds
18 Aug 2026
Geneva, Switzerland — Meditating with All Here’s Silent Mind extended virtual reality (XR) platform can increase self-compassion and emotional well-being, according to a peer-reviewed study recently published in Mindfulness.
About the Study
Our researchers, alongside colleagues from EPFL and the University of Geneva, studied 26 participants as they completed two, 17-minute self-compassion meditation sessions.
In one, they used the Self-Attention Perspective feature of the Silent Mind XR platform — meditating while viewing a real-time reconstruction of their own body. In the other session, they completed the same audio-guided meditation with their eyes closed.
Both meditation sessions increased self-compassion and emotional well-being compared to the baseline. But the XR-based meditation produced an additional effect: participants performed significantly better in their ability to observe themselves from another perspective. Researchers call this perspective-taking.Why This Matters
Self-compassion concerns how we relate to our own experiences — how we respond to our own difficulties with kindness and reduced self-judgment. Perspective-taking is an important skill for understanding other people. Being able to observe from someone else’s point of view is closely linked to social awareness and compassion for others.
The new findings suggest that immersive self-observation during meditation may specifically improve the flexibility with which we shift between perspectives, not just how we relate to ourselves.
During the XR session, participants could observe their own body from the outside in real time, synchronized to their movements and heartbeat. This creates a unique form of self-observation: the person is simultaneously the one meditating and the one being observed.
Seeing and identifying with your own reconstructed body in real time activates the same brain regions involved in bodily self-awareness and perspective-taking — particularly the temporoparietal junction, an area known to be more engaged in experienced meditators than in novices.
In other words, our XR platform appears to greatly enhance self-compassion and empathetic engagement towards oneself — even after only one session.
Interested? Try a Silent Mind XR session today in our Geneva Meditation Lounge: https://allherelounge.com/booking/
Read the full paper in Mindfulness: “Meditating with One’s Avatar in Virtual Reality Enhances Self-Compassion and Perspective-Taking” — Yang, Herbelin, Pecchini, Ngo, Vuarnesson, Hangartner, Klimecki & Blanke, EPFL / University of Geneva / All Here SA, August 2026.
Why This Matters
Self-compassion concerns how we relate to our own experiences — how we respond to our own difficulties with kindness and reduced self-judgment. Perspective-taking is an important skill for understanding other people. Being able to observe from someone else’s point of view is closely linked to social awareness and compassion for others.
The new findings suggest that immersive self-observation during meditation may specifically improve the flexibility with which we shift between perspectives, not just how we relate to ourselves.
During the XR session, participants could observe their own body from the outside in real time, synchronized to their movements and heartbeat. This creates a unique form of self-observation: the person is simultaneously the one meditating and the one being observed.
Seeing and identifying with your own reconstructed body in real time activates the same brain regions involved in bodily self-awareness and perspective-taking — particularly the temporoparietal junction, an area known to be more engaged in experienced meditators than in novices.
In other words, our XR platform appears to greatly enhance self-compassion and empathetic engagement towards oneself — even after only one session.
Interested? Try a Silent Mind XR session today in our Geneva Meditation Lounge: https://allherelounge.com/booking/
Read the full paper in Mindfulness: “Meditating with One’s Avatar in Virtual Reality Enhances Self-Compassion and Perspective-Taking” — Yang, Herbelin, Pecchini, Ngo, Vuarnesson, Hangartner, Klimecki & Blanke, EPFL / University of Geneva / All Here SA, August 2026. 
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