Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Psychotherapy and Yoga on Student Performance Anxiety

"Participants in this VR-facilited psychotherapy group will receive their treatment via Oculus Quest 2 and HTC Vive Flow wireless, standalone headsets systems to provide a comfortable immersive environment. The more hardware-intensive experiences will be carried out on Oculus Rift S headsets powered by high-end laptops.~Sessions will last 30-60 minutes each, ranging from six to ten sessions within two to four weeks. The treatment will include reducing anxiety and improving emotion regulation through Cognitive-Behavioural techniques such as mindfulness, acceptance and commitement therapy, exposure therapy and 4-7-8 breathing. The same investigator will conduct all sessions to ensure uniformity. Additionally, subjects will undergo unsupervised VR at home with pre-programmed headsets to minimize investigator bias and maintain cosistancy of the relaxation and cognitive-behavioral strategies."

"The Yoga group members will be guided in a yoga class focused on managing performance anxiety. The interventions will consist of body exercises (Asanas), breath (Pranayama) and meditation to increase relaxation, consciousness and resilience; typical yoga postures like Surya Namaskar, Padahastasana, Virabhadrasana, Bhujangasana and Shavasana will be included in the session, as will breathing movements like Ujjayi (Victory Breath).~Each class will be 60-90 minutes long, and 6-10 classes will be taught in two to four weeks. The technique will be progressive, from the basic to more advanced postures as participants cultivate confidence and resilience. All classes will conclude with meditation to ease tension and cultivate mindfulness."