A relaxation apparatus (10) includes a body-supporting unit (13) for supporting a users body, a rocking unit (12) for rocking the body-supporting unit (13) in at least one direction and a controller (24) for controlling the rocking unit (12) to rock the body-supporting unit (13). A manipulator (41) operated by the user is provided to give instructions to the controller (24) based on manipulations performed by the user. The controller (24) controls the rocking unit (12) to reduce the rocking speed of the body-supporting unit (13) when it is determined that the user operates the manipulator (41) during the rocking motion.
