A relaxation apparatus includes a body-supporting unit (13) with a seat portion (30) on which a user can sit and a back portion (31) is fixed at a rear part of the seat portion, the back portion being reclined about the rear part of the seat portion by a reclining mechanism (34), a rocking unit (12) for rocking the body-supporting unit and a controller (24) for controlling the rocking unit to rock the body-supporting unit. The controller controls the reclining mechanism to move the back portion in directions of raise and reclining alternatively to refresh the user in a relaxed state. The controller may control the reclining mechanism to raise the back portion stepwise with time while moving the back portion in the directions of raise and reclining alternatively.
