Perceptions of Injured Athletes after Eight Weeks of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program

Abstract

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been extensively applied as a clinical intervention by researchers’ who have made on-the-spot decisions research as part of their practice. This research was provided via a knowledge transfer of 8 weeks of MBSR based on the original MBSR version. The main objective of this study was to offer a qualitative explorative insight into the perceived experience of participating in a MBSR program for injured athletes. A semi structured interview was conducted with each injured athlete who participated in this study. A thematic analysis was applied to explore the themes which emerged from injured athletes’ experience after 8 weeks of participation in a MBSR program. Five themes emerged from injured athletes’ attitudes towards MBSR: 1) Reconnecting with the body, 2) Reconnecting with the mind, 3) Passivity of MBSR as opposed to the athletic praxis, 4) Group versus self-guided MBSR, 5) Acceptance of pain. These different themes are presented and discussed below. This particular qualitative exploratory investigation was based on injured athletes’ experiences in this study; MBSR can benefit them during the sport rehabilitation process. As such, the findings will promote scientific understanding about the effectiveness of MBSR as a clinical intervention. It should also be noted that, more investigation is required to find out about the role of mindfulness meditation in terms of therapeutic aspects with injured athletes.