14.3: Conclusion

The previous sections have demonstrated how the qualities of mindfulness are relevant to key aspects of the physical activity experience as well as important health-related outcomes. Generally,when individuals are more mindfully engaged in the act of moving, the experience is more pleasant, they inhabit their bodies more fully, and have a more positive connection to their body. More broadly, engaging in mindful movement is linked to better mental health, health behaviors, and the development of trait mindfulness. Cultivating the ability to be mindful also appears to have important implications for physical activity motivation. Specifically, those who are generally more mindful or experience more mindful states during physical activity report greater autonomous physical activity motivation.

Physical activity may provide an optimal context for practicing mindfulness skills and experiencing the benefits of being mindful. Engaging in all types of movement provides a sensory activity with clear targets of focus (e.g., breath, physical sensations) as well as opportunities to resist self-judgment (e.g., body image) and thus may be an ideal forum for teaching mindfulness skills (Segal et al., 2002) or maintaining mindfulness skills previously taught (Gotink et al., 2016). Thus, there are a variety of potential practical implications from this work that could inform future interventions targeting physical activity motivation, body image, mental health, or well-being more generally. This area of research within exercise psychology is still quite new and will benefit from continuing to firmly ground investigations in theory, using appropriate control or comparisons groups in experimental designs, and paying close attention to the way that mindfulness is defined and assessed at the state or trait level. So while there is great promise in harnessing the potential for mindfulness to support adaptive physical activity experiences and relevant outcomes, we must move forward carefully and in some cases temper the excitement many of us hold for the promise of mindfulness by acknowledging our own biases. This greater awareness will allow us to move forward with more clarity as we continue to study the intersections between mindfulness and movement.