642
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
North America

Integrating mindfulness in fitness classes: self-compassion and mental health outcomes in a pilot study featuring longitudinal mediational analysis

ORCID Icon, &
Pages 1156-1174 | Received 10 Jun 2020, Accepted 26 Apr 2021, Published online: 01 Jun 2021
 

ABSTRACT

Mental health concerns are becoming increasingly commonplace in society, and demand for services consistently outweighs the availability of such services. In light of this discrepancy and other barriers associated with pursuing mental health services, it is important to explore innovative, cost-effective avenues to increase accessibility of programs that promote mental health and build psychological resilience. This research examines the longitudinal effect of such a program, that combines two burgeoning fields of research in mental health: self-compassion and physical activity. In this naturalistic study, we explored how participation in a physical fitness program integrating mindfulness affected levels of self-compassion and perceived mental health in a sample of 39 women in Toronto, Canada. Mindfulness levels were also measured to determine whether mindfulness mediates the relationship between physical activity and self-compassion. Participants attending fitness classes over two months completed self-report questionnaires. Analyses involved multilevel modeling. Self-compassion was found to increase over time as a function of fitness class attendance, but this relationship was not mediated by mindfulness. We discuss other possible explanatory mechanisms in the relationship between exercise and self-compassion, and findings of perceived mental health, with implications for using fitness classes incorporating mindfulness as a mental health promotion strategy.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 242.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.