August 20, 2018

I had a phone conversation with Shauna Taylor today. We discussed some changes to my coaching situation and spent time analyzing my research question. She added some great ideas, such as, looking at research with movement included. We discussed the possibility of working together to provide the intervention to the participants once we get that far.

During this chat, Shauna suggested an intervention with the Acro, or Trampoline team. We discussed how such an intervention could be delivered and what the mindfulness interventions are that currently exist for athletes.

I am still working on the definition of mindfulness in sport, and digging through the methods in the literature.

September 29, 2018

For the purpose of this project, I have recruited Jeff Thomson to help me. At this time, he has taken the HP Director Position at Climbing Canada, and is really enjoying his time in this new position. He is also still deeply involved with gymnastics as a judge and mentor.

We went through the research articles in the annotated bibliography. There was discussion about the benefits of mindfulness, and the appropriateness for sport. It became clear that mindfulness will have different benefits for individual sports than for team sports. This may be a good area to approach with the research question in order to make the question more concise. We talked about internal motivation vs. external and how this can be effected by mindfulness practice, and practicing being present. There was discussion on self-esteem and creating a mental environment that is balanced.

In discussions we spoke about reducing anxiety and how that can be a measurement for enhanced performance. Jeff mentioned,

“The biggest effect noticed with mindfulness training, is how it helps athletes accept that they are good people and that makes them great no matter what happens.” -Jeff 

Allowing themselves to accept the things that happen and move forward. This is critical for all sports and life. There seemed to be a trend that women react well to mindfulness and appreciate the cognitive skill.

I will be working through the literature review, and connecting again for further consultation.

October 4, 2018

I began my discussions with Shaunna about my research last year. We have spent time discussing the value of mindfulness, sport psychology, and mental health. She has an amazing background in mindfulness and psychology, therefore, each connection has been full of learning.

This week, Shauna and I touched base briefly and she suggested I look into research by Amy Baltzell. Amy is Shauna’s friend and is from the University of Boston.

The coolest part was that Shauna had actually mentioned my research to Amy at a conference in Toronto. Wow.

The book is called, The Power of Mindfulness: Mindfulness Meditation Training for Sport 2.0. It was first online February 22, 2018. In summary, The power of mindfulness is a tool to bring mindfulness practice into the athlete’s perspective. This book is detailed and gives a useful and practical view point. There is a lot of amazing information. They state that mindfulness is simply awareness and acceptance of what is occurring. This research looks at; increasing concentration, developing clear seeing and perception, guarding the mind, and balancing the mind. They also look at how mindfulness, can help athletes to be fully present during high pressure competition.

From the first part of my reading, I have learned about mindlessness and the negative effects of that behaviour. It is becoming more clear how to articulate the mindful state, and how to harness the power of mindfulness on performance.

I had included Baltzell’s research in my annotated bibliography already. Dave liked the annotation for her book, and mentioned that it was a strong reference.

It is crazy how the universe aligns. What are the chances that my mentor, and a new favourite author would be connecting right now?

From our discussions I have been able to hone in on a more specific research question, and I am now able to identify some validated measurement tools.

Our discussions have also included how to bring mindfulness practice into coaching more often, and how that could effect athletes and coaches performance.

Here is the link for the book on amazon, if anyone is interested.

October 31, 2018 

I am posting the introduction to allow anyone to post feedback….

Introduction

The following study will review the history of mindfulness as a construct, associated with sport performance enhancement. Mindfulness intervention is studied in many fields. The possibility of mindfulness intervention providing increases in performance are evaluated in this review. The purpose of this review is to uncover more conventional uses for mindfulness intervention and practical applications to sport performance psychology. The results in the literature will be discussed, based on the implications of previously recorded empirical evidence investigating mindfulness intervention research. Currently, there are still unidentified problems with this research topic, and gaps that exist in the knowledge. This paper evaluates a substantial amount of literature on this topic, and considers the delivery of the mindfulness interventions, along with the research methods used. Throughout this review, the strengths and limitations, of the research in this field, will be discussed. By studying the effects mindfulness intervention has on athletes, and how this can be delivered by coaches in the training and performance environment, we can further examine the effects of this practice. Assessing the research methods of mindfulness interventions, the focus is to acquire a non-invasive delivery method, as well as, find uses for mindfulness practice to enhance performance in the future. Support will be provided to identify and assess the different methods for delivery of mindfulness interventions with athletes, and the potential outcome of this intervention on performance.

A review of mindfulness in the high performance sport domain, and evaluation of the methods used for measuring this type of psychological skill, in sport, is necessary to move forward with this research. It is known that mindfulness practice can lead to increases in; task orientation, motivation, self-regulation, cognitive ability, focus, intention, concentration, and psychological flexibility (Joseffsson et al., 2017). There is evidence of decreases in anxiety, stress, and experiential avoidance (Gardner & Moore, 2007). Based on the current implications in the literature, it is acknowledged that mindfulness intervention can be involved with many “performance” related psychological skill developments. At this time, there is a gap in the research regarding how much mindfulness practice, and what delivery of intervention is the best received by the athlete. This review will endeavor to uncover where on the spectrum of mindfulness practice athletes will receive the most benefit to overall psychological performance. The research proposed will discover and identify the direct effects the method of mindfulness intervention delivery has on the perception of the athletes on their own performance.

For some time now, mindfulness has become a more theoretically, and empirically informed approach to psychological performance enhancement (Gardner & Moore, 2017). There is a cumulative amount of mindfulness interventions that are available to date (Jekauc, Kittler & Schlagheck, 2017). Mindfulness is expressed in the literature as, “a present-oriented form of mental training that affects cognitive processes and is increasingly considered meaningful for sport psychological training approaches”(Bühlmayer, Birrer, Röthlin, Faude, & Donath, 2017). In sports psychology, Psychological Skills Training (PST) has mainly been influenced by cognitive-behavioral theories (Birrer et al., 2012). According to the research, PST is the use of visualization, goal setting, and positive thinking, whereas, mindfulness practice helps to encourage people to respond versus react (Birrer et al., 2012). Therefore, mindfulness is potentially beneficial to athlete’s and coach’s performance, by developing the openness to accept present sensations, and remain focused.

The sport domain is short on time for extensive assessment and intervention, an important avenue for future research is to determine how much meditative training is needed for positive (and sustainable) performance (Gardner & Moore, 2017). Mindfulness interventions have empirical evidence to support their efficacy in general athlete well-being, and neural outcomes (Gardner & Moore, 2017). This literature review will analyze the delivery methods of the intervention, and review the results of previous studies.

October 31, 2018

I was able to reach out to my peer (Craig) for some peer feedback. We discussed the mindful state, and he directed me to some further literature from the SPIN Summit in Montreal. He suggested, “Effects of an Improvisation Intervention on Elite Figure Skaters’ Performance, Self-Esteem, Creativity, and Mindfulness Skills” by Veronique Richard, Wayne Halliwell, and Gershon Tenenbaum. This is a very interesting article, and I will use some of the foundations of this project with mine, as the research is also intervention based. I am looking forward to seeing the peer group move forward with this Masters.

Craig and I began our chats about our research questions at the beginning of this adventure together. He suggested mixed methods might be a good research style for my question. Throughout the literature review, it became clear, that the addition of qualitative data may lead to deeper understanding of the intervention. I am still unsure of the most concise version of my research question, so I have still not fully determined the next phase. However, from the literature it seems that the addition of qualitative data could aid in the participants ability to share the benefits of the intervention with the researcher.

November 9, 2018

I am now reflecting back on all of the interactions with my consultation group through the last two years.

Jeff has always encouraged in the moment coaching, and thinking. Moving forward with the last part of the research, I will strive to continue to connect with Jeff to develop and prepare for the final research project and presentations. Having support makes a big difference.