New research provides evidence that people who are more mindful tend to have a healthier relationship with exercise. The study, published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, found that heightened dispositional mindfulness is positively associated with exercise self-determination and negatively associated with psychological distress upon exercise.
The motivation behind this study stemmed from the recognition of the crucial role of physical activity in promoting physical and psychological health. Physical activity is known to have numerous benefits, while sedentary behavior can lead to various health issues. Despite public health campaigns and awareness of the benefits of physical activity, a significant portion of the population meets the recommended exercise guidelines.
To address this issue, the researchers aimed to understand the psychological mechanisms that underlie physical activity. They were particularly interested in exploring the concept of mindfulness, which has shown potential in promoting health-behavior changes. It has been associated with various positive health behaviors, including smoking cessation and overeating.
“We were interested in this topic because finding the motivation to exercise is hard to come by; only 23% of Americans currently obtain the Center for Disease Control/American Heart Association recommended levels of physical activity,” said study author Julia Basso, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech and director of the Embodied Brain Laboratory
“At a scientific level, we need to understand ways to increase exercise motivation. My research and the research of my laboratory focuses on the effects of mind-body-movement practices such as dance and yoga on brain function and physiology. We are also interested in ways to motivate engagement in health behaviors, including eating well and exercising.”
“For this particular topic, we were interested in how the psychological state of dispositional mindfulness was related to exercise motivation. For clarity, dispositional or trait mindfulness is the psychological state of staying attuned to present moment sensations, thoughts, and feelings without judgement.”
To conduct the study, the researchers recruited 205 healthy male and female participants between the ages of 25 and 59 from Austin, TX, and New York, NY. Participants were excluded if they had certain health conditions, psychiatric or neurological disorders, or were current smokers. All participants provided informed consent, and the study protocol was approved by the New York University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects.
Participants self-reported their exercise levels, classifying themselves as either low or moderate exercisers based on their weekly exercise duration and frequency. They completed a series of self-report questionnaires to assess various aspects of mindfulness and exercise motivation. The researchers also used several validated scales to measure different aspects of the participants’ psychological states related to exercise.
The researchers found that people who had a higher level of mindfulness tended to have higher motivation to exercise and were less likely to experience negative psychological distress when engaging in exercise. This indicates that “exercise may be experienced as more positive if mindfulness levels are high,” Basso explained.
The study also showed that mindful individuals were less motivated by external factors such as social recognition, competition, or appearance when it comes to exercise. They were more driven by internal factors like personal goals and well-being. Moreover, mindfulness was associated with a decreased likelihood of experiencing exercise addiction symptoms, such as a lack of control, withdrawal, and neglecting other activities due to exercise.
“We found that heightened mindfulness is associated with increased levels of exercise motivation,” Basso told PsyPost. “Additionally, we found that individuals with high levels of mindfulness are less likely to engage with exercise because of an internal sense or pressure/guilt or an external sense of reward or punishment. Finally, heightened levels of mindfulness were associated with lower levels of exercise addiction or dependence.”
The researchers said that the findings suggest that cultivating mindfulness may help individuals develop a positive and sustainable relationship with exercise. Mindfulness interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction or mindful meditation, could be useful in promoting exercise motivation and reducing barriers to physical activity.
“Future studies will need to address whether such interventions can help to enhance the motivation for exercise and subsequent exercise behaviors. Studies will also need to address the neural mechanisms underlying such enhancements in exercise motivation.”
“Studies are currently underway in my laboratory and the laboratory of my husband/colleague, Dr. Daniel F. English, to examine the neural substrates of exercise motivation. We have found that during sleep, the fastest, rhythmic oscillations in the brain (known as sharp wave-ripples) predict exercise motivation. Specifically, these fast oscillations in the hippocampus, a brain region involved in spatial navigation, determine how much an animal will run when it wakes up.”
The study, “Dispositional mindfulness and its relationship to exercise motivation and experience“, was authored by Sarah Lynn, Medha Kumari Satyal, Alana J. Smith, Noor Tasnim, Daphne Gyamfi, Daniel F. English, Wendy A. Suzuki, and Julia C. Basso.