Mindfulness for the Moment: Adapting Interventions for the Period of the Sport Season

Abstract

Mindfulness-based interventions can be an effective way to simultaneously address student-athlete well-being and sport performance. A key component in adapting mindfulness-based interventions is that different periods of the season (e.g., preseason vs. peak training) present different performance and well-being considerations. This paper is structured to explore the salient considerations for the different periods of the season and to add recommendations for integrating mindfulness core concepts and specific training exercises into each period. These recommendations were assembled by the team of et al., including a NCAA Division 1 head swim coach, a Certified Mental Performance Consultant with applied mindfulness experience and publications, and two Ph.D. students with coaching backgrounds. The recommendations provided were influenced by the current research on mindfulness and performance psychology, as well as the applied consulting and coaching experiences of the co-authors. In addition to these broad recommendations, the authors offer a case example of periodized mindfulness exercises to apply within a week-long micro-cycle.