Abstract
Self-compassion is a healthy way of relating to the self when experiencing emotional pain, personal failure and difficult life experiences. However, there is limited research to date in the area of self-compassion and sport even though recent investigation shows it might act as a potential buffer to painful emotions for athletes. The purpose of this study was to explore and present narratives of six young women athletes (15–24 years) from a variety of sports about their experiences of emotional pain and self-compassion. Each woman took part in two individual semi-structured interviews, one of which involved reflexive photography. They were asked to reflect on a difficult experience with a personal failure in sport, followed by discussions around the potential role of self-compassion in their experiences. The interviews, combined with reflexive photography, helped build rich narratives organised around the following themes: (1) Broken bodies, wilted spirits, (2) why couldn’t it have been someone else? (3) I should have, I could have, I would have and (4) fall down seven, stand up eight. Their narratives also suggested that while self-compassion can potentially be beneficial for athletes if developed and learned properly, concerns were expressed that being too self-compassionate may lead to mediocrity. Further research is needed on young women athletes’ difficult emotional experiences in sport, and more specifically on the role that self-compassion plays as both a potential facilitator and barrier to emotional health and performance success in sport.
Published Version
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