Journeying Through Sport with Self-Compassion: Athlete Narratives of Navigating Pressure and Struggle

Abstract

In high-level sport, there is often an overemphasis on performance which can lead to a decline in athletes’ physical health, mental well-being, and quality of life (Douglas & Carless, 2009; Smith, 2010). Development of adaptive coping resources, such as self-compassion, may help mitigate threats to well-being (Mosewich, Ferguson, et al., 2019). The purpose of this study was to explore how women athletes high in self-compassion story their journey through sport as well as their experiences of navigating pressure and struggle. Three women athletes high in self-compassion were invited to take part in two loosely structured one-on-one interviews, as part of a narrative approach to learn about their sport careers, stories, and experiences (Riessman, 2008). Both narrative thematic and structural analyses were undertaken to help capture the rich descriptions of athletes’ experiences as well as the overarching structure of their narrative accounts. Each athlete narrative greatly deviated from the narrative of performance, which is typically a dominant narrative in sport (Douglas & Carless, 2006). Specifically, athletes’ shared narratives of Rediscovery, Balance, and Redefining. Additionally, instead of being consumed by performance, these athletes demonstrated an active desire to invest in other aspects of their lives such as key relationships and future career aspirations. Such findings suggest the presence of counter-stories or alternative narratives that may assist future athletes in storying their lives in more meaningful ways. By exploring how self-compassionate athletes story their experiences, we can glean valuable information regarding the language they use to describe and apply self-compassion within sport. These findings can help tailor practical applications of self-compassion among athlete populations.