How does mindfulness shape affective experience during exercise? A think-aloud study of real-time psychological...

Area of Science:

• Psychology of Exercise
• Mindfulness Studies
• Affective Science

Background:

• Positive affect during exercise predicts sustained participation.
• Mechanisms linking mindfulness-based exercise to affect are often inferred retrospectively.
• A need exists for real-time process-level understanding of mindfulness effects on exercise experience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if mindfulness-based exercise alters affect through in-task process shifts.
• To capture moment-to-moment experiences during exercise using think-aloud (TA) methodology.
• To test the impact of mindfulness on internal versus external orientation during physical activity.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-six adults completed treadmill running under mindfulness, distraction, and control conditions.
• Think-aloud (TA) methodology captured real-time cognitive and affective experiences.
• Internal Orientation Index (IOI) quantified the balance of internal/external focus.

Main Results:

• Mindfulness robustly increased the Internal Orientation Index (IOI) compared to distraction and control conditions.
• Mindfulness promoted a consistent shift toward real-time interoceptive monitoring and adaptive self-regulation.
• No significant temporal modulation of affect was observed across the exercise bout.

Conclusions:

• Think-aloud (TA) evidence directly demonstrates mindfulness enhances real-time exercise experience.
• Mindfulness strengthens internal monitoring and self-regulation during physical activity.
• This study provides process-level support for proposed mechanisms of mindfulness-based exercise.