‘Trying to bring attention to your body when you’re not sure where it is’: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of drivers and barriers to mindfulness for people with spinal cord injury
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Objectives: Work is beginning to explore the impact of mindfulness in managing the physical and psychological health of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). However, no previous work has sought to understand what drives people with such conditions to try mindfulness, and what barriers are experienced in accessing mindfulness. Design: An exploratory, qualitative, interview design, utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis. Methods: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 11 people with SCI who had experience of mindfulness since sustaining their injury. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using IPA to understand the lived experience of mindfulness post‐SCI. Results: Analysis suggested that managing physical and mental health, and viewing mindfulness as proactive and protective were key drivers for exploring mindfulness. However, multiple barriers to accessing opportunities and developing capability impeded engagement. These included the focus on areas of the body that participants had reduced sensation in, physical environments that could not be navigated in a wheelchair, social stigma surrounding the use of mindfulness, and a sense of obligation and risk of failure implied by perceived requirements for engagement. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the need for specific interventions to accommodate the reduced sensory and physical function experienced by people with neurological conditions and to enhance sense of control and autonomy. In addition, recommendations include minimizing the stigma surrounding mindfulness, and the potentially demotivating impact of the perception of ‘failing’ to engage.
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Sensation-focused language used in mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and lack of condition-specific health self-management in manualised mindfulness-based stress reduction meant participants felt it was not adequately adapted to multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.
“the sensation-focused language used in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) [16] and lack of condition-specific health self-management in manualised MBSR meant that participants felt that MBSR was not adequately adapted to MS or SCI [8, 14].”
From Grieving a disrupted biography: an interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring barriers to the use of mindfulness after neurological injury or impairment (2021) · cites this paper as [16]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPsychological barriers to mindfulness encompass significant challenges of approaching, during meditation and post-meditation enquiry, the reality of one's health condition and its impact on identity.
“Psychologically, barriers encompass the significant challenges of approaching, during meditation and post-meditation enquiry, the reality of one’s health condition and its impact on identity [16].”
From Grieving a disrupted biography: an interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring barriers to the use of mindfulness after neurological injury or impairment (2021) · cites this paper as [16]
The Results section (‘Focus on inaccessible bodily sensations’; page unavailable) describes distress when meditation directs participants with spinal cord injury to focus on body parts they cannot sense. The Discussion says this can emphasize their limitations while they adjust to their bodies after injury. These passages support a psychological barrier during meditation, but do not describe post-meditation enquiry or explicitly frame the barrier as confronting the condition’s impact on identity. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPhase 1 considered patient-perceived barriers to use of mindfulness after spinal cord injury and Phase 2 addressed the impact of mindfulness on body awareness in expert meditators with neurological injury or impairment.
“Phase 1 considered patient-perceived barriers to use of mindfulness after SCI [16] and Phase 2 addressed the impact of mindfulness on body awareness in expert meditators with neurological injury or impairment [25].”
Barriers may be inherent in willingness to engage with mindfulness due to insecurities surrounding perceived stigma associated with mindfulness and worries over efficacy.
“Barriers may also be inherent in the willingness to engage with mindfulness at all as a practice due to insecurities surrounding perceived stigma associated with mindfulness and worries over efficacy [16].”
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- Authors
- Hearn, J. H., Finlay, K. A., & Sheffield, D.
- Affiliations
- Manchester Metropolitan University (GB)
- University of Buckingham (GB)
- University of Derby (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hearn, Jasmine Heath
- Venue
- British Journal of Health Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-08-04
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 161-178
- ISSN
- 1359-107X (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8287
- OpenAlex
- W3047316856
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 0.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- British Journal of Health Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- e-space (Manchester Metropolitan University) (submittedVersion)
- University of Derby Online Research Archive. (University of Derby) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Spinal Cord Injury Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- mindfulness, spinal cord injury, lived experience, sensory impairment, wheelchair accessibility, stigma, mental health, physical health
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Spinal Cord Injuries, Qualitative Research, Mindfulness
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