How women athletes experience self-compassion in sport
These findings come from data I collected early on in my dissertation. I was primarily interested in understanding women athletes’ preferences for learning about and practicing self-compassion. My team was also interested in understanding how women athletes talk about self-compassion. In other words, we wanted to know what language resonated with them!
We know from research (see work from the lovely Dr. Leah Ferguson and Dr. Margo Adam) that women athletes are apprehensive about being self-compassionate. They are worried it will lead to mediocrity or “throwing in the towel”. But the stats say otherwise! The stats show us that self-compassion is actually related to taking responsibility and persevering through challenges to accomplish their goals. Sport is not an easy space to exist in. Self-compassion can help women athletes navigate the challenging space.
But how do we get women athletes to believe that?
We thought understanding their language might help fill in some of those gaps, and dispel some of the fears women athletes have about being more kind and understanding towards themselves.
So, I wanted to share a summary of what we found, in case the language is helpful for you!
For women athletes, self-compassion means:
You show-up for yourself, you support yourself, you empower yourself
Self-compassion helps women athletes see their inherent value and take action to honour that value. Part of how women athletes see their worth is through unconditional acceptance of where they are on a particular day. They do not wait for a coach, parent, or teammate to tell them that they are doing good work. Self-compassionate women athletes see their value beyond sport and can affirm for themselves when things are not going as planned.
2. You regroup by checking in and setting realistic expectations
Things are not always going to align with your expectations. Women athletes go into sport with so many “coulds”, “woulds”, and “shoulds”. Self-compassion helps them take a step back, see what is happening in the moment, and adjust accordingly. Women athletes who use self-compassion know it is okay to have flexible goals because it helps them stay level-headed and in the moment.
3. You trust yourself and the process
It is easy for women athletes to underscore the amazing work they put forward. Self-compassion helps them be confident in the work they have put into their training and practice so they can show up more at ease come competition time. It also helps them remember that improvement and growth takes time, and mistakes are going to happen. So, instead of rushing the process, they are able to just show up and enjoy the pursuit (both the highs and lows) of excellence.
Being self-compassionate is more complex than being positive. Yes, finding silver linings and lessons are part of the kind encouragement, but taking action is also a critical component of self-compassion.
If you want to read the detailed publication:
Ferguson, L. J., Johnson, K. L., Adam, M. E. K., Kowalski, K. C., Mosewich, A. D., Schellenberg, B. J. I., & Storey, K. E. (2025). “It’s hard to define and really hard to implement”: Competitive women athletes’ descriptions of self-compassion. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spy0000393
Thank you for dropping by.
Peace,
Karissa
