From: How mindfulness changed my sleep: focus groups with chronic insomnia patients
Theme | Sub themes | Selected verbatims |
---|---|---|
Impacts on sleep | a. Impact of mindfulness on sleep | “I have been a lot more aware of everything I’m trying to do at night. And one of the things I try to do is I try not to eat or have as much beverage, and it did make a difference.” (G1) |
b. Motivation to adopt a healthy sleep lifestyle | ||
“The body scan helped keep my mind from racing, so that I could just decompress and fall asleep” (G2) | ||
“[I am] making it a priority to do the things that we all know we are supposed to do, but we don’t necessarily do. Like not watching T.V. in bed, not eating chocolate at 7 o’clock at night.” (G2) | ||
Benefits of mindfulness on aspects of life beyond sleep | a. Physical | “It’s like holistically positive” (G2) |
b. Emotional | “It’s low impact and I don’t get stiff like I used to sitting working long hours. I feel better. I [can] tell if I skip it - I’m going to hurt.” (G2) | |
c. Relationships | ||
d. Insights and changes in perception | ||
e. Self-compassion | “I feel that when I started doing the body scan I was at a stable emotional level throughout the day.” (G1) | |
f. Acceptance | ||
“I’ve learned not to be so hard on myself. There’s a lot more things I could be doing than just being upset about myself.” (G1) | ||
Challenges and successes in adopting mindfulness-based practices | a. Experiences with mindfulness-based practices | “enemy or best friend” (G1) |
“I loved when we got into the yoga. I never did the body scan again.” (G1) | ||
b. Incorporation of meditation practices into daily life | ||
“there’s nowhere to go [and meditate] that someone isn’t going to be yelling ‘mom, mom’ ” (G1) | ||
c. Intentional choices and actions | ||
d. Barriers to practice – time and environment | ||
“Because I have difficulty falling asleep and difficulty staying asleep… I kept my little iPod thing or MP3 player by the bed.” (G2) | ||
Importance of group support | a. Social support, validation and commitment to the group | “They’ve walked in our shoes” (G2) |
“I was like ‘wow, I’m not the only one.’ ” (G2) | ||
b. Learning from others | ||
c. Relationship with MBSR teacher | “I don’t think I would have done it on my own… you really need the group to get you motivated.” (G1) | |
d. Accountability to clinical trial staff | ||
“It was just helpful to learn with other people.” (G2) |