Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity

People with multiple sclerosis benefit from exercise, however, they commonly lead a more sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, they may lack the positive effects of activity on body awareness and selfidentity. This study explores changes in body awareness and identity in people with multiple sclerosis a...

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Main Authors: Joeri Calsius, Minne Van Den Noortgate, Gert Roncada, Paul Van Asch, Marie D’hooghe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: ORDT: Organization for Research Development and Training 2019-05-01
Series:Journal of Interdisciplinary Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journalofinterdisciplinarysciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/4.-Wandering-Through-the-Desert-with-Multiple-Sclerosis-.pdf
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author Joeri Calsius
Minne Van Den Noortgate
Gert Roncada
Paul Van Asch
Marie D’hooghe
author_facet Joeri Calsius
Minne Van Den Noortgate
Gert Roncada
Paul Van Asch
Marie D’hooghe
author_sort Joeri Calsius
collection DOAJ
description People with multiple sclerosis benefit from exercise, however, they commonly lead a more sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, they may lack the positive effects of activity on body awareness and selfidentity. This study explores changes in body awareness and identity in people with multiple sclerosis after a unique hiking expedition through the Jordan desert in the spring of 2014. A qualitative study design was applied, the interpretative phenomenological analysis method was used in a focus group with all nine participants of the expedition. Three main themes and six subthemes were identified to explore this study on a thematic basis. The first main theme ‘Peers and society’ focused on group dynamics and social stigma. The second theme, the ‘Lived body’ discussed bodily experiences and selfidentity. In the third theme, ‘Therapeutic effects’ of the journey and their implementation into daily life were explored. The findings suggest that participating in this unique hiking project had a powerful effect on the lived body experience of the participants. Experiencing outdoor life brought them back to basics, changed their bodily attunement and empowered their self-belief and social resilience. Several participants described this experience as an awakening in dealing with multiple sclerosis
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publisher ORDT: Organization for Research Development and Training
record_format Article
series Journal of Interdisciplinary Sciences
spelling doaj-art-19a6adf32da84b8eb9486a7de55e0a6b2025-08-20T01:50:14ZengORDT: Organization for Research Development and TrainingJournal of Interdisciplinary Sciences2594-34052019-05-01313755Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-IdentityJoeri Calsius0Minne Van Den Noortgate1Gert Roncada2Paul Van Asch3Marie D’hooghe4Hasselt UniversityHasselt UniversityIndependent researcherVrije Universiteit BrusselVrije Universiteit Brussel and National Multiple Sclerosis CenterPeople with multiple sclerosis benefit from exercise, however, they commonly lead a more sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, they may lack the positive effects of activity on body awareness and selfidentity. This study explores changes in body awareness and identity in people with multiple sclerosis after a unique hiking expedition through the Jordan desert in the spring of 2014. A qualitative study design was applied, the interpretative phenomenological analysis method was used in a focus group with all nine participants of the expedition. Three main themes and six subthemes were identified to explore this study on a thematic basis. The first main theme ‘Peers and society’ focused on group dynamics and social stigma. The second theme, the ‘Lived body’ discussed bodily experiences and selfidentity. In the third theme, ‘Therapeutic effects’ of the journey and their implementation into daily life were explored. The findings suggest that participating in this unique hiking project had a powerful effect on the lived body experience of the participants. Experiencing outdoor life brought them back to basics, changed their bodily attunement and empowered their self-belief and social resilience. Several participants described this experience as an awakening in dealing with multiple sclerosishttps://journalofinterdisciplinarysciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/4.-Wandering-Through-the-Desert-with-Multiple-Sclerosis-.pdfbody awarenessself-identitylived bodyqualitative researchmultiple sclerosisthematic studybody experiencetherapeuticlived experiencespersonal controltreatment controlemotional responseexpedition
spellingShingle Joeri Calsius
Minne Van Den Noortgate
Gert Roncada
Paul Van Asch
Marie D’hooghe
Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity
Journal of Interdisciplinary Sciences
body awareness
self-identity
lived body
qualitative research
multiple sclerosis
thematic study
body experience
therapeutic
lived experiences
personal control
treatment control
emotional response
expedition
title Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity
title_full Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity
title_fullStr Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity
title_full_unstemmed Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity
title_short Wandering Through the Desert with Multiple Sclerosis: How Outdoor Life Recalibrates Body Awareness and Self-Identity
title_sort wandering through the desert with multiple sclerosis how outdoor life recalibrates body awareness and self identity
topic body awareness
self-identity
lived body
qualitative research
multiple sclerosis
thematic study
body experience
therapeutic
lived experiences
personal control
treatment control
emotional response
expedition
url https://journalofinterdisciplinarysciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/4.-Wandering-Through-the-Desert-with-Multiple-Sclerosis-.pdf
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