An interpretation of wild swimming

PhD: An interpretation of wild swimming in the Scottish Highlands; the relationship between flow, the therapeutic landscape and wellbeing

PhD: An interpretation of wild swimming in the Scottish Highlands; the relationship between flow, the therapeutic landscape and wellbeing

Author: Stephanie McKenna. Winner of The Jonathon Sime Award for best people/environment research at undergraduate level in the UK, 2022.

Supervisor: Mari Todd

Background: Experience of Flow state (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) positively affects the wellbeing of individuals. To achieve flow state, one must be actively engaged in the activity, in equilibrium of skill and challenge, and goals with immediate feedback must be present. The Therapeutic Landscape Framework (Volker and Kistemann, 2015) suggests engaging in nature positively impacts wellbeing. Britton and Foley (2020) emphasised the importance of embodiment for surfers and swimmers. A connection between flow state and the findings of Britton and Foley (2020) is made.

Research question: how do flow state and the therapeutic landscape shape wild swimmers’ subjective experience of wellbeing?