Experience-based, body-anchored qualitative research interviewing

Two theoretical constructs that lay the foundation for experience-based, body-anchored interviewing are presented: the first-person perspective and the concept of meaning. These theoretical concepts are concretized, first, by means of a methodological framework for experience-based, body-anchored interviewing, and second, by an interview guide that explores a research participant’s personal experience with mindfulness meditation. An excerpt from an interview is discussed to illustrate the advantages of this interview form, namely its value as a methodological instrument for qualitative research in areas such as traditional and holistic medicine, Western alternative and complementary medicine, nursing, psychotherapy, coaching, physiotherapy, movement arts, and physical education. Keywords embodiment/bodily experiences; experiential methods; interviews, semistructured; phenomenology; qualitative methods, general Experience-based, body-anchored qualitative interview-ing can be defined as a specific way of conducting an interview, where the pivotal point is the participant’s experiential, embodied involvement in the issues of th