Dr Ineke Vergeer

Ineke has a background in psychology, with specialisations in social psychology (MA) and sport psychology (PhD).

After completing her PhD in 1994, Ineke worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, before accepting a lecturing position in the north-east of England. There she worked as a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Universities of Sunderland (1997-2001) and Durham (2001-2010).

Her research and publications during this period included the psychology of injury, coaches’ decision making, mental imagery, motivation, and pre-performance routines, using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods.

In 2011 she took a break from academia, and trained as a Counsellor/Psychotherapist, while also pursuing her interest in transpersonal psychology.

Ineke moved to Australia in September 2014 and joined the staff at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), contributing as a Research Fellow to the area of Active Living and Public Health.

Her current research interests focus on holistic movement practices - such as yoga, t’ai chi, qigong, 5Rhythms, Pilates - with particular attention to motivation, prevalence and participation patterns. Related interests include the mindfulness, spirituality, and embodied self-awareness aspects of these practices.

Recent presentations

Presentations related to holistic movement practices:

Vergeer, I. & O’Sullivan, G. “The potential of holistic movement practices to support successful ageing: Participation experiences of yoga teachers”. Presentation at the 9^th World Congress of Active Ageing, Melbourne, Australia, June 28-July 1, 2016. [Abstract published in Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 24 (Supplement), S20.]

Vergeer, I. “Holistic movement practices and features of mindfulness.” Presentation at the 14^th European Congress of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC), Bern, Switzerland, July 14-19, 2015.

Vergeer, I. & Johansson, M. “Somatic awareness through free and focused movement.” Workshop. The 14^th European Congress of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC), Bern, Switzerland, July 14-19, 2015.

Vergeer, I., van Uffelen, J., Charity, M., Harvey, J., Banting, L., Bennie, J., Biddle, S., & Eime, R.“Participation trends in holistic movement practices: A 10-year comparison of yoga/pilates and t'ai chi use in Australia.”  Presented at the 14^th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA), Edinburgh, Scotland, June 2-6, 2015.

Buckler, S., & Vergeer, I. “What do meditation and mindfulness have to offer the 21^st century practitioner?” Full day workshop, delivered as part of the CPD programme of the British Psychological Society, London, UK, May 2, 2014.

Recent publications

Vergeer, I. (in press). Participation motives for a holistic dance-movement practice. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Published online, May 3, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2016.1167759

Bennie, J.A., Pedisic, Z., van Uffelen, J.G.Z., Charity, M.J., Harvey, J.T, Banting, L. K, Vergeer I, Biddle, S.J.H., Eime, R. (2016). Pumping iron in Australia: Prevalence, trends and sociodemographic correlates of muscle strengthening activity participation from a national sample of 195,926 adults. PLoS ONE 11(4): e0153225. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153225

Bennie, J. A., Pedisic, Z., van Uffelen, K. G. Z., Gale, J., Banting, L., Vergeer, I., Stamatakis, E., Bauman, A. E., & Biddle, S. J. H. (2016). The descriptive epidemiology of total physical activity, muscle-strengthening exercises and sedentary behaviour among Australian adults – results from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. BMC Public Health, 16:73. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/16/73

Lyle, J. & Vergeer, I. (2013). Recommendations on the methods used to investigate coaches’ decision making. In P.Potrac, W.Gilbert, & J. Denison (Eds.). Routledge handbook of sports coaching (pp.121-132). London, UK: Routledge.

Vergeer, I. & Lyle, J. (2009). Coaching experience: Examining its role in coaches’ decision making. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 7(4), 431-449.