The Art and Science of Self-Regulation

Changing the way we think… about communication.

“All Behaviour is Communication” (L.R. Knost)

Self-Regulation is about understanding energy and tension levels as they are communicated through our words and actions. In other words – Our behaviour.

We must first look to the Science of self-regulation to recognize the body’s physiological responses.  There are universal telltale signs within our nervous system that are indicative of being stressed. The Art lies in what we do with what we’ve learned about those responses.  How do we soothe? Where do we find calm? What do we do to restore? What can we do to prepare for the next occasion?

If you can imagine simultaneously looking at a person’s energy and tension levels as two intersecting continua to create four quadrants.

Someone for example would respond to a situation very differently if they were highly stressed and were lacking in energy (placing them in the LE/HT quadrant), compared to how they might respond if they were far less stressed and felt energetic (thereby situating them in the LT/HE corner of the grid).

When we are at peace, or in a calm state where are said to be in our optimal range or homeostasis.  However, when something occurs and our body needs to use energy to return us to that optimal range, THAT is said to be a stressor.  Think of a furnace and thermostat as a metaphor.  The Thermostat has an optimal range, but when the ambient room temperature deviates from that range, the furnace either must turn on or off depending on what it is relative to that homeostatic range.

So too, do we respond to “stress” in a similar way.  We feel the need to amp up our energy consumption to meet the demands of the situation, or we feel the need to reduce the demands on our energy consumption.  Future articles will see me discuss Stress and how our understanding of that stress can and will help us communicate more effectively through our own behaviour, and understand the behaviour of others through a new lens.