Sunday, January 26, 2014

What is Embodied Self-Regulation? It is Changing Yourself One Embodied Moment at at Time- OUT HERE


Embodied Self-Regulation- 
Catherine Cook-Cottone, Ph.D., R.Y.T.
Embodied Self-regulation is choosing who you are and your relationship with your world-- one embodied moment at a time. 
In Baptiste Yoga http://www.baronbaptiste.com this is called being OUT HERE- not in your head thinking about what you might do (IN HERE) or like a leaf blowing abound in the wind of what other people are doing and the circumstances of your life (OUT THERE)- not those things. 
Out here- is you in action making your life happen. It is the integration of who you are (thoughts feelings, and body) and the circumstances and people in your life (family, community, culture). OUT HERE- Is integration. 
Out here, or embodied self-regulation, is the heart of my research at the University at Buffalo. Below I explain my model. Each piece of research I do has this as context. I was so thrilled at Level III training when Baron Baptiste http://www.baronbaptiste.com detailed research and theory so consistent with what I have been working on for years. 
I believe that truth is there for truth seekers and as we seek we will all find it. And sometimes, when you meet another truth seeker- you see that you have both found something pretty spectacular- The Truth. 
Here it is: Embodied Self-Regulation
Catherine's wellness research focuses on the exploration and validation of the Attunement Model of Wellness and Embodied Self-Regulation (see Figure 1 below). The self is viewed as an integration of thoughts, emotions, and physiological needs within the context of the external ecologies of family, community and culture. A healthy self develops when an individual embodies practices that promote health and growth and the external ecologies are attuned with and support these practices (or the individual has learned tools to self-regulate despite external ecologies).
Citation for the model: Cook-Cottone, C. P. (2006). The attuned representation model for the primary prevention of eating disorders: An overview for school psychologists. Psychology In The Schools, 43(2), 223-230.
The model is well explicated in three places (1) Cook-Cottone (2006), "The attuned representation model for the primary prevention of eating disorders: An overview for school psychologists," published in Psychology in the Schools (PITS), (2) Healthy Eating in Schools: Evidenced Based Strategies to Help Kids Thrive Buy on Amazon Here, and (3) Girls Growing in Wellness and Balance: Yoga and Life Skills to Empower Buy on Amazon Here.

The Attunement Model of Wellness and Embodied Self-Regulation is an interactive model of two systems: the self system and the cultural system (see Figure 1).
The self system is made up of three potentially integrated and transactive components that co-evolve throughout an individual’s development: (a) the physiological self (i.e., body), (b) emotional self (i.e., feeling), and (c) cognitive self (i.e., thinking). The self system is an internal system experienced by the individual as his or her Real Self.
The external system is modeled after Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model (1979) and is also made up of three potentially integrated and transactional systems: (a) the microsystem (e.g., family), (b) exosystem (e.g., community), and (c) the macrosystem (e.g., culture).
The two systems are interconnected by a process: attunement. Based on Siegel’s (1999) theoretical work, attunement is defined as a reciprocal process of mutual influence and coregulation. Internal system (i.e., Real Self) and external system attunement is facilitated by the Representational Self. The Representational Self is the constructed self that is presented to the external system. It is the way individuals engage with their environment; how they interact with their families, people at their schools, and individuals in their communities.” (Cook-Cottone, 2006, PITS).

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