Seeds
Quilt
Haven
What is Self-Reg all about?
Shanker Self-Reg® is a process for enhancing self- regulation by understanding and dealing with stress. In Self-Reg we consider both our responses to stress and our underlying state of energy and tension when we encounter a stress.
Self-Regulation
- Self-Reg is based on the original, psychophysiological definition of self-regulation, which refers to how we respond to stress— whether in a manner that promotes or constricts recovery and growth.
- Self-regulation is fundamentally different from self-control: it seeks to reduce troublesome impulses, not to inhibit them.
- Self-regulation is about understanding, not “monitoring and managing” emotions, thoughts and behaviour: in ourselves and others.
- We all self-regulate, though sometimes in ways that are maladaptive: i.e., that lead to even greater stress down the road.
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Self-Reg is not a program. It is an ongoing, lifelong, process of understanding stress-behaviour and involves interrelated practices for maintaining a healthy energy/tension balance.
Shanker Self-Reg® looks at stress across 5 Domains of Self-Reg: biological, emotion, cognitive, social, and prosocial.
Self-Reg includes recognizing what calm feels like for yourself as well as what it feels like to become overstressed.
The ultimate Self-Reg goal is to help children acquire the necessary understanding of when and how to manage their own energy and tension, so they can adapt to the ever-changing and increasing stresses of life. But Self-Reg is also personal. If we are going to “lend students our calm,” we first have to understand our own stress and know how to manage our own energy and tension.
Self-Reg can help us understand and respond to the roots of behaviour, learning, motivation and social problems in all students and adults.
Self-Reg Terms
Blue Brain: When prefrontal systems that support thinking and
self-awareness are dominant.
Red Brain: When subcortical systems in the limbic system are dominant.
Gray Brain: Where survival mechanisms in the brain stem are dominant.
Stress Behaviour: Excess stress is causing behaviour. The child does not choose to act that way.
Misbehaviour: The child chooses to act a certain way even though they are aware they should not, and could have chosen/acted differently. Co-Regulation: When two people instinctively adjust to and regulate one another’s behaviour (mood, emotions, language) via bi-directional interactive signals and behaviours.
Co-Reg: The shared state of calmness that results when we reframe another’s behaviour and help them shift from maladaptive to restorative modes of self-regulation.
Calm: A physiological/psychological state in which: the brain is producing alpha waves; digestion and restorative metabolic processes are activated; muscles are relaxed; heart-rate and breathing have slowed; blood pressure is lower; the stress-response is muted; the mind is quiet. In this neurophysiological state endogenous opioids are released, producing feelings of peacefulness and contentedness.
Limbic System: The subcortical structures involved in reactive behaviours and emotions. The limbic system monitors the environment for safety and danger and is also the source of some of our strongest social and prosocial urges.
Thanks
Thanks for your comment, Kathy! Is there something here that really resonated with you?
Aviva
I as always love to read and learn about the 5 domains, as well as knowing the difference of stress behavior and Misbehavior. I enjoyed reading this so far. But it’s not allowing me to share.
Thanks for your comment, Yvette! What is it not allowing you to share? If you can tell me a little bit more, I can try to help.
Aviva
Thank-you, I have been learning about how the brain works, as I am a teachers in a primary school. Over the years I have a better understanding of where are children are at. Yes this book will help me a lot with my professional life as a teacher working with children with different needs. Also for myself, most days are good, get the odd day where stress can form in myself. So this book & course is going to help me be more understanding towards the student but in people in general.
Thanks for sharing, Karen! I would love to hear more about how you and others using this book. What impact does it have on you, on your students, and on your teaching practices? I feel as though we can learn so much from each other.
Aviva
Breaking down stress into biological, emotional, cognitive, social and pro social categories makes” feeling overwhelmed” feel much more manageable.
Thanks for your comment, Amal! I love this thinking. What are some stressors that you see in the different domains?
Aviva