Table 3. Embodied self-regulation... | Emerald Publishing

Table 3.

Embodied self-regulation strategies during project meetings

Participant and excerpt	Type of strategy	Link to physiological pattern	Interpretation
Participant A: “I rely on small, embodied cues – straightening my posture, grounding both feet, inhaling before responding. Over the years those became automatic. It’s not deliberate anymore; it’s part of how I maintain a steady leadership presence. People expect composure from me, and my body has learned to support that”	Postural grounding; breath regulation; automatic bodily routines	Calmness, heart rate and movement calm state vary only modestly across meetings rated as more or less difficult	Professional identity as “steady leader” is enacted through embodied micro-practices that dampen visible arousal
Participant B: “I manage by mentally separating the layers of the interaction. Sometimes I need to project calm even when I’m uncertain. I don’t suppress the emotion, but I route it into something productive – clarifying questions, structured summaries. I guess that’s why your data showed my calmness staying relatively high in tough conversations”	Cognitive reframing; emotional routing into task structure; performance of calm	EEG calmness remains relatively high even in subjectively demanding meetings	Emotional labour and attentional control transform internal uncertainty into outwardly composed, structured behaviour
Participant C: “I go still. I lower my movement, adjust my breathing, and focus my eyes on a single point. I didn’t know you were tracking movement calmness, but that’s exactly what I do to regain cognitive grip”	Movement stillness; breath focus; visual anchoring	Relatively high movement calm state in demanding meetings; absence of large motion artefacts in EEG during tense moments	Managers actively use the body as a tool to stabilise attention and preserve cognitive control under pressure

Participant and excerpt	Type of strategy	Link to physiological pattern	Interpretation
Participant A: “I rely on small, embodied cues – straightening my posture, grounding both feet, inhaling before responding. Over the years those became automatic. It’s not deliberate anymore; it’s part of how I maintain a steady leadership presence. People expect composure from me, and my body has learned to support that”	Postural grounding; breath regulation; automatic bodily routines	Calmness, heart rate and movement calm state vary only modestly across meetings rated as more or less difficult	Professional identity as “steady leader” is enacted through embodied micro-practices that dampen visible arousal
Participant B: “I manage by mentally separating the layers of the interaction. Sometimes I need to project calm even when I’m uncertain. I don’t suppress the emotion, but I route it into something productive – clarifying questions, structured summaries. I guess that’s why your data showed my calmness staying relatively high in tough conversations”	Cognitive reframing; emotional routing into task structure; performance of calm	EEG calmness remains relatively high even in subjectively demanding meetings	Emotional labour and attentional control transform internal uncertainty into outwardly composed, structured behaviour
Participant C: “I go still. I lower my movement, adjust my breathing, and focus my eyes on a single point. I didn’t know you were tracking movement calmness, but that’s exactly what I do to regain cognitive grip”	Movement stillness; breath focus; visual anchoring	Relatively high movement calm state in demanding meetings; absence of large motion artefacts in EEG during tense moments	Managers actively use the body as a tool to stabilise attention and preserve cognitive control under pressure