The Regenerative Dynamics of Embodied Dialogue in Resonance with Life
: Nummi, Eeva
Publisher: SAGE Publications
: 2026
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
: The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
: 00218863261438266
: 0021-8863
: 1552-6879
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00218863261438266
: https://doi.org/10.1177/00218863261438266
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/516214363
This article develops a regenerative perspective on embodied dialogue grounded in autoethnographic action research within a public social and healthcare organization undergoing systemic transition. Rather than treating dialogue as a technique for alignment or control, it conceptualizes dialogue as a relational process through which human systems remain responsive amid turbulence. Through abductive analysis of reflective journals, observations, and dialogic episodes, three interrelated dynamics are identified: coherence, in which embodied presence gathers as settled being-with; potentiality, the ripening of a not-yet quality within that presence; and activation, the emergence of what has taken shape into speech or collective movement. These dynamics unfold as an asymmetric regenerative rhythm across self, relational, collective, and field dimensions. By introducing the field level, the study situates dialogue within wider relational processes and offers a framework for understanding dialogue as a regenerative capacity supporting relational renewal and ethical responsiveness.
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The author thanks colleagues in the Finnish public health and social care organization where the fieldwork took place and acknowledges funding from the Kymenlaakso Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Finnish Work Environment Fund.