In an age where mental health is a global priority and business speed accelerates our expectations for “happiness,” “love,” and “health,” these expectations are often stretched to their limits. Over the years, I have drawn on the teachings of my family and many other mentors, including my father, Fritz, my mother, Maria, my aunt Angelika, and my grandmother Maria.

After being the Global Mobility Coach at Global People Transitions for over 15 years and having engaged in Human Resources and Global Mobility for over 30 years, you will hopefully understand that, like a Chef, I sometimes cannot say who taught me what exactly, but the menu you are consuming will make up for that. I want to honor a few of my early teachers and their work here.

Boudewijn Vermeulen

Later in life, I learned from many trainers and coach educators, such as Boudewijn Vermeulen and Dr. Eva Kinast — to approach these challenges with a unique blend of methods that honor the mind-body connection and relationship dynamics in the humanistic and deep psychology traditions of C.G. Jung, Carl Rogers, Fritz Pearls, Eric Berne and others. Drawing on the VERMEULEN® coaching method, we practice working with body sensations or embodiment. 

Boudewijn Vermeulen’s work centred on the belief that personal and professional growth is best achieved by integrating structured communication, deep relationship work, and body learning. He developed the VERMEULEN® method, a holistic coaching approach that combines these elements to foster authentic self-awareness and relational clarity. Grounded in Jungian psychology (shadow work), this method enables clients to reflect on relationships that challenge them most, often those that bring up unresolved patterns or emotional triggers. 

Dr Muneo Jay Yoshikawa

Another strong influence on my global competency model came from Sensei Dr Muneo Jay Yoshikawa (Body Learning, Japanese and Chinese Mindscapes). Body learning strengthens the mind-body connection, a foundation for leadership development. Emotions can manifest physically, such as tensed muscles, changes in heart rate, or nervous gestures. Understanding these body symptoms allows leaders to identify emotional triggers, better manage their moods, and lead with empathy.

For example, a simple exercise like asking about your team’s “mood” at the start of each meeting can create a supportive environment that fosters emotional intelligence. Such practices empower leaders to adjust their language, tone, or pace, making meetings more effective and relationship-focused. It can also help to slow down and centre yourself for two minutes when getting tea from the kitchen or unloading the dishwasher.

Many of you move from online meetings to online meetings at the moment, and respond to text and voice messages all day. Some of you can hardly focus on a 45-minute coaching session, and I know that this requires practice, especially if your manager bombards you with MSTeams messages while you are in “Do not disturb mode.”

We must learn to set and respect better boundaries in this new online working environment. However, it always starts with your attitude towards yourself and ability to move from your head to your body.

Thiagi

Interactive learning expert Thiagi (who currently explains all his methods on LinkedIn), the inventor of Barnga and many other well-known intercultural awareness games and jolts. Debriefing and reflection were not part of the early intercultural competence model, which traditionally focused on cognitive development around knowledge, skills, and attitude. Thiagi inspired my sense of play, interactive learning, and giving the responsibility for learning to the learner.

Through interactive training design, I increase the retention and applicability of models and abstract frameworks. Thanks to Thiagi, I also integrate gamification in our group programs.

Weekly Practices

Through weekly practices, mindfulness, and embodiment exercises, you learn to engage in techniques. By attuning to body sensations and triggers, you gain insight into unconscious stressors or emotional cues, allowing for better alignment between mind, body, emotions, and decision-making.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a relaxation technique especially beneficial for reducing muscle tension caused by stress and anxiety. Used effectively, however, it can help you manage any form of stressor, from pain to psychological distress. After all, these are manifested in the mind, so it stands to reason that their effects are interconnected. 

At its core, progressive muscle relaxation focuses on and listens to specific muscle groups in your body. You can relieve stress and pain by relaxing these muscles and then tensing them for a while before returning to complete relaxation. For instance, lower back pain sufferers are frequently taught how to target their back muscles through progressive muscle relaxation techniques to manage pain.

You don’t have to be in pain to use these techniques to improve your connection to your emotions. Sometimes, invisible stressors can put your body in a tense state, affecting how you perceive and express your feelings. Maintaining that mind-body equilibrium is essential to being a better person.

Relaxation techniques are not just about improving stress or anxiety management. It is about aligning yourself so your moods, emotions, and body language work together. In this ‘optimal state’ of being, one can become a better listener, make more informed decisions, and have better personal and professional relationships.

The key is incorporating progressive muscle relaxation techniques into your life through practice and repetition—the only habit that can create lasting self-improvement. We added weekly practices to our RockMeApp because it is very tough to stick with such practices, especially when your workload becomes excessive, when you start working on weekends, or when you have young or elderly family members to care for.. 

Every Problem Boils Down to a Relationship

When every issue is a relationship problem, it becomes paramount to understand and work on relationships to maintain and improve them. Under my guidance, you write down feelings about a relationship: what you regret, what you resent, what you are grateful for, what you need from the relationship, and your disappointments and fulfilment. I will then guide you and help you distil these findings so you can approach the relationship positively again.

The Global Rockstars

All my programs integrate relationship-building and body-learning techniques into their global competency development plans. You will often learn relaxation methods and other productivity-enhancing practices that amplify growth, creating an optimal state for professional advancement and alignment with your values and styles.

Get a RockMeRetreat for Your Team

The RockMeRetreat is a seven-day leadership retreat, where you will work together with other global rockstars and further develop your global leadership competency. It is designed to amplify your success on your chosen career path and help you achieve the breakthroughs you need to become a rockstar in your chosen field! You will need to gather a group of four to eight participants. Then, we will design a program for your RockMeRetreat. The RockMeRetreat can also be used to work on writing, team culture or any personal challenge or transition you are facing.

References

Weinberger, A. 2023: The Global Rockstar Album

https://www.epubli.com/shop/the-global-rockstar-album-9783819069680

Progressive Muscle Relaxation  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uYeFGFWzzM

Global People Transitions is a global mobility coaching company founded by Angie Weinberger. It focuses on helping global professionals, particularly expats and their partners, navigate international career transitions and build inclusive and intercultural leadership teams. To support these individuals, Global People Transitions offers coaching, resources, and a community network.