Body Learning for Beginners

In an age where mental health is a global priority and business speed accelerates our expectations for “happiness,” “love,” and “health” are often stretched to their limits. I draw on the teachings of critical mentors—including my father, Fritz Weinberger, mother Maria Weinberger, aunt Angelika and grandmother. 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.

Another strong influence on my early work came from sensei Dr Muneo Jay Yoshikawa (Body Learning, Japanese and Chinese Mindscapes) and

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. 

After being an expat coach 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. (Yesterday, I told a client that I was already a trainer as a student, and I remembered that I learned to train others in AIESEC, a worldwide student organization dedicated to fostering world peace through international internship exchanges.) 

The Global Competency Model

Working in Global Mobility with lifestyle expats, rainbow talents, and Global Mobility Managers made me develop a holistic approach to intercultural competence beyond traditional models. My model has five elements: knowledge, attitude, skills, experience, and body learning. I work with this model in executive coaching, and it also helps junior professionals develop their effectiveness in an intercultural context. When you lead a global remote team, all these elements are relevant. 

“Global Competency is the ability to work effectively in a global, complex environment with a high level of stress while achieving goals sustainably and in accordance with one’s own resources. It is a combination of knowledge, attitude, skills, reflected experiences, and body learning.” (Weinberger, A. 20219: The Global Mobility Workbook, Third Edition)

Weinberger, A. (2019): The Global Mobility Workbook.

https://www.amazon.de/Global-Mobility-Workbook-Third/dp/3952428477/ref=asc_df_3952428477?language=de_DE&mcid=25296f12df423616bacb43ffad54a1ae&tag=chgoshpadde-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=679724700929&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13600376965294850934&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9187874&hvtargid=pla-823265104692&psc=1&language=de_DE&gad_source=1

Vermeulen’s Transformational Approach

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 Analysis Model (VAM)®, 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. 

Through weekly practices, participants learn to engage in these techniques alongside progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), mindfulness, and embodiment exercises. By attuning to body sensations and triggers, clients gain insight into unconscious stressors or emotional cues, allowing for better alignment between body language, emotions, and decision-making.

https://www.room2move.de/glossary/vermeulen-boudewijn/

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

Vermeulen’s methods strengthen 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 as a group. 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 team dishwasher. 

Many of you move from online meetings to online meetings at the moment and respond to SMS, chat boxes and other messaging systems in between. 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 your ability to move from your head to your body.

The Global Rockstars

We integrate relationship-building and body-learning techniques into our global competency development plans in all our programs. 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.

In this supportive community, we practice these methods together, providing a foundation that sustains beyond the retreat. Let me know if you’d like more examples of methods in action or additional background on his impact! 

Weekly Practices

That’s where listening to your body comes in again, in the form of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). This relaxation technique is 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 is all about focusing on and listening to specific muscle groups of your body. By actively relaxing these muscles and then tensing them for a while before returning to full relaxation, you can relieve yourself of stress and pain. 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 utilize these techniques to improve your connection to your emotions. Sometimes, invisible stressors will have your body in a tense state, which can affect how you perceive and broadcast your emotions. That mind-body equilibrium is essential to being a better person. 

Mindfulness or any relaxation technique is not just about improving stress or anxiety management, it is about aligning yourselves so that your moods, emotions, and body language work together. This ‘optimal state’ of being is where one can become a better listener, able to make more informed decisions and have better personal and professional relationships.

The key is to incorporate 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 gets excessive, when you start to work on weekends and when you have young or elderly family members to take care of. Try it for at least eight weeks and do it at the same time during the day, ideally after lunch or before sleep.(Check “habit stacking” too).

This is currently my favourite video for practising. You can also work with Dr. Beth Salcedo’s recording. If you prefer other voices, you can try several and find the one you like the most. In German, Dr. Stephan Frucht is also very nice to listen to. For further reading on progressive muscle relaxation practice, check out this link for step-by-step guides. In my experience, starting with a video or recording is best without overthinking it.

During the annual RockMeRetreat, we practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation and other productivity-enhancing methods together. It’s often easier to start in a group. Remember to claim your meeting with me to discuss your participation.

Every Problem Boils Down to a Relationship

When every issue is a relationship problem, it becomes paramount to understand and analyze relationships automatically with the objective of maintaining and improving them. Under the guidance of a skilled Expat Coach, 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. The coach can then guide you and help you distill these findings so that you can approach the relationship positively again. The method highlights just how crucial it is to dive into the complexity of human relationships. Vermeulen built his method with the knowledge of Carl Gustav Jung’s deep psychology.

Consider the RockMeRetreat or Buy a Voucher for BrandEssence

The RockMeRetreat is a seven-day leadership retreat in Ilanz, Grisons, where you will network with other leaders and 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! We will probably offer the RockMeRetreat again in 2025. The requirement is that we get together a group of four to eight global rockstars. Let us know if you are interested by emailing angela@globalpeopletransitions.com. If you need targeted advice, buy a Global Rockstar voucher for dedicated coaching with Angie Weinberger.