Hi Reader, Daria’s here.

This week I’m handing over to Verena Hoffmann, a somatic coach who helps leaders do the one thing that gets you home earlier: end the workday physically, embodied. And no, just closing your laptop is often not enough.

A short introduction

I’m Verena. I spent over 16 years in events, startups and people management before I trained as a somatic coach. I know the pleasure and the pressure of that world.

Now I help high-functioning people, many of them in leadership positions, close the day properly, be present where they are and stop work from running as background noise all evening.

Feierabend: the German word your calendar ignores

Germans have a word English does not: Feierabend. It joins Feier (celebration) and Abend (evening). It frames the end of your shift as something to celebrate, a clean line where work stops and your private life starts. In theory, the boundary is sacred. In practice, most leaders and teams I work with have no clear cut at all. When they close the laptop, their mind keeps going.

This is a leadership problem, not a wellness one

A leader who never really switches off from work makes decisions with a nervous system that is constantly under stress, making it harder to think clearly, assess situations, and respond effectively. That is where the snappy email, the reactive hire, and the unnecessary meeting come from. A depleted system defaults to the old pattern. It isn't present in the moment. It does not choose well or wisely. And your team is watching. If you reply at 23:00, you have set the norm. Your Feierabend is a leadership instrument that helps you model the healthy boundary.

The unfinished day gets stuck in you

When work mode does not end, it shows up somewhere outside your laptop.

In the body: shoulders, jaw, forehead, a stiff neck, back, hips, or even in your digestion.

In the mind: spiralling thoughts, replaying conversations, guilt, the urge to check email one more time, even dreaming of work.

You know the feeling. You are home, you are with your friends, your body is there, but you are absent. Like you are mentally still at work.

A 3-minute close-the-day ritual

No app, no yoga mat. Try it as an experiment for a week yourself, then share it with your team.

Reset: Put on your favorite song and for the length of it, just move. Physically signal your body that the work day is over.

Shake out your body
Move your shoulders up & down
Rotate your upper body
Stand grounded with soft bent knees and just breathe

Reflect:

What did I get done today? Name three things.
What emotion is loudest right now? One word.
What is it telling me? Is it trying to protect me from something, or is it pointing to something I need to address?

Release:

What belongs to work and stays at work? Three things.
What belongs to me and comes home? Three things.
Then say it out loud: “Tonight I choose __ over __. “ Mine is often presence over problems, or rest over rumination.

That last line is the hard cut. A decision, embodied, that the work day is done. Do it in the car, on the walk, before you open the front door.

Understanding is one thing; feeling and acting is another

You cannot think your way out of a stress response. The thoughts are downstream. A short physical and reflective ritual signals to your nervous system that the threat has passed, and the mind follows. First find the calm in the body, then the clarity can follow. Leaders who build this embodiment of releasing stress and self-regulation protect more than their evenings. They become more present. They protect the quality of every decision they make the next day.

About the Author

Verena Hoffmann is a somatic coach and founder of Twist Brain & Body Coaching. After 16 years in events, startups and people management, she now helps leaders and globally mobile professionals regulate their nervous systems and lead without burning out. She runs an eight-week group program, Unf*ck Your Feierabend, moving you through four stages: Confetti, Clarity, Capability, Action.

Next cohort starts in January 2027.

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Thanks for reading, Reader

Talk to you next Thursday

Daria

P.S. I don’t usually practice Feierabend (my bad!), but I’m inspired to try Verena’s ritual tonight. How about you? Will you give it a try?