Endings and Beginnings

I first heard of Keren Rosenberg in either July or August last year. I was speaking with my friend, incredible coaching colleague and all round extraordinary human being Sachin Sharma. During the conversation he said, I’ve been doing some work with Keren, and I think you should speak to her. I asked why? He told me she was a former dancer and choreographer and that she had been really helpful for him in the run up to an MMA fight he had been training for. I asked Sachin to tell me a bit about what she did with him and how she worked. He didn’t really give me an answer and told me to ‘just call her’. At the time I was experiencing some sciatic pain in my lower back and left leg and thought maybe she could help me with that … and because I trusted Sachin, I told him I’d contact her.

We spoke for the first time in August. My sciatic pain was worse by now. I don’t remember a lot about the exact detail of the conversation, but we talked about bodies (which she referred to as the ‘vessel of your being’) and movement and energy and pain (she told me that sciatica was ‘some serious shit’). I came off the call having committed to another conversation with Keren. I was sure of two things .. (i) There was a wild, aliveness about her that I hadn’t experienced in anyone before and found myself thinking that she was a bit crazy, but in a good way. (ii) I was also convinced she could help me.

We spoke again a couple of weeks later. Nothing happened on the call to dissuade me from my earlier assessment, and I went ‘all in’ signing up to work with her for four in person days in a dance studio in Amsterdam (not joking) and thirty-six online sessions over the following year. The decision was highly intuitive. I wasn’t totally sure what I was getting myself into, but I knew Keren was going to make a difference. It was one of those, ‘when you know, you know’ moments.?

Our work together started with us working on me changing my relationship with my body. For years I had driven my body relentlessly. Not surprisingly it had led to frequent hamstring injuries, achilles tendon injuries, a cycling accident that left me with a fractured wrist and a completely severed ligament in my right shoulder, knees injuries resulting in an arthroscopy and now sciatic pain caused by not enough prioritising of my form when moving weights in the gym.?

Early on in our work, I was complaining one day about the current experience of sciatic pain and expressing my frustration at my body’s lack of co-operation with what I wanted when Keren asked me, ‘Have you ever asked your body for forgiveness’? My reaction was visceral as I felt a surge of anger, ‘ME? … ask my body for forgiveness!! You must be joking. My body should be asking me for forgiveness for letting me down so often.’

In a heartbeat I saw it. I saw the reason for all the injuries. I saw that I was not and never had been in partnership with my body, or collaborated with my body, or listened to my body, which Jules has been trying to get me to do for years. It was all a creation out of my lack of awareness of and lack of any consideration for my body and what it needed to perform at its’ best. How I was treating my body was kind of like driving a car relentlessly for years without ever looking after it, or servicing it, or replacing parts that needed replaced and then getting annoyed when the car broke down.

Things quickly changed. I found myself paying greater attention to rest, recovery and sleep. This was greatly helped by the Oura ring I got last Christmas at the encouragement of Jordan Stinson at Executive Athlete Club. I also changed how I train. Instead of going at 100% all the time I discovered I could build my cardiovascular fitness by including zone 2 sessions (which means being able to exercise and talk comfortably at the same time) along with my strength sessions and zone 5 sessions (high intensity sessions when I am on my knees fighting for breath). I found myself getting myself to the physio when an injury started to emerge as opposed to waiting until I completely broke down and had to stop. It even led me to add a line to my document, ‘I am that my body is an exquisite and sacred temple, carrying my divine essence through life .. and together we are creating miracles.’

As this shifted the conversation with Keren changed from one about me changing my relationship with my body to me changing my relationship with myself. Our conversations started to take me deeper into the connection between my mind, my body and my soul and the possibility that they really aren’t separate and as a possibility mind, body and soul are ‘all one’. Our conversations took me deeper into me being my ‘document’ not just at an intellectual level but at a cellular level … at an ‘all of me’ level. This has been massive and has really brought my document into vibrant technicolour aliveness for me. Our conversations took me deeper into seeing that I am whole and complete (we all are) ... again not just at an intellectual level but at a level of knowing that I am whole and complete deep within my being.?

I could go on, but you get the picture. This was deep inner work, and the impact of these conversations has been deep and powerful.?

So what? What difference does that make? What good will that do you? I hear you .. or some of you ask.? The difference this has all helped to make is in relation to possibility in my life because of how I see me now. Something which I have touched on in previous editions. As these conversations continued, I became more and more comfortable in my own skin. My drive of striving to get somewhere to prove something to myself or others has reduced a lot. This has resulted in me becoming more and more committed to doing the things I want to do, because I want to do them, because they matter to me. I am getting a lot done. It feels like there is no pressure. And the degree to which I am having fun and hugely enjoying the journey has increased to a whole other level.

It's early days with this but the impact of this work is starting to emerge as I spend more time just being comfortable being ‘me’. I will be sharing more about the results of this in future editions.?

As I close, I want to acknowledge Keren for the amazing work we did together over the last 15 months. You are an incredible coach. You connect with people deeply and you read energy in a way that is unlike anyone else I know.?

As we ended our time working together, it felt like a beginning for me. A beginning from a place of being ‘whole and complete’. A beginning from a place where it looks like everything, literally everything I could possibly want is possible. Thank you, Keren.

This will be the last newsletter for a couple of weeks and the first one of 2025 will land in your inbox early on Saturday 4th January ...or Tuesday 7th if you're read these on LinkedIn.

Thank you to all of you who have subscribed on LinkedIn or to my email list. Thank you to those of you have read any of these newsletters over the last 6 months and I know that many of you have read many of them. Thank you especially to those of you who have cheered me on with your comments, emails, WhatsApp messages and likes that have all encouraged me to keep writing.?

Looking forward to connecting with you again as I share my ongoing growth journey in 2025.

Much love

Peter