Denise Holland - Transformative Coaching Conversations
“I help sportspeople ready for breakthroughs to harness spiritual awareness and elevate results. Why do we go after repeating great performances?
Ever wondered where performance comes from or where it goes when you've finished with it? Is this actually possible, if not why do we try so hard to do this? How is it we find it difficult not to think those thoughts we absolutely know don't serve us? Consistency of performance is uppermost in the minds of most sport professionals together with confidence - what's really behind these two mysteriou
s performance components? Denise Holland - (Transformative Coaching Conversations) guides you to access the flow state of optimal functioning in your personal and business life as well as sporting endeavour. We go beyond the intellect into the mysteries of human performance, how and why we show up and respond the way we do, this is where the secrets can be found to all human life!
I loved this conversation with Nikon Gormley. Here are some real gems if you’re interested in demystifying pressure in sports:
Nikon teaches Executive Education at the Sasin School of Management and the Asian Institute of Hospitality Management. He founded Innerspark Group (Coaching & Training) and Super 7 Taekwondo and previously served as a National Public Radio Host for the Thai Ministry of Education.
He’s worked with organisations including the UN, YPO, Novo Nordisk, Tencent, PTT, Techstars, the Ministry of Education of Thailand, and many more—supporting leadership development, performance, and well-being across sectors.
He also draws from his background as a former professional Taekwondo athlete who trained and competed globally.
In this episode, I sit down with Denise Holland—Human Performance Consultant, Transformative Coach, and former elite athlete—to explore what it really takes ...
Join me for this special session during a fantastic online summit running from 10th–12th December 2025. Featuring incredible speakers from diverse fields, the summit explores a unifying theme: the transformative power of Love and Connection in sports, daily life, and business.
So, what’s LOVE got to do with sports?
Love is at the heart of it all.
✨ As children, we fall in love with the pure joy of playing.
✨ Then, around the age of 7, the sting of losing hits us—it hurts.
✨ We’re told, “It’s part of the game,” but the pain lingers.
✨ We push harder, striving to win, and unknowingly drift from the joy of playing freely.
Suddenly, the mantra of “I’ll be happy when I…” sneaks into our minds, and striving replaces thriving.
The pressure to achieve overshadows our natural instincts to explore, play, and thrive. Recognition becomes the goal, and we forget the love that inspired us in the first place.
Let’s Change the Story
If this resonates with your experience in sports—or you see it reflected in your children—join me at this summit. Together, we’ll rediscover what it means to PlayFreely®, explore your potential with an open heart, and rekindle the love that makes sports magical. https://conference.dare2bu.co.uk/summit
03/12/2024
I am delighted to be a speaker at this on-line summit, next week, which supports the annual dare2BU conference, 'Being You - Waking Up to What's Possible', held every March in North Devon. (6-8th March 2025).
The line up of speakers is fantastic, you are in for a real treat, and its FREE!
💜Tuesday 10th December💜
10 am Vicki Montague ~ Free From Judgements
2 pm Ian Watson ~ Being True to Yourself
7 pm Debra Simmons ~ Following Your True Desire
💜Wednesday 11th December💜
10 am Angelina Hynes ~ It’s Not On Us: A Renewed Way of Living
2 pm Lizzie Paish ~ Love & Connection: The Christmas Story
7 pm Andrea Morrison ~ Love & Connection as a Business Model
💜Thursday 12th December💜
10 am Denise Holland ~ For The Love of Sport
2 pm Marie Arymar ~ Connecting with Children
7 pm Lori Carpenos ~ Happy With Who You Are See less
Here is a sneak preview of the sport specific section in my upcoming book PlayFreely® - A Revolutionary Approach to Enhance Sports Performance and Life.
Please choose which one of these chapter titles which resonates with you the most, and we'll talk about that!
Section Two - Sports Specific
7 Curiosities to PlayFreely®
Curiosity 1 - Developing Spiritual Muscle - Design v Conditioning
Curiosity 2 - Being You - Wisdom v Identity
Curiosity 3 - Beyond Goals - Intrigue v Expectation
Curiosity 4 - Pressure is an Inside Job - Presence v Pressure
Curiosity 5 - Hidden Cohesion - Connection v Separateness
Curiosity 6 - Born Confident - Awareness v Recognition
Curiosity 7 - The Consistency Myth - Innovation v Consistency
Let me know in the chat, AND click on the link below to book your place.
I can't wait to share the chapter which is most popular.
💜Love & Connection Summit💜
Will you be joining us?
FREE online summit: 10-12th December.
I am so EXCITED to invite you to Love & Connection ~ the online summit!
The full schedule is below. And the L I N K to sign up is in the comments. Feel free to ask any questions and we will see you there!!
Heaps of love,
Deb, Bec and Lu ###
💜Tuesday 10th December💜
10 am Vicki Montague ~ Free From Judgements
2 pm Ian Watson ~ Being True to Yourself
7 pm Debra Simmons ~ Following Your True Desire
💜Wednesday 11th December💜
10 am Angelina Hynes ~ It’s Not On Us: A Renewed Way of Living
2 pm Lizzie Paish ~ Love & Connection: The Christmas Story
7 pm Andrea Morrison ~ Love & Connection as a Business Model
💜Thursday 12th December💜
10 am Denise Holland ~ For The Love of Sport
2 pm Marie Arymar ~ Connecting with Children
7 pm Lori Carpenos ~ Happy With Who You Are
I loved the 3PUK Conference in London these past few days. Thank you to everyone on the team for a beautiful re-set of this fantastic annual event. Here's what I am reminded of:
💡 We can repeatedly realise the simplicity of dropping into our spiritual nature, kindness, peace of mind, compassion, humility, security, joy, gratitude, resilience, and creativity.
💡 We can wake up to the Truth of our amazingness as human life.
💡 We can slow down inside, get quiet and be still, no matter what's happening around us.
💡 We can remember it's a misunderstanding that someone or something must first change before we can feel peace.
💡 We can be aware of our judgments about others and situations.
💡 We can realign ourselves with the universal intelligence that makes us know we are alive and release the stuckness of our conditioning.
💡 We can make a radical commitment to inner peace (Marina Galan—I Loved this; thank you!).
💡 We can be aware of our cultural conditioning and the language that might offend others.
💡 We can question which golf technique to use, theirs or mine (Michael Neill—Beautiful!).
💡 We can be curious about what it means to level up and whether that's more information or a deep, profound look within.
💡 We can hold our beliefs, perspectives and opinions lightly and be open to seeing new and fresh.
💡 We can realise that our unique expression through our physical bodies and minds is fuelled by the same divine source as everyone else; separation is an illusion.
💡 We can acknowledge that creating a better world starts with each of us going inside and tidying that up first.
💡 We can know that we don't have to prove ourselves with achievements, accolades, and acknowledgement; we are already enough and always OK!
💡 We can play instinctively, freely, and curiously, knowing that the results can never define us as human beings!
WE CAN!
I recorded a session with the lovely Dr Dicken Bettinger as I continue to help sportspeople realise their spiritual nature and PlayFreely®.
Dicken Bettinger, Ed.D., received his doctorate in counseling psychology and has worked during his career as a licensed clinical psychologist and psychologic...
09/06/2024
A PB today - My first 1500 metres in St Andrews Lakes 🎉😜
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Send a message to Denise Holland - Transformative Coaching Conversations:
As the former Scotland National Coach (Netball), I loved being at the cutting edge of the intricacies of human performance, but did I know how to get the best out of athletes and coaches, especially during high-pressure situations? After 30 years, I am honest enough to say, 'no', I did not. How can we know what athletes are up against inside their minds? Players want that feeling of performing their skills automatically and freely, but very few experience this so-called 'flow' state readily. As coaches, how feasible is it that we can help people to mitigate their head noise such that they produce performances with ease and joy! We talk about resilience and inner strength as an attribute of elite performers, but what if these are just words to describe something that is not so much attainable but innate to all human beings?
Interesting questions, which hardly ever get answered - until now!
As a Human Performance Consultant, I help people in all fields to engineer sustainable change in every part of their lives, not just sport; relationships, mental health, well-being, career, education and business.
Many people suffer from the content of their mind, overwhelm, lack of confidence, and frustration, examples that lead to stress, and under-achievement. The sad thing is, you believe you have to cope, put up with restrictive thinking and low-level enjoyment.
Transformative Coaching as I call it, can be tricky to explain because how do you explain how 'insight' works? One minute you cannot do or see something and the next you can! A light-bulb moment and bingo, your whole perspective changes. That's it! No point in me trying to describe the unexplainable, no words can do that, it just works!
Many people know what they want to achieve in life, or know how they would instead feel, but very few get to live and perform from a state of peace, contentment, and fulfilment. Traditionally, there are many modalities, i.e. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, (CBT) Hypno-therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Positive Psychology and even Mindfulness, all designed to help people lead high-performance and fulfilling lives. These are all very familiar to me, at best, I experienced short term change and, at worst, I wouldn't be able to apply the techniques consistently, and before long I'd be back into old habits!
The human mind and body is an incredible genius creation, which if profoundly understood, will perform the way you want it to! We often end up feeling the victim of circumstances, blaming others for the way we think and feel, but what if this is an innocent misunderstanding of how the human mind works. Are you really at the mercy of others and outside factors for the way you experience life?
If this resonates, get in touch, and we'll arrange a time to speak.
