BJJ, Body Image, Anxiety and Claustrophobia with Livia Giles

Livia Giles is a first degree black belt, a world champion international competitor, coach, physiotherapist and combat sports board member.

Liv has a wealth of experience dealing with the pressure of being an elite athlete and spoke with Georgia about:

• The community in BJJ
• The value in learning a skill
• BJJ as meditation
• Being obsessed with being the best
• Being smaller than most people on the mat
• How to teach people how to train with you
• Effective communication during rolls
• How to create a club culture that welcomes women
• Why women need to roll with women
• How nerves and anxiety are a good thing
• How she stopped focusing on feeling good or bad in competitions
• Why you should compete more often
• Having a panic attack/ feeling claustrophobic in a competition
• Tapping due to claustrophobia
• The physiology of panic attacks
• Weight cutting and body image
• Appreciate your body!

Liv started out as a gymnast in Poland. At age 18 she retired and transitioned into track cycling. When she was 24 she decided to take a break for competitive sport and went to university to become a physiotherapist. While working as a physiotherapist she met her now husband Dr Lachlan Giles PhD who introduced her to BJJ. And the rest is history..

Liv's Achievements in BJJ include:

• Copa Podio Superfight Winner (2016)
• UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro 2nd Place (2018)
• ADCC Asian Trials 2nd Place (2015) U
• AEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro 3rd Place (2017)
• IBJJF World Champion (2016 brown, 2013 blue)
• IBJJF World No-Gi Champion (2013 purple)
• IBJJF Asian International Open Champion (2014 purple, 2016 brown)
• IBJJF Melbourne International Open Champion (2015** purple)
• IBJJF Melbourne International No-Gi Open Champion (2015 purple)
• IBJJF World Championship Runner-up (2015 purple)
• CBJJ Brazilian National Championship Runner-up (2014 purple)

Follow @livia_giles on instagram for updates about seminars around Australia!

https://www.instagram.com/livia_giles/?hl=en

Thank you so much to Nari for the beautiful song "Shape Me" heard at the beginning and end of this episode. Nari wrote this song about Shape Your Life, a boxing program for self-identified women survicors of violence in Canada. She wrote this song using the words and experiences shared by participants with Cathy Van Ingen. You can find out more about Shape Your Life in my interview with Cathy in Episode 8. You can hear more of Nari's work by going to her Instagram: @narithesaga