Setting boundaries and exercising mental fitness: Empowering your best self with Liv Bowser
We sat down with Liv Bowser, the brilliant CEO & Founder of Librate, a groundbreaking mental fitness platform. As a certified Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher and Yoga Teacher, Liv’s expertise in mental well-being has earned her recognition in esteemed publications like Forbes, Business Insider, The Cut, and Real Simple. Join us as we explore Liv’s remarkable journey, her struggles with stress and anxiety, and some valuable advice from her dad.
Who is Liv Bowser?
Liv is the CEO & Founder of Liberate and a certified Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher and Yoga Teacher, Liv has been featured in renowned publications such as Forbes, Business Insider, The Cut, and Real Simple, as a mental fitness expert and has led Liberate Method classes for SHAPE and HEALTH magazines, Fairmont Hotels, Uber, LinkedIn, and many more.
In our conversation, we explore Liv’s remarkable journey, from her upbringing in rural Upstate New York, where she cherished the outdoors and had little interest in pop culture, to her unexpected path to becoming a high-growth startup employee.
Her personal challenges led her to create Liberate, a company committed to uniting people in the pursuit of prioritizing mental well-being and inspiring each other to become their best selves. Listen in as we delve into the profound vulnerability and habit-breaking that mental fitness requires, drawing parallels with how music touches our souls and allows us to express ourselves freely. ✨
Go with the flow… but have boundaries
Growing up in rural upstate New York, Liv loved to climb trees as a child. She’d often bring a notebook up with her so she could write her thoughts, feelings, and ideas – she loved the sense of freedom and the feeling of being so creative while outside in nature. Reflecting back on it, Liv now recognizes she started journaling at 8 years old outside in that tree.
After college, Liv had a job in New York City lined up, and decided to go to Los Angeles for the summer to spend some time with friends enjoying the sun, sand, and surf. After moving to LA she felt the people and energy of LA resonated more with her – and she liked the person she was in LA more than the person she was in NYC. So she interviewed for a role at a better-for-you baking mix start-up and was hired as their first employee.
She loved the vibe of the creative, fun, young team, and being able to have such a big impact at a start-up (instead of working for a bigger company or corporation). In her role, she was able to do so many things and learned so much, but this came at a cost.
Over time, her hours simply kept increasing until she was working 7:00am-9:00pm every day, even on weekends, and simply had no boundaries. This led Liv to feeling disconnected from herself and experiencing a lot of uncomfortable feelings, such as stress, anxiety, and panic attacks.
When it comes to finding a company culture that works for you and your boundaries, here’s Liv’s advice:
“Boundaries are best set up front… and being really clear in a one-on-one meeting with a manager. That might not work for every company culture but at least when you are clear about your boundaries then you are more likely to find a company culture that does work for you.” – Liv Bowser
Liv’s tips to manage panic attacks
Breathe. Take deep breaths. “There are specific breathing methods you can research to see what works best for you, but for me, I inhale through my nose, then exhale through my mouth like breathing out a straw.”
Remember the panic attack is temporary. “If you allow yourself to spiral, it’ll often make the anxiety worse.” Remember this is simply a moment, not forever.
CBD.
Suck on a lozenge or mint.
Focus on all of your senses. Cycle through your taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing to bring yourself into the present moment.
Take a shower.
Meditate. Liv says this is a little more of an advanced technique, but try and meditate to sit with the panic attack and get grounded in the present moment. You’re almost trying to befriend the sensations you’re feeling. “Sometimes we feel like a panic attack is like an angry driver that’s thrown us into the trunk of the car, but you’re still in the driver’s seat. The anxiety attack is more like an unwanted, annoying passenger.”
Making mental fitness accessible
Through Liv’s experience with managing her anxiety attacks, she started to explore meditation, searched for journal prompts, and went to yoga classes. These all helped her to feel more calm, centered, and stable.
While’s she’s more “woo woo” and always down for a sound bath, most of her friends weren’t, so they were missing out on the benefits those practices have to offer. And the idea for Liberate was born: a way for mindfulness and mental fitness practices to be more accessible.
Now, Liberate offers wellness classes, team building programs, and wellbeing tools such as journals to strengthen mental muscles. Liberate’s core focus is building and feeling: Presence, Courage, Gratitude, Confidence, and Resilience.
Liv believes that by proactively building these muscles, just like you’d proactively go to the gym to strengthen your physical body, allows us to feel strong, fit, and healthy – and take care of ourselves holistically.
Liberate’s impact on work cultures
Liv’s research has found “employees without meaningful connections at work are 5x more likely to be disengaged and 2.5x more likely to quit.” They also measure employee connection to coworkers and their state of wellbeing at work throughout Liberate’s program to show the client company Liberate’s impact on those metrics to demonstrate a meaningful return on investment.
However, it’s always a necessity to get buy-in from the CEO or team leader before a team is able to proceed. She’s talked with so many teams and HR departments who are interested and highly motivated, but unless the team leader has bought into the importance of mental health and the necessity to take time out of the day for employees to care for their mental health, the deal can’t be finalized.
At Liberate itself, Liv and her team have started a weekly check-in practice about their mental health and life both in the context of work and their personal lives. They use green, yellow, and red “lights” to open up a conversation about how they’re feeling and to help build a deeper connection on a human level.
The Liberate Method
Liberate works with individuals and organizations, and for both sets of users, Liberate takes proven practices and distills them down so you’re able to get the benefits from each individual practice, but Liberate is able to keep the content fresh, interesting, and engaging.
Their core method involves:
Intention-setting to set clear goals and get grounded;
Mindful movement, such as light stretching or breathwork which is easy and comfortable to do, even from your desk;
Journaling, focused on the specific theme of the session with guided prompts;
Conversation, an open, pressure-free opportunity for connection and sharing between participants; and finally,
Meditation to ground the practice and allow the work to sync into the mind and body.
As an individual, you can access Liberate’s offerings through monthly free community classes, use the Liberate Studio app (Apple App Store, Google Play) to access classes and services at home, download Liberate’s free eBooks, or purchase digital or physical journals for an at-home journaling practice.
Affirmation
I connect to my inner voice every day in ways that are comforting and inspiring.
Writing Prompt
Where do I feel the most stress in my life? How can I simplify or get the support I need?
Resources
Follow Liv Bowser on Instagram
Follow Liberate on Instagram
Check out Liberate’s website
