A lot of people claim that they would bend over backwards to earn a place in the record books. However few take that quite as literally as Leicester- born Liberty Barros.
The 15-year-old is credited with being ‘the most flexible person in the world,’ having secured three Guinness World Records, including her most recent – the most chest to floor backbends in 30 seconds. The stunt, which saw her complete 11 in total, earned her a place on the cover of this year’s edition and she has travelled the world, showcasing her skills to stunned spectators.
“It’s not painful,” she assures Pukaar when we catch up with her, fresh from a trip to New York.
“What I do is a form of Yoga and a lot of that is breath work, just feeling your breath and moving how your body wants to move…
“ I’m not forcing myself to bend or anything, I’m just going along with how my body feels, using my breath and opening up different parts of my body. That’s how I do it… ”
Liberty discovered her unique talent unexpectedly when she was ten. It’s a skill which changed her life significantly, and in more ways than one…
At the time, she was struggling with a breathing impediment which affected her daily life and held her back from pursuing her dreams of being a performer.
“I couldn’t do anything that I wanted to do – I couldn’t act and I couldn’t even speak properly because I was so bunged up,” she revealed.
“However, I was watching a Rihanna’s music video for the song ‘Umbrella’ one day, when I copied one of her dance moves. I bent my body all the way backwards, which was insane because I’d never done anything like that before. Then when I came up, my breathing difficulty went away. I was amazed, and delighted of course…”
Liberty claims that the movement, together with the way she used her breath was the thing which solved her breathing difficulty and set her on the path she’s on today.
“I’d always dreamed of being able to move – to be free and to breath healthily. When it actually started to happen on that day, I was just so stunned,” she said.
“I always feel like you can dream things into reality and that’s what happened. It was absolutely insane. My name means freedom, which is quite cool because now, it’s basically what I do all day!”
Some of Liberty’s achievements include impressing the judges on the 15th series of ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’ Although she failed to reach the Semi-Finals, she did when she auditioned for the Spanish version of the show in 2022.
Last year she also secured the coveted ‘Golden Buzzer’ after impressing on ‘Croatia’s Got Talent.’
Liberty’s YouTube channel boasts over 2 million followers, with celebrity fans including Kim Kardashian and Nicky Minaj and she performs regularly with the best dancers in the world.
Although she’s proud of her achievements, Liberty remains grounded and incredibly humble. When asked about her biggest achievement – the thing she’s most proud of, the talented teen had the following answer:
“My biggest achievement is being a part of my family and being able to help them out with what I do. I’m just very grateful to have people around who always support me in everything.
“I’ve worked very hard for what I’ve achieved, but I’m always grateful to be just breathing and moving.“
As for the best thing about doing what she does, she cited the strong reaction she gets from people who see her perform.
“Making other people smile by doing what I love to do, it’s just absolutely insane – a dream come true!” she said.
“In the future, one of my ambitions is to open a school in Leicester, where I can teach flexibility and dance Yoga, with a view to improving people’s health – both physically and mentally.
“A lot of people spend most of their day just sitting at a desk but that can be quite harmful to your body. So I think just even putting in a little bit of movement throughout your day can go a long way.”
By Louise Steel
