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For Alice Bracegirdle, survival was a matter of movement. At the age of 30, she found herself in an abusive relationship with the father of her one-year-old daughter, Shalom. Fleeing the destructive situation and trying to figure out how to take care of her daughter as a single mother, Bracegirdle tried to pick up the pieces in Victoria, but her mental state only worsened until she was overwhelmed by depression and anger. On welfare and fearful of how her unstable state would affect her daughter, she moved back to her hometown of Perth, Ontario.

There she began to make progress in getting her life back together thanks to the help of her mother, two brothers, and a generally supportive community. Being back home and starting over from scratch was humbling for Bracegirdle and she soon realized that, as is the case with many working moms, especially single moms, she had been putting her own needs and well being on the backburner as caring for her daughter became an all-encompassing priority during the past year. As she began to emerge from the depression that had enveloped her and as she gained strength from the rest and relaxation Perth offered, she remembered the importance of movement to one's health and overall well being.

Before her daughter was born, Bracegirdle had been a professional belly dancer and entrepreneur with interests in health, activism and DJing. When she began to dance once again in Perth, she says the belly dancer in her "came back to life."  Soon after, the spirits of her other passions were uncovered as well and an idea began to form.

Bracegirdle believes strongly in the concept that energy, or chi, must be allowed to move freely through and around the body in order to maintain good health. While she acknowledges that a healthy lifestyle involves many different aspects, she says that starting to move and dance again gave her the energy and clarity that allowed her to start eating better as well as have a more focused mind, an uplifted mood and a hopeful attitude.


Forming a connection with DJ Rowan Sentesy, whom she describes as "the man of my dreams," gave her the final piece to building a career that would become a movement. Combining Sentesy's musical offerings with her love of movement and fitness, Bracegirdle developed a program called Bellyfit, a fusion of ethnic dance, music, aerobics, meditation, yoga and Pilates designed for women to celebrate their bodies and improve their physical, mental and emotional health. Bracegirdle realized that the movement that had done so much to benefit her own life could help countless other women who suffered from stress, illness and exhaustion. She enlisted the help of experts in fitness, dance and business who shared her vision and the Bellyfit program was born. Bellyfit classes are now taught in cities all across Canada making Bellyfit the fastest growing fusion fitness system for women in the world.

Bracegirdle cites the long history of women gathering together to move to the beat of a drum as one of the reasons why she designed Bellyfit for women only. She says that women must be 100% comfortable in a Bellyfit class in order to let go and "just be." With a knowing wink, she also insists that men are benefiting from Bellyfit as well, "in a round about sort of way."


When asked why she thinks women have been responding so well to the Bellyfit program, Bracegirdle says, "Women are amazing multitaskers. We have so many responsibilities and we are realizing that if we don't take care of ourselves, we will not be able to take care of our families, our jobs, our lives." By introducing a fun, motivating new system of exercise that incorporates the unique needs of women, Bellyfit is "a drop in the bucket of revolutionary ways people are waking up and taking action," Bracegirdle declares, "We are proud to be part of the solution, and honoured to serve."

Through Bellyfit, Alice Bracegirdle has achieved professional success and a healthy mind, body, and soul. She is enjoying her life with Sentesy, now her beloved husband (and Bellyfit CTO), and her active, independent daughter, Shalom. She hopes to continue introducing more and more women to joy and freedom of movement.

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