You might not expect a belly dancing teacher to also be a nurse, or for the two professions to complement each other, but Jill Shireen has proved that they do. Hailing from a family of doctors, Jill followed in her family's footsteps and became a full-time nurse working in community health. While focusing on women's reproductive health as part of earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2010, she started to belly dance for fun and then joined a professional company called Habeeba's Dance Studio, performing at weddings and corporate events across the GTA.
As her studies continued, Jill became fascinated with learning how women could give birth naturally, without an epidural. As Jill researched the academic literature on this topic, she discovered a fascinating connection. “The articles I was being given in my nursing classes recommended movements that were essentially belly dancing!”
With a solid professional base in healthcare and a fierce entrepreneurial spirit, Jill launched Happy Hips Prenatal Belly Dance in the spring of 2015. “I wanted to help empower women who chose to mitigate the pain of childbirth naturally," explains Jill. "Having a strong core and good body awareness is key.”
