Hello, I am Grace
Hello, I am Grace Lillywhite and I’m the owner of Centred Mums; exciting and innovative pregnancy and postnatal wellbeing programmes in St Albans designed to support women throughout their motherhood journey. I have been working with this wonderful population of women for the last eight years and can’t imagine doing anything more enjoyable or rewarding.
My sole intention is to spread the word to all women that pregnancy and postnatal exercise, wellness and nutrition is VITAL and LIFE CHANGING. The way you treat your body during the pregnant and postnatal years is something that will stay with you for the rest of your life. I want to teach as many women as I can how to look after their pregnant and postnatal bodies and how to connect to their body to enable them to exercise safely, effectively and in a way that is sustainable for the rest of their lives.
I want to connect with you if you are pregnant or have EVER been pregnant (even if that was 20 years ago!) and are looking for advice and support in how best to stay active and connected to your body. If you have abdominal separation, pelvic floor issues (a little bit of wee is NOT normal!), are unsure how to manage pain when exercising then please get in touch as I believe I can help you!
With the knowledge I have accumulated from my continuous professional development, my years of experience working with postnatal women and my own body after having 2 children, I have developed a programme of teaching techniques to improve pelvic floor and abdominal function. I have successfully rehabilitated Diastasis Recti, pelvic floor dysfunction, Pelvic Girdle Pain, sciatica, sacroiliac joint problems, disc issues and general back pain in the pre and postnatal period. I have taught teacher training workshops for the Pilates Foundation and I was recently honoured to be asked to become part of the Faculty for The Center for Women’s Fitness.
I have attended the following pregnancy and postnatal workshops;
- Pre and Postnatal Pilates (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- The Center Method for Diastasis Recovery
- Diastasis Detective CPD with Claire Mockridge
- Pelvic Floor Health & Dysfunction (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- The Pelvic Floor with Judi DiFiore
- Practical Fascial Release methods for Movement Professionals
- Postnatal Recovery Massage (Sophie Messager & Teddy Brookes)
- Closing the Bones (Sophie Messager)
- Pre and Postnatal Pilates (The Thoughtful Body)
- Triyoga Pregnancy Teacher Training with Nadia Narain
- How to Teach Active Birth two day course with Janet Balaskas
- Pilates for Menopause (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- UK Hypopressives Level 1 course
- Optimal Nutrition & Lifestyle for Postnatal Healing & Recovery (Burrell Education)
- Future Fit Nutrition Advisor
- Independent Hypnobirthing training with MamaSerene
- Burrell Education Advanced CPD in Modern Pregnancy Functional Exercise & Birth Preparation Programming
- Birth Bliss Doula training with Kicki Hansard
- Pink Ribbon Program with Doreen Puglisi
- Buff Bones with Rebekah Rotstein
Hello, I am Joanna
Hello I am Joanna Michaelides, I’ve been practising Pilates for 10 years now and I fell in love with this form of exercise after seeing the overwhelming benefits – both physically and mentally. I trained with Polestar Pilates which is the highest standard and encourages a holistic approach and I started teaching for Centred Mums in 2019. I am passionate about the ethos of supporting women and believe this work is vital and hope to help bring this work to as many women as possible.
I have a specialist interest in Women’s Health and have completed the following trainings:
- Pregnancy and Postnatal Specialist (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- The Center Method for Diastasis Recovery
- Buff Bones with Rebekah Rotstein
- Rocking and Rolling to Release (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- The Center Method for Diastasis Recti (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- Pilates for Menopause (The Center for Women’s Fitness)
- Pink Ribbon Program with Doreen Puglisi
- Postnatal Pilates Workshop with Bethia Hope-Rollins – Polestar Pilates
- Breathing Workshop: Beyond the Diaphragmatic Dome with Galina Bell – Polestar Pilates
- Postural Assessment & Myofascial Balance with Richard Dickson – Polestar Pilates
