Meet Chanana McGarry | Fertility Awareness and Holistic Sexual Health Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chanana McGarry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chanana, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
When I think about risk, I think about opportunities. The decision to take a risk is to leap into the next chapter of your life, shaping your destiny.

One of the biggest risks I took was when I was 23 and packed up my 1 year old daughter to fly across the world to meet my father’s side of the family in Botswana for the first time. It was a huge risk to go to Africa for 3 months with a new baby, having no idea if we would be accepted, or what the lifestyle was like, but I listened to my heart and felt it was worth the risk.

I have always been fascinated by ancient wisdom, and this passion helped me overcome my fears and take the leap. Fueled by my desire to learn about my roots, and learn all I could about African healing and indigenous knowledge, I bought two tickets to Botswana via Hong Kong!

I have the biggest, most beautiful family full of good hearted and loving people in my life now, thanks to that one decision to take a risk. Since then, my kids and I have traveled to Africa almost every year, spending a quarter of our year in my fatherland.

Things came full circle for me when I learned about our African genealogy. I have always been drawn to water – rivers, lakes, the ocean or rain… all of it. Through visiting Africa, I learned that this connection is actually in my DNA. My father was a Water Engineer for the government of Botswana before retirement. His mother was a healer and prophet who healed with water. Her side of the family were part of a sacred group of dancers who were chosen to go to the mountains to dance and pray for rain. At the top of our family tree is Modjadji – The Rain Queen.

The Mujaji dynasty is a branch of a royal Zimbabwean family with the gift of rain making. This matrilineal royal family from which I come, went on to settle in South Africa, and continued honoring the culture and traditions until recently.

When I look at the connection between rain and fertility, and the way that deep workings of water in my bloodline has blossomed into my life in magical ways, I am in awe. I love to reflect on how this manifests in my current life and career, working with women, who are ruled by the element water, and how I work with the juicy waters of the womb and healing the female body. It feels like a confirmation that I am living my purpose, and it all ties back to a single risk.

What should our readers know about your business?
What originally prompted me to start Womb Literacy was the realization that there is a huge need for better education about our wombs and sexual health.

When we take a bigger picture look at modern women’s healthcare, there are many places where we are just not fully educated and thus fall short. There are many common ailments such as period pain, PMS, irregular cycles and more that can actually be treated effectively by holistic, scientifically backed methods, which would allow women to avoid going through unnecessary procedures, or consuming unnecessary hormones and drugs. What’s important is for us to get to a place where we can understand our wombs, so that we can understand when serious intervention is needed, and when to use holistic methods that address the root cause of imbalance.

I discovered the fertility awareness method (FAM) out of an acute need for studied and effective birth control that aligned with my holistic values. Most people don’t realize, but the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified hormonal birth control as a class one carcinogen. This is the same level as other cancer causing toxins such as asbestos, lead and plutonium. The more I learned about FAM, the more I realized that charting my cycles for birth control was just the tip of the iceberg, and that it was about so much more than just avoiding pregnancy. The menstrual cycle has been dubbed “the 5th vital sign” so by using my FAM chart as a report card of my sexual health I can stay in the drivers seat of my reproductive health journey.

It’s like when you know nothing about cars, but your car starts making a squeaky sound – stressful right? The body is like that, if we are able to start to see and understand our own squeaky sounds, like period pain and irregular cycles or other gynecological concerns, then we are better equipped to become advocates for and make informed decisions about our own sexual health choices.

We can reference our FAM charts to better understand our hormonal balance, thyroid health, fertility, inflammation and see what areas could use extra support. This may look like using holistic or alternative remedies to treat symptoms at the root, or using the information to have informed discussions with our health care professionals. Our FAM charts become monthly barometers that allow us to take charge of our sexual health.

My 20 years of deep holistic living had given me tools to help naturally fix and repair any period or cycle issues that come up for me and my daughter. I learned more about proven and effective tools such as meditation, visualization and other ancient womb care practices from around the world and began applying them to my life and the lives of those around me. The results I saw were profound, and in conversations over the years, I realized that there is a deep misunderstanding of the female body and yearning to understand and reconnect.

I am excited to begin normalizing womb literacy because its so needed, now and for generations to come!

It has taken a lot of surrender to get to where I am today, and it has not always been easy. As a single, homeschooling mother, I simply did not have time to get clarity on my purpose and build my business in those early years. I was a very hands on mom, breastfeeding and raising TV and electronics free kids, so I did not have any spare energy leftover to focus my business. Now that my eldest is in college and my youngest is 11, I am able to balance responsibilities, with bringing Womb Literacy to the world!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely take them to the Downtown phoenix Farmers Market on Saturday morning to meet some of my favorite farmers and vendors and get our produce for the week. A mini trip up to Oak Creek Canyon for some off grid camping and swimming in pristine waters and collecting some fresh spring water in Sedona. I would take them to the Salt River to tube or swim, and to some of my favorite valley hiking spots like Fat Man’s Pass at South Mountain for healing energy and views or Camelback’s Echo Canyon Trail for a great workout.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am grateful for the support of my amazing family and friends who cheer me on, remind me of my divinity and are some of my biggest fans! My mother for busting her butt to raise me on her own, and who taught me in the most profound of ways to finish what I start. I am grateful to Sarah Bly of The Well School of Body Literacy for taking a chance on me and believing in me and my potential. I am a lifelong learner, so I am ever thankful to more humans than I can mention who are so graciously sharing their wisdom with the world. There are too many to list here, but two of my favorite books are The Uterine Health Companion by Eve Agee, and Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup.

Website: https://www.wombliteracy.com

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