So, what is a Fertility Awareness Educator?
In the fall of 2024 I started a two-year certification program with The Well School of Body Literacy. When I graduate at the end of 2026, I’ll be certified as a fertility awareness educator, and as a sexual and reproductive health educator. I know that most people have never heard of this type of work before, so here’s a brief explanation of what I’m learning and how I’ll start to share.
As a Fertility Awareness Educator, I will be certified to teach a symptothermal Fertility Awareness–based method for contraception, for supporting conception, and for supporting self-knowledge. This simple practice of checking biomarkers of fertility daily can provide significant health insights. Less tangibly, it can be a beautiful and ongoing way to get to know oneself and feel connected to the web of life—as our hormonal “seasons” echo the rhythms and transitions of the natural world.
I wish that Fertility Awareness were taught in schools and community centers, not because it’s the right birth control for everyone. It isn’t. But because without knowledge of our anatomy, our hormonal cycles, and our physiology more broadly, we often don’t have space to make informed medical and reproductive health-related decisions. Not to mention that we sometimes suffer from more cycle-related pain than we need to because we don’t have the tools to know how to go with the flow.
I will be teaching my first Fertility Awareness and Cycle Mapping class series in the spring of 2026 under supervision as part of my coursework for The Well. This class series might be for you if you:
feel that you didn’t receive the comprehensive sex education you would have liked (and deserved)
are curious about your cycle (maybe you’re experiencing PMDD, breakthrough bleeding, short cycles, symptoms of PCOS, etc.)
are weighing your birth control options
want support in learning how to prevent pregnancy by knowing your own body
are trying to conceive or are considering trying to conceive—you can’t start learning this method too early
are in or approaching perimenopause and want deeper knowledge of your cycle + tools to support this time of transition
I do want to emphasize that a symptothermal method of cycle mapping is not the rhythm method, and it’s also not the predictive information that you get from plugging your basal body temperature into an app. Because these don’t incorporate your body’s signals in real time, they can get you into trouble if you have irregular cycles, or if you ovulate earlier than usual.
Being mentored in my own FA practice has given me extra appreciation for the value of learning from an educator. With all gratitude to writers like Toni Weschler, Katie Singer, and Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, this knowledge, in my opinion, is best passed directly from one uterus-holder to another. By all means, read the books!! But take a class too—it makes contextualizing and integrating the practice so much clearer and easier.
And beyond next spring? In addition to FA classes, I will be offering circles and consultations to support hormonal and reproductive health from menarche to menopause. Stay tuned to see how my offerings develop as I gain experience and education. May they be of benefit to our community and to our collective wellness.