CYCLE CHARTING SERIES DETAILS
Don’t let the “Fertility” in “Fertility Awareness Method” fool you into missing out!
I have been charting my cycle as a method of pregnancy prevention since I took a class with Ashley Hartman Annis at the Indiana Herbal Center in July 2017. It was a birthday gift to myself after having just accepted that my body was not willing to continue for eight more years with my Paragard IUD. Folks, I was floored! This information was so accessible and so practical. Why in my 26 years as a womb bearer on this planet had I not heard it before? I knew then that I wanted to share this information with my fellow womb bearers, that I would shout it from the rooftops for anyone who was willing to listen.
Of course recent events made sharing feel more urgent. Since that summer I have believed in this practice as a method of having direct bodily autonomy over my reproductive health because once known, this deep knowing and deep focus cannot be taken away.
As Ashley notes in her own writing over what Cycle Charting is all about, “Some people use this information to prevent pregnancy while some use it to achieve pregnancy. Some people use this information to better understand their hormones, their body, their moods & emotions, or support possible imbalances in the body. Some people use it to validate the changes in their mood, energy, relationships, etc. over the course of a cycle. Some people just want this information because it’s what’s happening in their very own body & it feels empowering to understand.”
Cycle Charting is about so much more than our reproductive health - it’s about body literacy. I wish it were taught to us from an early age. I wish all anatomy were deeply emphasized as core public education because we live in these bodies every single day for our entire lives - imagine a world full of intuitive healthcare! Where one could walk into the doctor’s office and say “This is what I think is wrong.” Where they can run their tests to confirm and get you the treatment you need in a matter of minutes without talking down to you or talking over you - but that’s another post altogether…
A dream of mine is to see Cycle Charting brought into sex education classes in communities all over, so we can unlearn the fear drilled into us surrounding sex and pregnancy and make the transition into wishing to achieve pregnancy more gentle for those who want it. So we can be empowered to know what is going on inside our bodies and our brains and make informed decisions over how to manage it instead of relying on paternalistic systems of medicine. It’s not fair that the pill and the IUD and so on et cetera are sold to us as the only risk mitigation when they come along with so many side effects. And yes, I will digress briefly from my rant to acknowledge that there are folks out there who need such treatments for more than just pregnancy prevention. I do not seek to diminish that reality.
I believe medicine has its place AND that we should have access to all the information available to us.
And so I was thrilled when Ashley gave an enthusiastic YES to my request that she bring this information back to Bloomington - and beyond! Since we will be on Zoom anyone may join in. We will not be limiting attendance capacity.
Classes will be held on Thursdays in September at 5pm CST/6pm EST for 90 minutes. The topic schedule is as follows:
9/1 - Reproductive Anatomy
9/8 - Hormones
9/15 - Basal Body Temperature
9/22 - Cervical Fluid
9/29 - Pregnancy Prevention Methods
The deadline to register for each class is one week before the session. So if you’re looking to take all five classes, your deadline to register is August 25th, 2022.
You may learn more and register at this link. Payment may be sent via Venmo to @ashley-hartman-annis. I have four full scholarships available as needed, with priority given to Black students and Students of Color - please reach out if this is for you!
And as always, you can email me with any more specific questions you need answered.
