About Sarah Bly
I am a mother, a midwife, a Fertility Awareness Educator and a Holistic Women's Health Counselor. I have been working with women's health in various capacities for over 10 years. I have been charting my own cycle for over 20 years. My most recent project is the FAE teacher training program, in which I am furthering the work of Fertility Awareness by educating the educators! I am deeply moved by this project. I have also just begun to work with a group of health practitioners and fertility specialists here in Ashland, Oregon. We will be providing an alternative and holistic option for women and couples working with infertility as well as those interested in optimizing their health during the preconception period. Stay tuned for more information on 'The Ashland Integrative Fertility Group'.
My story:
I began studying women's health at a very young age as life and its’ experiences offered me the opportunities to do so. I did hours and hours of self-study in nutrition and alternative medicine before choosing to follow the path of midwifery. I started going to births in 1998 and progressed through an apprenticeship, a long-term correspondence course, multiple conferences, tons of self-study, midwifery programs in 3 foreign countries and over 100 births. I am currently taking a break from attending births as I make being a mother my priority!
The emphasis of fertility awareness in my midwifery practice has come naturally to me. I was blessed to be introduced to Natural Family Planning as a teenager. I still take my temperature each morning with the very same digital thermometer my dear catholic friend gave to me at that time more than two decades ago!
In addition to FAM, over the years my "midwifery" has also encompassed teaching sacred sexuality courses, doing hospice care-giving and facilitating dances in my community (see offerings page!) I also work a great deal with nutrition and assist in leading cleansing programs at Esalen Institute each spring.
After years of self-study and practice using FAM as my birth control, I realized there were some missing pieces in my education. I then found a mentor to work with and in 2004 completed her training program to become certified as a Fertility Awareness Educator (FAE). I have been teaching FAM workshops and doing private consultations ever since.
I have practiced FAM in various degrees for over twenty years. For the last decade, it has been my only form of birth control and has been completely successful. In 2007 my husband and I chose to use FAM to consciously conceive our first child, who came in on the first try and was born in late June of 2008. I went on to practice FAM while nursing for the following 2 and 1/2 years.
FAM has been one of the greatest gifts life has given me and I am eternally grateful for it's offerings and for the chance to share this wisdom with others. I do not teach under the guidelines of any particular spiritual tradition and instead welcome anyone who would like to learn about Fertility Awareness... I truly respect the religious choices of others. I welcome you, whomever you are, to join me in this wonderful education, which I shape to encompass all people of all spiritual paths, without judgment or dogma.
I live just outside of Ashland, Oregon with my wonderful husband Paul, my amazing son Django and our great cat Fang. I enjoy dancing, hiking, camping, singing, cooking and loving. All things wild and free are my teachers.
I love to teach this information and am passionate about sharing it with as many women and couples as I can. THERE IS AN EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE to the pill!
I want to send out a blessing of gratitude to my two teachers on this path, Jeannine Parvati Baker and Ana Raphael, both of whom are no longer in-bodied and have crossed over into other realms. What a gift it was to learn from them and to carry on the torch of their beginnings. Thanks be.
