We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Annalise Yagya Jyoti. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Annalise below.

Annalise, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My mom has always been holistically minded and interested in health. This became even more important to her while she battled breast cancer. After beating cancer, she became even more aware of environmental toxins, xenoestrogens, and all of the things that can impact hormone health. I told her that I wanted to go on hormonal birth control when I was 16. I was in my first serious relationship and we were talking about having s*x. I had been taught that the responsible thing to do in this situation was to go on birth control. My mother cautioned strongly against it and it was the first time that I heard someone talk about hormonal birth control as potentially dangerous and negative. In my earlier s*x education and in the media, it had been shown as a wonder drug with minimal side effects and no long-term concerns. My mother knew that this was not the case.

Like many teenagers, I did not listen to my mother at the time. I pushed the get on the pill. She eventually agreed and set up a doctor’s appointment. My doctor was concerned because of the history of breast cancer in my family. She explained that hormonal birth control exponentially increases your risk of developing breast cancer, especially so if you start it under the age of 20. We agreed on short-term use – 6 months max and then I would re-assess. After 6 months, I decided to try out the copper IUD. After the worst 8 months of my menstruating life and an unplanned IUD pregnancy, I got that taken out. I tried two different hormonal IUDs after that which collectively got me to the age of 22. I had just graduated from college receiving a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. I was just starting my yoga teaching journey and I started to question yet again what this medication was doing to me and if it was necessary.

My mother’s early warning stayed in the back of my mind. I also appreciated that she let me make my own decisions and go through my own contraceptive journey. When I really started to look inwards and deepen my connection to my body, it was clear that hormonal birth control was not serving me. I knew deep in my womb that I needed to do something different. I also was not at all open to pregnancy. This led me down the rabbit hole of naturally preventing pregnancy. I spent years educating myself and sifting through the information available for something that would work. Frankly, it can be hard to find scientifically accurate information on fertility awareness methods. It was even harder at that time for me to find people who supported my decision. Nowadays, I feel like people are more commonly questioning the use of these medications and their side effects. I have been using the Justisse Method of Fertility Awareness (a sympto thermal method) to prevent pregnancy successfully for the last 4 years. I have been teaching it as a highly effective and empowering form of birth control for the last 2 years, acting as a guide an support system for those wanting to ditch hormonal birth control for good.

Annalise, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Annalise Yagya Jyoti and my work is to guide those with wombs back into a space of bodily connection and bodily autonomy. I believe that the womb space is a place of great power and intuition, and many of us spend some or all of our lives disconnected from this power. With simple practices and loving continued intention, I believe that we all can tap back into this power and take charge of our lives.

Currently, the majority of my work with clients is guiding them in the transition off of hormonal contraceptives and teaching them to prevent pregnancy in an embodied and empowered way. I am trained to teach the Justisse Method of Fertility awareness and use it to teach students, clients, and friends to use the language of their bodies to decipher when they are fertile and when they are not. There are actually only a maximum of 6 days in each menstrual cycle where you could have s*x and actually get pregnant and we have very successful methods of figuring out when those days are.

Sympto thermal method of Fertility Awareness relies on your recording and interpreting of your symptoms (such as cervical mucus and cervical positioning) and your basal body temperature (the thermal aspect). While I believe that all menstruating people are able to learn to do this, proper support and instruction really are key. There are many different methods that fall under the umbrella of fertility awareness and it is important to choose one that will work for you.

I provide 1 on 1 mentorship, group courses, online self-paced courses, ebooks, charting circles, and live donation-based offerings. I feel passionate about making this education accessible to many people and providing loving support throughout. My job is to walk alongside you as you journey deeper into your truth, intuition, and power.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My decision to get off of hormonal birth control was one of the biggest pivots of my life. I had just graduated college and was lined up to start my career in endangered species conservation. When I chose to get my hormonal IUD out, I knew in my bones that it was the right move for me. What I did not anticipate was how much it would change my life. The detoxification process for getting these synthetic hormones out of my bloodstream was intense, emotional, and consciousness-expanding. It was in this process that I truly had to step up and learn to care for my body in new ways. It was not possible for me to go through this process and maintain my old lifestyle, habits, or career path. I focused on my healing and letting go. I developed my skillset of holistically healing, and I explored old traumas that my body was holding onto. I often felt lonely in this, which fueled me to be a support system for others. I started sharing what I was learning and experiencing in informal settings. I saw that my experience was allowing me to connect deeper with others. I saw that my own story reflected many of the desires and fears commonly held by other women and menstruating people. I started teaching and educating in any space or form that I could. I went back to school and studied to become a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner (HRHP). Although I didn’t know it at the time, getting off of hormonal birth control was one of the most important and empowering decisions of my life and put me on the career path that I am now.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than training and personal experience, I believe that the skills that have served me most in having my own business are marketing skills, being open to trial and error, and having a strong spiritual practice.

When I graduated from my HRHP program, there was no job lined up for me. I knew that this path was the path of the entrepreneur, which means I had to learn how to market myself and my work. I observed the entrepreneurs around me, the ones that I followed on social media, and began studying different marketing techniques. I have had to learn to market myself and my work. At times, it has felt constricting to try and describe all that I do and am capable of in a few words or sentences. But I have seen the power of being concise and how it attracts people to me who are in need of my services. Marketing myself and my business in the age of social media is something that is constantly changing and requires me to adapt, but I know that it is crucial to my financial success and to be able to serve people in need of my support.

In order to learn to market myself, this requires continuous trial and error. I would be lying if I said I loved it. I am a Virgo with a Capricorn moon and I love efficiency. Trial and Error often results in “failures” – unfilled courses, social media posts with no views or responses, products that need to be done over again, or trashed completely. I begrudgingly admit that this process is necessary and without it, I would get nothing done in my business. It also adds to the creativity and challenge of this work which keeps me engaged and striving for growth.

I don’t think I would be able to keep up with this work if it were not for my spiritual practice and beliefs. I have spent most of my life questioning purpose and existence. Although I don’t have any clear-cut answers, I know that it feels good to be of service. I know that it feels good to support someone going through something that I have been in. I know with deep clarity that the work that I do is important. I help people take control of their lives and heal on deep levels, which in turn allows me to do the same. My spiritual practice does change from time to time, but many of the staples were developed in the time frame that I was coming off of hormonal birth control. I work with teachings from yogic lineages, other eastern philosophies, and indigenous traditions. I meditate daily, move my body in some way that feels good, drink and connect to ceremonial cacao, spend time in nature, journal, and use many other tools to help me reconnect to the knowledge of my body. My spiritual practice fuels me to work hard and to break free from any of the expectations from society. It keeps me grounded, consistent, and inspired.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mysticfemininefertility.com/
• Instagram: @mystic_feminine_fertility
• Youtube: Mystic Feminine Fertility
• Other: Tik Tok: @mysticfemininefertility