About Me
Hi! My name is Zarine García and I am a certified Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner and Fertility Awareness Educator. I am fascinated by how our bodies work, and am passionate about breaking the stigma and taboo around menstruation, and spreading awareness around topics related to periods and menstrual health. I believe that everyone should be empowered with knowledge about their body and be able to make informed choices about their health. To that end, I enjoy teaching girls, women, and people with menstrual cycles about their bodies, hormones, and menstrual health, and supporting them on their unique journeys.
How did I get here?
It’s been a long, winding road. I first started working with adolescent girls in 2011, through different girls’ empowerment programs and initiatives. Even across wildly different geographies and contexts, I found that all the girls had the same questions and curiosity about their bodies. But, deep period stigma means there are very few who are willing to answer their questions openly and accurately. So, I started teaching basic workshops to teach them about the menstrual cycle, answer their questions, break the stigma, and debunk widespread myths. Eventually, I started Pad and Prejudice, a volunteer-run initiative that aims to normalize talking about periods and provide menstrual health education in schools and communities.
On a more personal level, I’ve also had my share of menstrual health struggles on and off over the years, including severe cramps, cysts, and irregular periods. In 2018, it got bad enough that I decided I needed to do something about it. But, I struggled to find a gynecologist who could tell me what was causing them, answer my many questions, or offer me real solutions. No one was offering me that kind of care I was looking for. They only offered me stronger pain killers, synthetic hormones, and surgery. I knew enough to know that these wouldn’t actually fix anything, and I wanted a real solution. So, I kept searching.
Tired of looking for new doctors, I dove into my own research. I read every book and blog I could get my hands on and listened to every podcast I could find related to menstrual health, hormones, and natural ways of healing. That’s when I discovered fertility awareness, and learned that the menstrual cycle is actually a vital sign. It’s a monthly report card on our health, and if we know how to listen, it can give us a lot of valuable information. Turns out, the very symptoms I was trying to get rid of were my body’s way of trying to communicate something. I just didn’t know how to listen.
Learning to chart my cycle and practicing fertility awareness taught me more than I ever imagined — about my body, my hormones, my health, and even myself. At every turn I thought, “Why wasn’t I taught this before? Why isn’t everyone taught this?” This information, and the practice of charting my cycle, gave me the tools I needed to more confidently take my health into my own hands and find solutions to the symptoms I struggle with. It also helped me feel more connected to myself, and understand my own natural rhythms and how things like diet, stress and environmental factors affect my cycle. And now, I enjoy helping others do the same.
Qualifications
- Certified Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner & Fertility Awareness Educator by Justisse College International
- Member of Association of Fertility Awareness Professionals
- B.Sc. in Biology and Biomedical Sciences
MenstruWell 