Medicine Woman/MS/Traditional Chinese Medicine and Holistic Health
Ayanna Mashama is a wife and the mother of six children; five boys, a girl and a grandmother of five. She currently has a Masters of Science degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine with an emphasis on Wholistic Health Sciences and completed undergraduate study in Liberal Arts and Education from San Francisco State University. She has been a natural health practitioner, herbalist, medicine woman, acupressure and aromatherapist, community activist, educator and consultant for over thirty years, specializing in traditional medicine, integrative health, nutrition and natural family care. She has been creating and providing natural care products and herbal remedies for women, their children, families and communities for over 25 years. As part of her work she has facilitated healing circles and family healing ceremonies since 1984.
Ayanna has actively been an educator, organic gardener, natural health practitioner, community activist, writer and performance poet all of her adult life. As the owner of Ayanna's Magic Garden, Ayanna has presented, lectured and educated on a variety of subjects including natural health care remedies, stress and pain management; aromatherapy; acupressure massage; natural and nontoxic self care; creating your own natural body and bath care products; natural and nontoxic family care, nutritional healing and natural family care; healthy activism; spirituality and activism; spirituality and sexuality; and women's spirituality. Ayanna's Magic Garden was also the facilitator of a community voice mail network that served asan innovative resource connection and events calendar from 1994 until 2007. She has been featured on KPFA FM, The Bay View, Wanda's Blog Talk Radio, KPOO FM, The Post Newspaper, By Any Means Necessary, Living In Black Radio, The Black Report and other local and national media.
Ayanna has been a producer at KPFA listener supported radio (94.1 fm) since 1984. She has produced and hosted "Straight From the Source", "A Woman's Well Being Day"; "International Women's Day"; "Seven Generations" and guest hosted and produced as part of "On About Health" and "Herbal Highway".
Her philosophical approach to health, healing and wellness is based on the belief that our individual and collective well beings are intrinsically connected through the spiritual process and how we live our daily lives as human beings. Ayanna believes that true optimal health and healing occurs through a direct spiritual relationship, a connection between the natural world, self, family and community and the practices that create those interrelationships in our lives. She teaches that natural self care practices are the base of a healthy lifestyle that includes full hydration; taking in fresh, natural organic foods and beverages, fasting, exercising regularly, nontoxic body and homecare, and spending regular time in nature. She includes in this philosophy the need for community activism and peace work, as well as an active respect for the environment and the world community of human beings, animals and plants of this wonderful planet we are part of.
As a founding member of the Oakland Chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Mama Ayanna believes that there is no separating the health of our community from the conditions in our community; that our physical, mental, spiritual, environmental and financial well being are all intersected and can be healthfully integrated; that a healthy community is a more proactive and powerful community.