MacManaway is a dowser and holistic therapist. He trained first in dowsingand healing therapies with his parents, holistic pioneers Bruce and Patricia MacManaway, who established the Westbank Healing and Teacher Centre in Strathmiglo, Scotland in 1959. Following a degree in medicine from the University of Edinburgh and a training period in the National Health Service, he pursued his personal interest in holistic environmental studies by taking a two-year apprenticeship in western geomancy ans studying Feng Shui.