Health is personal. Find the practitioner who fits your needs.
Shantini Iyngkaran
Naturopath | Herbalist | Yoga teacher | Personal Trainer
Tash Goldfinch
Naturopath
Christina Tolstrup
Registered Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner
Carly Woods
Instant Calm Breath Coach (Buteyko) | Life Coach | Naturopath | Practice Director
Kiah McGowan
Registered Acupuncturist | Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner
Effie Psarakis
Registered Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner
Our team
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Tash Goldfinch
NATUROPATH
Meet Tash.
Tash is a Melbourne-based Naturopath with a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy. She is passionate about providing inclusive, holistic health care. She has a special interest in helping you to restore a healthy menstrual cycle, supporting sexual health, achieving nourishing sleep, maintaining a healthy mood, and enhancing overall wellness and vitality.
Naturally drawn to Naturopathy, Tash believes in the power of herbal and nutritional medicines and lifestyle changes to empower you to achieve sustainable improved health. She understands that true wellness encompasses not just the physical body but also emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of well-being.
Tash has a particular passion for menstrual health, especially for teens and young adults, and enjoys helping you with your:
Menstrual Cycle: Issues such as heavy, irregular, or painful periods, PMS, and PMDD
Sexual Health: Issues such as recurring thrush and vaginal microbiome imbalances
Hormonal Health: Issues such as sleep and mood disturbances, and hormonal imbalances
General Wellness & Vitality
Education is at the core of Tash’s practice. She believes that everyone’s body has an innate power to heal itself when given the right guidance, nourishment, and care. Tash is dedicated to helping you understand your body, offering comprehensive explanations and education to help you feel more confident and capable of achieving and maintaining good health. She meets you where you’re at, listens to what you need, and offers gentle and realistic pathways to identifying and achieving your health goals, ensuring that changes are manageable and long-lasting.
Book a free 10-minute consult to get started working with Tash
Navigate to “Naturopath – The Melbourne Apothecary”
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Carly Woods
BREATH COACH | LIFE COACH | NATUROPATH | PRACTICE DIRECTOR
Book a free 10-minute introduction consult with Carly Woods → (under ‘Coaching’)
Your breath is the foundation of your health, and breath coaching is the key to unlocking calm, clarity, and healing. Carly Woods is passionate about teaching simple yet powerful techniques to help regulate your nervous system, optimise your breathing, and enhance your overall well-being. Drawing from Buteyko breath therapy, naturopathic lifestyle support, and life coaching (using the Brooke Castillo framework), Carly’s approach is practical, engaging, and deeply transformative.
She believes health should be fun, accessible, and empowering, offering you straightforward tools to:
Reduce stress and anxiety
Improve respiratory health
Enhance sleep quality
Support digestion and overall nervous system balance
Carly runs Deep Rest Buteyko workshops, retreats, talks, and trainings for clients across Australia and online. You can also book a 1:1 breath coaching session with Carly to experience the impact of breathwork first-hand.
Free Resources to Get Started
Begin your journey before your first session with Carly’s Free Buteyko Breathing Starter Pack, a simple yet powerful toolkit designed to help you:
Rewire your respiratory patterns
Soothe your nervous system
Rest easier with deeper sleep
Ease digestion with better breath control
Breath First, Life Coaching Next
To set you up for success, we recommend that you complete 3 breath coaching sessions before booking in for life coaching. This ensures you’ve established a strong foundation for nervous system regulation - the essential groundwork for deeper transformation.
From here, Carly’s life coaching will help you move beyond obstacles and create a life you choose on purpose, not by default. This is for you if you want to:
Work on your self-image and confidence
Understand and shift your default patterns (emotional, mental, and behavioural)
Break through cycles of stress, anxiety, or uncertainty
Navigate life’s challenges with more confidence and ease
This work is exceptional and life-changing, designed to help you step fully into the life you want.
About Carly
Carly is a qualified naturopath, Buteyko breathing practitioner (trained by Patrick McKeown), and certified life coach in the Brooke Castillo Life Coach School lineage. She is also co-owner and co-director of both Fertile Ground Health Group (a leading natural fertility practice) and The Melbourne Apothecary (thriving natural medicine general health clinic), alongside her partner Charmaine Dennis.
Book Your Free 10-Minute Intro Call with Carly Woods
Find out how breath coaching can support you → (under ‘Coaching’)
Free Additional Resources
Blog: What is Buteyko?
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Shantini Iyngkaran
NATUROPATH | YOGA TEACHER | PERSONAL TRAINER
Shantini Iyngkaran is a Naturopath whose practice focuses on maternal care including pre and postpartum experiences. She believes the vitality of a mother is the result of unconditional support, attuning the mother to her body and replenishing all her cups, emotionally, physically, and relationally.
She also has a special interest in gut and immune health. As someone who has struggled with her own health challenges in these areas, she approaches this with lived experience and compassion.
Shantini values time and presence in her consults as she learns about the individuals physical, spiritual, emotional, and home health. She discerns a variety of modalities, techniques, herbal, and nutritional knowledge to identify and support health needs.
Shantini brings insights to her work from her multifaceted career as a solicitor, entrepreneur, personal trainer and yoga teacher. Her multi-passionate approach to her career and life, allows her to provide a holistic and tailored naturopathic practice.
When she isn’t working at the Melbourne Apothecary, you will either find Shantini walking in nature, with her beloved pooch, Sir Waffles, creating in the kitchen, serving her local community, enjoying a matinee at the cinemas or relishing the company of her friends. She is a connoisseur of hugs, so if you feel like a warm embrace, book in with her.
As someone who deeply values connection and community, Shantini is currently offering free Naturopathic 10-minute consults to help to get you started towards better health. These sessions are a chance for you to make sure the therapeutic relationship is a great fit and get clarity about what you want to achieve on your health journey.
Book a free 10-minute consult to get started working with Shantini
Navigate to “Naturopath – The Melbourne Apothecary”
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Kiah McGowan
REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST | CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONER
Kiah is a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner who completed studies at University of Technology, Sydney, as well as at the Chengdu University of TCM in China. In their 4 years of practice, Kiah has developed a deep understanding and respect for holistic health, and treating people as whole beings rather than just their symptoms. Their goal is to cultivate a space where you feel valued, heard, and supported in your journey toward balance.
Kiah has a personal passion for mental health - initially finding Chinese Medicine in their teenage years as relief for anxiety and insomnia, they now find it incredibly fulfilling to help those struggling with stress, depression, anxiety and sleep issues. Kiah quickly began to discover their fascination with female reproductive health early in to their studies, and enjoys seeing people along their journey through all aspects of hormonal health: from regulating hormones and cycles, promoting optimal fertility and conception, assisting during pregnancy, supporting mothers through the postnatal phase and the transition to menopause. Kiah also provides Acu-facials: a signature combination of traditional Chinese facial tool massage and cosmetic acupuncture to enhance the skin’s natural radiance.
Outside of these special interests, Kiah works enthusiastically as a general health practitioner, being able to apply holistic problem-solving skills to all areas of health and the concerns that may arise with them. On a regular day, Kiah may see everything from shoulder pain, to anxiety, to gut issues, the period pain, to sinusitis. Kiah is committed to nurturing a sense of understanding and self-awareness within all their clients, so that they may recognise the ways their body speaks to them through their symptoms.
Kiah loves to balance the ancient intricacies of Chinese Medicine with their love for modern science and research, and enjoys practicing in an evidence-based manner. Kiah believes in empowering individuals on their path to health, both inside and outside the acupuncture room. They do this through creating highly structured treatment plans which highlight weekly at-home self care tasks, so that patients can take an active role in their healing journey.
Ready to get your journey started?
Navigate to “Acupuncture”
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Christina Tolstrup
REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST | CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONER
Christina is an experienced acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist committed to holistic, personalised care. She integrates acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, moxibustion, and ear seeds to support fertility, IVF, pregnancy, menopause, chronic conditions, and oncology care. She also collaborates with other healthcare providers to enhance your overall well-being.
Her journey into Chinese Medicine began when she sought acupuncture for postpartum exhaustion. Experiencing its profound benefits firsthand, she was inspired to pursue a career in this ancient healing system. Now, with over 13 years of clinical experience, she is passionate about helping others achieve better health naturally.
Christina supports a wide range of health concerns, including:
✔️ Fertility, IVF & hormonal balance
✔️ Menstrual health & menopause transition
✔️ Pain relief & chronic conditions
✔️ Stress, anxiety & sleep support
✔️ Digestive, immune & oncology care
As a working mother navigating perimenopause, she understands the demands of modern life and provides compassionate, effective treatments. Outside the clinic, she enjoys strength training, yoga, dragon boating, good coffee, and time with loved ones.
Navigate to “Acupuncture”
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Effie Psarakis
REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST | CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONER
Effie Psarakis is a highly qualified acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist specialising in reproductive health, fertility, IVF, pregnancy, and postpartum care. She is also passionate about supporting those managing chronic illness, pain, mental health, and emotional trauma.
Her journey into Chinese Medicine began in her mid-20s when she sought acupuncture for Bell’s Palsy. However, it was the transformative experience of acupuncture before giving birth that solidified her dedication to this healing practice.
Effie’s approach is warm, holistic, and deeply personalised. She creates a safe, supportive space where patients feel heard and empowered to address the root causes of their health concerns. Integrating acupuncture, herbal medicine, supplements, and lifestyle guidance, she tailors each treatment to support long-term well-being and balance.
Whether guiding individuals through fertility challenges, women’s health concerns, or chronic conditions, Effie is committed to providing compassionate, effective care.
Navigate to “Acupuncture”