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Health is personal. Find the practitioner who fits your needs.

Shantini Iyngkaran

Naturopath | Herbalist | Yoga teacher | Personal Trainer

Suzi Craig

Registered Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner

Tash Goldfinch

Naturopath

Christina Tolstrup

Registered Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner

Carly Woods

Breath Coach (Buteyko) | Life Coach | Naturopath | Practice Director

Megan Russell

Naturopath

Effie Psarakis

Registered Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner

Our team

1

Tash Goldfinch

NATUROPATH

Menstrual Health | Sleep | Mood | Sexual Wellness

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.

Get your free 10-minute consult and start working with Tash

Navigate to “Naturopath – The Melbourne Apothecary”

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2

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.

Get Your Free 10-Minute Consult to start working with Carly

Free Additional Resources

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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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4

Megan Russell

NATUROPATH

Hormones | Gut & Skin | Vaginal Microbiome | Mood & Mind

Megan is a degree-qualified naturopath who’s here for the real stuff - your hormones doing wild things, your gut feeling off, your skin flaring without warning, or your energy just not being what it used to be.

With a Bachelor of Health Science from Torrens University and a clinical lens grounded in both science and traditional naturopathic principles, Megan takes a thoughtful, whole-person approach to your care. She focuses on foundations - food, movement, rest, nature, connection - and how they fit your actual lifestyle.

Her consultations are spacious, curious, and collaborative. No quick fixes or one-size-fits-all plans - just down-to-earth, evidence-informed support tailored to you. You’ll leave feeling heard, equipped, and gently guided.

Outside the clinic, Megan’s likely beachside, café-hopping with a matcha in hand, or on the reformer at Pilates. She also keeps connected through her work with the NHAA events team, contributing to a vibrant naturopathic community.

Want explore what balance could look like - for you?

Get your free 10-minute consult to start working with Megan

Navigate to “Naturopath - The Melbourne Apothecary”

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5

Christina Tolstrup

REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST | CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONER

Fertility & IVF | Menstrual & Menopause Support | Chronic Conditions | Oncology Care | Digestion | Pain

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.

Book with Christina

Navigate to “Acupuncture”

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Effie Psarakis

REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST | CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONER

Reproductive health | Fertility & IVF | Pregnancy & Postpartum | Chronic Health | Mental & Emotional Wellbeing

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.

Book with Effie

Navigate to “Acupuncture”

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7

Suzi Craig, The Melbourne Apothecary

Suzi Craig

REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST | CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE PRACTITIONER

Reproductive health | Fertility & IVF | Pregnancy & Postpartum | Skin | Chronic Health | Mental & Emotional Wellbeing

Suzi Craig brings over 12 years of clinical expertise in Chinese Medicine and Women’s Health, offering an integrative, deeply considered approach to hormonal balance, reproductive health, and whole-body wellbeing. With extensive experience in supporting natural fertility and assisted reproductive journeys (including all stages of IVF and ART), Suzi also treats menstrual irregularities, painful periods, hormonal skin conditions, sleep disruption, mood changes, and premature ageing with equal care and attention.

At the heart of Suzi’s practice is her ability to meet each person where they are - merging the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine with modern insights in nutrition, supplementation, and evidence-based reproductive care. Treatment plans are always tailored, often incorporating acupuncture, herbal medicine, stress resilience strategies, and diet and lifestyle support. She regularly works in collaboration with fertility specialists, GPs, and other healthcare providers to ensure cohesive and outcome-driven care.

Suzi’s qualifications include a Master of Reproductive Medicine from UNSW, which has expanded her depth of understanding in areas such as PCOS, endometriosis, perimenopause, menopause, and current contraception options.

Beyond the clinical setting, Suzi brings lived experience to her work. Her own health journey - including breast cancer and the early onset of menopause - gives her rare insight into the emotional and physical complexity of navigating major health events. This perspective has strengthened her capacity to hold space for others with compassion, clarity, and clinical precision.

Now based in Melbourne and consulting from The Melbourne Apothecary, Suzi offers treatments that honour the unique rhythms of each body while drawing from thousands of years of Chinese Medicine wisdom - carefully integrated with the modern pace of life.

Book with Suzi

Navigate to “Acupuncture”

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Get started with your health, today.