Kiah McGowan TCM

Kiah McGowan TCM Acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine Practitioner in Northcote, Melbourne.

your chinese medicine starter pack 📚
27/08/2026

your chinese medicine starter pack 📚

26/08/2026

always such a win!
such simple TCM advice that can go a long way.

🍜 we recommend warmer food and drinks to help keep digestive qi supported and reduce the introduction of ‘cold’.
🧦 wearing socks and keeping the feet warm can reduce pathogenic cold from entering the channels in the feet and contributing to possible period pain.
🧘 slowing down socially, physically and mentally can be helpful if you feel lower in energy and capacity. you can begin to opt for lower energy hangs with friends, yoga or lighter gym sessions and more self reflection/ emotional release.

in the luteal phase, we are all about nourishment, warmth and movement of our qi and blood, so try the above tips to help support your body gently during this phase.

save for your next luteal phase ➕

25/08/2026

Cycle syncing doesn’t need to mean buying a different supplement for every phase of your cycle. Here’s how I’d actually approach cycle syncing as a Chinese Medicine Doctor ⬇️

Think small, supportive shifts > strict rules!

🩸 MENSTRUAL: nourishing + warming
Think iron-rich foods like lentils, leafy greens, eggs or meat, paired with vitamin-C-rich
foods. Soups, stews and cooked meals can also be an easy, nourishing choice.
🌱 FOLLICULAR: fresh + varied
Bring in plenty of colourful plants, fibre, whole grains and protein. Think berries, leafy
greens, legumes and fresh herbs.
☀ OVULATION: balanced + colourful
Keep it simple: protein + healthy fats + plenty of colourful whole foods.
🍂 LUTEAL: satisfying + grounding
If your appetite increases, build meals around complex carbs + protein + fats for sustainable energy and satiety. Think oats with yoghurt and nuts, sweet potato with salmon,
or rice bowls with tofu and avocado.

From a TCM perspective, these phases are traditionally viewed as having different qualities, which we can listen to and simply add in more wholesome food choices to support gently.

You don’t need to eat perfectly for each phase. Use it as a framework for tuning into what your body is asking for, not another set of rules (or, extra money to spend). 🤍

Save this for your next cycle.

feeling restless, flat or like you need a fresh start?swipe through to learn how chinese medicine embraces this change o...
24/08/2026

feeling restless, flat or like you need a fresh start?

swipe through to learn how chinese medicine embraces this change of season!

join us this sunday 30th for our yin & pins at wellness social club and really sink in to this season.

a little about me! do with it what you will 🤭
19/08/2026

a little about me! do with it what you will 🤭

18/08/2026

feeling sleepy all the time? maybe it’s qi deficiency!

in my first ep of my series: ‘TCM, but practical’, I cover what qi deficiency is and how you can help yourself if you relate to the following symptoms:

😴 low energy and chronic tiredness/ lethargy
🫁 short breath or a quiet, soft voice
🤒 catching colds often or spontaneous daytime sweating
💩 poor digestion, low appetite, or loose stools
👅 a pale, swollen tongue, sometimes with teeth marks on the edges

if this sounds like you, try the following self care tips:
1. your diet 🍠
sweet-natured (not sugar) and warm, cooked foods. things like: rice, sweet potato, oats, squash, pumpkin, barley, shiitake mushrooms, chicken, eggs, lean beef, tofu, cherries, grapes, figs, longan, dates.

2. TCM herbs to keep in your pantry 🫚
- sheng jiang (fresh ginger) to boost and balance your digestive an immune qi
- da zao (jujube dates) to tonify spleen and stomach qi.
3. your lifestyle 🧘‍♀️
- stop skipping meals, eat regular, nourishing, warm meals
- get enough sleep and prioritise rest
- avoid cold and raw foods/drinks
- practice gentle exercise like walking, qi gong, tai chi, restorative or yin yoga.

stay tuned for my next episode! I’m aiming to take the perfection and complexity away from online TCM discussions, and make adding its theories in to your self-care easy peasy. ✅

hot breakfast supremacy 🗣️a tcm favorite: to support your spleen qi first thing in the morning with warm nourishment!1. ...
07/08/2026

hot breakfast supremacy 🗣️
a tcm favorite: to support your spleen qi first thing in the morning with warm nourishment!

1. herby zucchini omelette with rye bread, kimchi & brazil nuts

2. spiced quinoa porridge with pb, blackberries and stewed spiced pears

3. kidney-nourishing herbal infused congee

4. the lemongrass congee from shortround!!

5. egg drop soup (with immune-nourishing herby broth base)

6. kasundi omelette, garlicky kale, protein bread, sauerkraut and brazil nuts

06/08/2026

(because why treat just one symptom, only for it to inevitably come back after nothing changes in your lifestyle, diet and habits?)

TCM understands the human body as complex and interconnected- a symptom rarely just pops up out of nowhere with no correlation. I’ve designed my treatments to help patients understand their body while we heal it, so that they eventually can take control of their health and feel confident if things flare up again.

my patients could probably finish these sentences for me 🤭(the coating on your tongue tells me about your body’s functio...
04/08/2026

my patients could probably finish these sentences for me 🤭

(the coating on your tongue tells me about your body’s functioning, so remember not to scrape it/brush it on the day of our appointment.)

(I use functional parameters to analyse your blood tests more deeply + understand your health so that you can not only fall within an optimal range, but also feel good too!)

(your p**p, its formation and accompanying symptoms tell me a lot about your health, diet and lifestyle.)

(I don’t work with just weight loss, because it’s not that simple- it’s a multifactorial goal that requires deep attention.)

(this isn’t about shaming you- this is about nourishment and support of a body that needs food. breakfast is key for your nervous system, hormones, blood glucose and so much more!)

(as TCM docs, we can feel a lot in your pulse, sometimes we can even tell if you are pregnant before your test strip does! mostly though, we keep this to ourselves.)

(your nervous system needs to wind down to switch from ‘fight or flight’ to ‘rest and digest’, and it needs to feel safe enough to do so)

30/07/2026

When did sleep hygiene get so complex!?

Instead of expensive or excessive things like:
❌ Mouth tape
❌ 14 supplements
❌ Blue-light glasses
❌ 10-step evening routines

Start with the simple stuff you already have available to you:
✓ Getting morning sunlight within 30-60mins of waking
✓ Eating regular meals throughout the day; dinner at least 2-3 hours before bed 
✓ Stop checking emails and working late/ right before bed
✓ No screens 1+ hours before bed
✓ Keep a consistent sleep and wake time
✓ Help your body associate bed with sleep (no TV, conversations, electronics, work materials etc in bed). Only go to your bed when you’re ready to sleep
✓ Regulate your nervous system before sleep (breathing, acupressure, journalling, meditation, gentle stretching)

Better sleep isn’t usually about finding another hack, or buying another ridiculous product, it’s about removing the things keeping your body alert and then sticking to it!’

Address

2A Elm Street
Northcote, VIC
3070

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 7pm
Tuesday 11am - 7pm
Friday 8am - 1pm
Saturday 8am - 1pm

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