Vessel Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Vessel Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Results-driven and heart-led Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Clinic in Inner North Brisbane. We help you rediscover health and vitality.

Hello, I’m Kathryn
Foremost, I am a student of the body, the human experience, our natural world and the vast expanse of consciousness. A lifelong spark of existential curiosity has led me, like others, to explore self-cultivation through the practices and traditions of the East. Formal training began with Yoga and since taking the first steps on this path I have spent thousands of hours in traini

ng, practice and silent retreat. More recently, my personal practice has centred on Qigong and Meditation, two disciplines replete with the potential to support us in cultivating health and (re)connecting with nature. In 2019 I followed the call to be of service to others and dedicated myself to becoming a student and practitioner of Chinese Medicine. As I near the completion of my studies (BHSc Acupuncture), I reflect on how my experiences with varied modalities have engendered a deep reverence for the interconnectedness of all things. I see the health & healing of an individual as inextricably linked to the health & healing of all; human and non-human. The philosophical underpinning of connectedness that permeates traditional knowledge systems brings a unique perspective to the modern evidence-based training I have received. Within all that Chinese Medicine has to offer, I am particularly drawn to supporting people in the areas of psycho-emotional health, chronic pain, addiction, periods & perimenopause, and of course self-cultivation and health preservation. I aim to present my accumulated knowledge in a simple, clear way so that potent messages are accessible to everyone. I offer a form of energetic bodywork based on the principles of Acupuncture (but without the needles). I also offer workshops in small groups where we explore somatic embodiment through Qigong, acupressure, and guided meditation. I cannot wait to meet you, dear one.

This week, we honoured winter with a pause. With a week of deep rest.We rested, ate slow nourishing meals, sank bare fee...
29/08/2025

This week, we honoured winter with a pause. With a week of deep rest.

We rested, ate slow nourishing meals, sank bare feet into the sand, lay our bodies on the earth, and let the rhythm of the sun and birds guide us from sun up until sun down. We got warm when there was a chill, and we sweated when it was warm (hello Qld winter).

The biggest questions were which beach, where’s my book, what’s for lunch?

Throughout this entire winter, we listened to the invitation to dream and imagine, to hold back from rushing into action; rather, we waited to see which threads of thought wanted to grow with the turning of the season.

There are only a handful of winter days left… can you create a pocket of space to honour them? To rest more, consume less, move gently, and let your body know it is safe to be at ease before spring’s energy arrives?

If you’d like some support in softening into this state of rest and renewal, we’re back in clinic from Saturday. Book online—we’d love to see you.

We love it when someone walks in off the street, curious about how acupuncture can help them.If you’re part of our treas...
29/08/2025

We love it when someone walks in off the street, curious about how acupuncture can help them.

If you’re part of our treasured community and come for treatment regularly, you’ll know that hard-to-describe but very real sense you leave with: deep rest, calm, connection, strength, openness, brave tenderness. Sometimes you only notice it when it fades in the weeks after treatment, or when the familiar ache you usually expect simply isn’t there.

On our signage and in our communications, we list three main areas of focus: gut health, mental health, and hormonal health. But words can only go so far in capturing what actually happens within these walls.

Recently, someone asked us a question we’ve been reflecting on all week:

“How do you help me with my emotions if you aren’t a therapist?”

Firstly, we love therapy. We’ve done a lot of it ourselves. Huge fans.

But therapy is not always the whole answer. Most therapists we know would agree (though not all): therapy often forgets the body.

In therapy, you talk, reflect, understand, adapt, plan—almost all through the mind. And the thinking-mind can be a tricky thing.

Chinese Medicine sees things differently: the mind is not separate from the body. Our blood, governed by our Heart, and our spirit are inseparable - indivisible. This opens up the possibility for a depth of treatment that goes beyond what talking alone can achieve.

Acupuncture brings the body into the conversation.

✨ Sense-fullness alongside mindfulness.
✨ Heart-fullness alongside thought-fullness.

Whether you’re in therapy or not right now, there are always other ways to explore what it means to be human. That’s what we are here for.

Curious? Book online, and let’s begin.

Foot soaking – the ultimate wind-down ritual. 🛁✨At Vessel, we love helping our community discover bite-sized lifestyle p...
12/08/2025

Foot soaking – the ultimate wind-down ritual. 🛁✨

At Vessel, we love helping our community discover bite-sized lifestyle practices inspired by Chinese Medicine – simple things you can weave into your day that make a big difference in how you feel.

One of our favourites? A soothing before-bed foot soak. 🌙

This centuries-old ritual is cherished for its ability to:

• Invite deeper, more restful sleep
• Settle and quiet a busy mind
• Ease night-time heat
• Soften emotional edges

In the words of one of Chinese Medicine’s great ancient doctors, Sun Simiao:

“Warm feet calm the heart.”

Tonight, try filling a basin with comfortably hot water, adding a handful of fresh ginger slices or magnesium flakes, sinking your feet in, and taking a few slow, deep breaths.

Feel your whole body exhale.

And if you’d like to take it up a notch, next time you’re in the clinic, pick up one of our signature herbal foot soak blends – your wind-down, levelled-up.

At Vessel, we use acupuncture and Chinese medicine to help you return to a sense of vitality, ease, and connection - in ...
04/08/2025

At Vessel, we use acupuncture and Chinese medicine to help you return to a sense of vitality, ease, and connection - in your body, and in the world.

We cut through wellness chatter to offer something quieter, deeper: practical, personalised care rooted in both time-honoured wisdom and contemporary insight

And we do this, always, led by our values.

We’re guided not just by modern ethics, but by the moral foundations that have always been embedded in this medicine - where compassion, integrity, and care are the core of practice, not an afterthought.

Our values - connectivity, compassion, empowerment, devotion to excellence, and ease - are the pulse beneath everything we do.

If you seek values led, deep care, we are ready to welcome you to our community.

Book online for our Paddington Clinic, we cannot wait to meet you!

Human health cannot be separated from the health of the natural world.In the Daoist tradition—the foundation of Chinese ...
02/07/2025

Human health cannot be separated from the health of the natural world.

In the Daoist tradition—the foundation of Chinese Medicine—humans are not separate from nature.

We are not superior. We are not inferior. We are part of it.
Woven into the fabric of the living world, alongside rivers, mountains, wind, and rain.

Nature isn’t just a backdrop to our lives or a place we visit. It’s where we belong.
When the natural world thrives, so do we. When it suffers, we suffer.

Chinese Medicine views the body not as a machine, but as a living landscape.

Acupuncture channels are networks of flow. Point names often reflect this—springs, wells, streams, and seas. Qi and Blood move like water through this internal terrain, flowing within and beyond the physical structures of the body.

Chinese Herbal Medicine reflects the deep relationship between health and the natural world—plants, minerals, and fungi supporting life in all its forms.

This medicine carries a simple but profound truth:
Come back to nature. Come back to naturalness.
Remember, your body is nature.

When we care for the earth, we care for ourselves.
When we care for ourselves, we become more able to care for the earth.
This is regenerative reciprocity.

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in relationship—with your own body, your community, and the living world around you.

At Vessel, our heartfelt vision is a world where all beings remember their interdependence and live in harmony with nature

Curious how Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine can support this reconnection? Link in bio to book or learn more.

What does a warm lower back have to do with a good mood?In Chinese Medicine, the lower back is the energetic space of th...
01/07/2025

What does a warm lower back have to do with a good mood?

In Chinese Medicine, the lower back is the energetic space of the Kidneys and the source of our foundational energy, known as Kidney Yang (our inner fire).

Kidney Yang fuels more than just warmth in the body. It supports:

🔥 Vitality
🔥 Motivation
🔥 Resilience
🔥 A sense of groundedness and inner stability

When Kidney Yang is depleted, we often feel:
- Cold (especially in the low back, feet, hands)
- Low mood or flatness
- Fatigue
- A kind of emotional heaviness or lack of spark

Keeping the lower back warm—especially during times of stress, exhaustion, cold weather, or hormonal transitions—helps protect this vital energy.

It’s a simple, physical act of tending to your inner fire.

✨In Chinese Medicine, a warm lower back = better energy, circulation, digestion, and yes, often... better mood.

A gentle reminder that tending to small, simple acts of care matters.

Curious about how Chinese Medicine can support your energy, mood, and hormonal health? Let’s work together. Link in bio to book or learn more.

Chinese Medicine has recognised and treated conditions resembling endometriosis for centuries, understanding them throug...
11/06/2025

Chinese Medicine has recognised and treated conditions resembling endometriosis for centuries, understanding them through the lens of individual patterns and presentations.

In Chinese Medicine, strong pain is often attributed to stagnation or blockage. This is why we use acupuncture and herbs to move Qi & Blood.

Swipe through to explore how Chinese Medicine interprets endo-related pain—and the patterns we look for in clinic.

We utilise acupuncture and Chinese Medicine to alleviate pain and support hormonal and immune health to reduce endo symptoms, pain and flares.

We also help connect you with the right team to support you in obtaining a diagnosis or to provide integrative support.

Swipe through to explore how Chinese Medicine interprets endo-related pain—and the patterns we look for in the clinic.d herbs to move Qi & Blood.t at our Paddington clinic. We cannot wait to meet you!

At Vessel Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine in Paddington, we cherish supporting people throughout their pregnancy journeys...
10/06/2025

At Vessel Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine in Paddington, we cherish supporting people throughout their pregnancy journeys. Our clinic takes pride in providing quality care for pregnancy acupuncture in Brisbane.

HOW ACUPUNCTURE SUPPORTS THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF PREGNANCY:

- First Trimester: our aim is generally centred on reducing stress and anxiety, alleviating nausea and vomiting, regulating digestion, and promoting restorative sleep.

- Second & Third Trimester: our focus tends to shift to managing pain, promoting good digestion, and maintaining sleep.

- Labour Preparation: From 36 weeks, we support cervical readiness and late pregnancy complaints (pain, sleep, digestion, sinus, headaches). Focusing on specific acupuncture points during these treatments, we work intentionally toward achieving an optimal state for the upcoming birth.

OUR RECOMMENDED TREATMENT SCHEDULE DURING PREGNANCY:

- 1st trimester - weekly
- 2nd trimester - monthly or as needed
- Weekly from 36 weeks for pre-birth treatment and labour preparation
- When a medical induction is scheduled, a series of three treatments are performed in the 72 hours before the planned induction and around medical interventions like stretch and sweep.

We are here for you wherever you are in your pregnancy journey. Book online via our website for Acupuncture with an AHPRA-registered, degree-qualified Acupuncturist.

Winter is here ❄️In sunny Brisbane, the days are bright, and the air has a new crispness in the mornings and evenings.At...
04/06/2025

Winter is here ❄️

In sunny Brisbane, the days are bright, and the air has a new crispness in the mornings and evenings.

At Vessel, we always turn to the wisdom of Chinese Medicine to guide us. One of our favourite reminders from the Huang Di Nei Jing:

“In winter, all things retreat inward. It is a time when yin dominates yang. Go to bed early, rise with the sun. Keep your desires quiet, as if holding a happy secret.”

Winter calls us to slow down, rest, and return to ourselves. Here's how we honour the season:

✨ Rest — The most yin time of year invites us to go inward. Sleep early, wake with the sun. Choose quiet, reflective moments. This is the season of creativity—let your ideas simmer gently.

🍲 Nourish — Warm your body with slow-cooked meals, root veg, and broths. Come in from the cold to the comfort of something hearty simmering on the stove.

🌿 Move — Gentle walks, yin yoga, intuitive movement, self-massage. Let your body move in ways that feel nurturing. Or, get your blood flowing with dancing or strength training—especially in the daytime when yang is highest.

☀️ Seek — Find the sun. Step outside in the morning, take lunch breaks in the light, move your body under the midday rays. Sunlight lifts the spirit and supports your immunity.

🧣 Protect — Keep warm: neck, low back, feet. Soak your feet before bed. Small rituals go a long way.

Winter is a time for softness, stillness, and depth. Let it hold you.

Book an appointment for Acupuncture to support you in adjusting to the ebbs and flows of seasonal changes. We're always here for you.

Stress shows up differently for everyone.Where one person might get irritable, another spirals into overthinking, or fee...
30/05/2025

Stress shows up differently for everyone.

Where one person might get irritable, another spirals into overthinking, or feels frozen with fear.

In Chinese Medicine, your stress response tells us a lot about your internal balance. We don’t treat “stress” as one thing - we treat your experience of it.

That’s why acupuncture is so deeply individual. Your treatment will reflect your unique pattern, and likely change over time as you shift and grow.

One of the frameworks we love using to understand stress responses is the Five Elements.

Swipe through to see how each element expresses stress—and how acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can support you to regulate and come back to centre.

If you want to expand beyond the limitations imposed by stress and need a little support learning how to do it, we'd love to welcome you for care at our Paddington Acupuncture Clinic in Brisbane. You can book online by following the link in our profile.

Burnout doesn’t arrive with fanfare.It’s quiet. It’s patient.It creeps in slowly—through the cracks of your calendar, th...
22/05/2025

Burnout doesn’t arrive with fanfare.

It’s quiet. It’s patient.
It creeps in slowly—through the cracks of your calendar, the skipped meals, the late nights, the relentless drive to keep going.

Think back to last summer.
Were you running on empty?
Dragging yourself through the year's final weeks, counting down the days until you could collapse into rest?
Until you could finally breathe, finally stop, and finally remember who you are outside of your to-do list?

This moment—right now—is your invitation to do it differently.
To tend to your inner fire before it dims.

Winter is not a punishment.
It’s a portal.
The season is whispering: "slow down, come closer, soften".

The sun rises slowly and slips away early, urging you to follow suit—to draw the curtains, light a candle, and sink into stillness.

Can you take ten minutes to soak your feet in warm water before bed, letting the day melt from your bones?
In that quiet, do you notice the faint stirrings of something new—an idea, a longing, a spark?

The cold asks for nourishment.
Soups that steam, roots that ground, spices that warm.
Can you say no—gracefully, powerfully—to one more social obligation and instead say yes to a pot of something simmering on the stove, to your own quiet company?

The sun dips below the horizon at 5 pm. Can you let that be your cue to stop—to leave work when the light leaves the sky?

When the winter sun stretches its golden fingers toward you at midday, can you step outside and let it kiss your skin, wake your rhythm, and fortify your immune system?

Can you move your body in slow, intentional ways—walks, stretches, shaking out the stress—until you remember what it feels like to live in your body, not just think through it?

Winter is a season of repair.
A chance to restore what’s been worn thin.

A sacred pause before the next cycle begins.

Let it hold you. Let it heal you.
Now is the time to root down and rest, so you don’t burn out.

Dissociation and BloodIn Chinese Medicine, Blood (with a capital B) is more than the substance flowing through our veins...
17/05/2025

Dissociation and Blood

In Chinese Medicine, Blood (with a capital B) is more than the substance flowing through our veins.

Blood carries the Shen—our Spirit.

Shen is vast.
It is consciousness, vitality, perception—
even the quiet awareness behind our emotions.
It resides in the Heart.
And Blood, by its nature, flows toward the Heart.

When we encounter something too much for our system to hold,
our deep intelligence might gently choose to pause the experience—
to keep it from reaching the Heart.

This is protection.
This is blood stasis.
And we often see it in trauma.

Just as we move stagnant blood to ease physical pain after an injury,
we treat emotional trauma by enlivening the Blood—
bringing breath and life back into it—
so that, when the person is ready,
the emotion can travel home
to the Heart,
to be felt,
to be witnessed,
to be transformed.

Blood flowing through the Heart is life.
It is to be alive.

At Vessel Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, we witness the profound shifts that occur when Blood begins to flow toward the Heart again after trauma.

We see life being lived again. And goodness—it's special.

We work alongside your mental health care team to ensure you're fully supported in this homecoming process.

If you feel ready to return to life,
and you are already well supported,
we would be honoured to gently encourage life back into your Blood—
so you may move forward with flow and a nourished Heart.

Address

Shop 7, 2 Latrobe Terrace
Brisbane, QLD
4064

Opening Hours

Tuesday 12pm - 7pm
Thursday 12pm - 7pm
Friday 8am - 1pm
Saturday 8am - 1pm

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