Get in touch
Have a question? Please get in touch for more information about A Healing Intention by Arjuna, the services I offer & how I can best support you. 💗
Illawarra Region, Australia
0405 089 402
FAQ's
We offer a holistic approach to wellness through Reiki, Naturopathy, and Nutritional medicine. Whether you're seeking holistic healthcare, personalised nutrition guidance or deep energetic healing, our services are designed to support the whole person. Explore our FAQ below to learn more about how these therapies can work together to help you thrive—naturally.
What do you do as a Naturopath?
"Naturopathic medicine treats the whole person — not just a symptom. We seek to identify and remove the underlying causes of illness while supporting the body's inherent capacity to heal." (1)
As a Naturopath specialising in perimenopause and menopause, Arjuna combines functional testing, nutrition, herbal medicine, and lifestyle medicine to get to the root cause of your symptoms — not treat them in isolation. Initial consultations are 90 minutes because real investigation takes time.
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Naturopathy in Australia is practised under professional standards set by peak industry bodies. Arjuna is a proud member of ATMS (Australian Traditional Medicine Society), the country's largest natural medicine association.
How long will it take?
Research on hormonal health consistently shows that lifestyle and nutritional interventions require a minimum of 3 months to produce measurable, sustained change in key biomarkers. (5)
"Healing is not linear. Hormonal transitions like perimenopause unfold over years — and recovering balance takes consistent, strategic support rather than a single intervention." (6)
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However, most clients begin to notice meaningful changes within 6–12 weeks. For deeper hormonal rebalancing through perimenopause and beyond, Arjuna's Complete Signature Wellness Package is designed around a 6-month journey — because that's genuinely how long lasting change takes.​
Can I use my private health insurance?
Coverage currently varies between insurer and policy. ​As this space "continues to evolve in Australia. Patients should always check with their individual fund as inclusions vary significantly by policy." (2)
However, from 1st April 2026 naturopathy has been reinstated. Arjuna's provider number is pending — once issued, eligible clients may be able to claim naturopathy rebates depending on their fund and extras cover.
Will I have to cut out gluten, coffee and diary?
Not necessarily — and never without good reason. Arjuna is an 80/20 practitioner who understands that life is full, not perfect. The focus is always on building sustainable habits your future self will thank you for, not rigid rules that don't last.
That said, if we're working on reducing inflammation, supporting a heavy metal detox, or addressing a bacterial or parasitic imbalance, certain foods may need to be temporarily reduced. This is always time-limited, purposeful, and revisited as your body responds.
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Studies consistently show that flexible, personalised dietary approaches result in better long-term adherence and outcomes than strict elimination protocols — particularly for hormonal and gut health conditions. (11)
How does nutrition support perimenopause and menopause?
Arjuna uses functional testing alongside a detailed dietary assessment to identify exactly where nutrition can move the needle for you — from gut health and inflammation to hormone clearance and bone density support. No generic plans. Everything is built around your body, your results, and your life.
Women are not small men -according to Dr. Stacy Sims, PhD and I agree. Perimenopause and menopause require a fundamentally different nutritional approach, and what you have done before often no longer works in peri.
In her view, food is one of the most powerful external levers available to women during this transition — directly influencing inflammation, insulin sensitivity, muscle maintenance, and hormonal balance.
According to the findings of a randomised controlled trial published in Menopause (13), a plant-based dietary intervention reduced moderate-to-severe hot flashes by 84%, with nearly 60% of women becoming completely free of moderate-to-severe hot flashes within 12 weeks. Participants also reported improvements in mood, energy, sleep, and digestion — with no hormone medications used, demonstrating the significant impact nutrition has on the body.
As oestrogen declines, the body becomes more sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations, inflammatory foods, and nutritional deficiencies — which is why targeted nutritional support during this transition is so impactful.
What's the difference between a Naturopath vs a GP?
The biggest difference between a Naturopath and a GP, is that Naturopathy looks at the whole person and is concerned with finding the root cause and understanding why symptoms are occurring in the first place. A GP primarily focuses on diagnosing and managing disease. ​They're trained to prescribe medications, manage presenting symptoms and pain. Important for primary healthcare, medical testing, and urgent concerns.
A naturopath, takes much more of a holistic and preventative approach—taking the time to investigate and utilises nutrition, herbal medicine, and lifestyle changes to support the body (2).
“In my clinical experience, symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, anxiety, and hormonal imbalances are rarely random—they’re signals from the body that something deeper needs addressing,” says Arjuna Biswas, Adv. Dip. Clinical Naturopathy and Adv. Dip. Integrative Natural Health, A Healing Intention.
With around 1 in 2 Australians living with at least one chronic condition and also being the leading health burden in Australia (3), (often heavily influenced by diet and lifestyle). Naturopathy can work alongside conventional medicine, providing essential preventive natural health care solutions.
How much is it?
An Initial consultation with Arjuna is $295 (90 min), whilst Follow-up consultations are $225 for an hour.
It's worth noting that a thorough first session often reduces overall costs long term by identifying the right approach from the start.
If you are unsure whether this is the right next step, you are welcome to schedule a free Health Assessment call or book your Initial Consultation.
For those ready to commit to real transformation, the Complete Signature Wellness Package is the most supported way to work with Arjuna over 6 months — valued at $5,815+, available for $4,597 (saving you $1,218).
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The package includes everything you need for a full 6-month journey — with no hidden extras. It's the most cost-effective way to access Arjuna's comprehensive care.
What if I'm taking medication — can you still help me?
Yes — absolutely. Arjuna regularly works with clients who are taking bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), antidepressants, ADHD medication, antibiotics, and pain medication. She takes a full medication history at your initial consult and tailors all recommendations accordingly.
"Skilled naturopaths are trained to understand herb-drug and nutrient-drug interactions. Working alongside pharmaceutical treatment is not a barrier — it is simply part of clinical responsibility." (7)
Naturopathic care is not about replacing your medication — it's about supporting your body alongside it. Any changes to medication are always made in consultation with your prescribing doctor. (8)
Can you make me a meal plan?
Personalised meal planning is included as part of your nutrition consultation with Arjuna. Every plan is built around your health goals, test results, food preferences, and real-life schedule — not a template.
Want to go further between sessions? The Blissful Bites Monthly Membership is a beautiful add-on — a curated recipe ebook delivered to your inbox each month, filled with diverse, nourishing meals designed to fit a range of dietary needs including plant-based gluten and dairy-free options.
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Each monthly ebook is thoughtfully designed to make healthy eating genuinely enjoyable — delicious recipes that nourish without the overwhelm.
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What is Reiki and how does it work?
Every session is as individual as you are. You begin by sharing your current priority with Arjuna — this sets the intention for your healing. You then rest, fully clothed, on the Reiki table (cocooned in a blanket if you wish).
Arjuna uses a series of set hand placements across the body, selecting those most relevant to your needs on the day. You may notice sensations of warmth or coolness, flickers of light or colour — or simply a profound sense of stillness. Both are completely normal, and both are healing.
Depending on your session, Arjuna may also weave in aromatherapy with essential oils, sound healing with binaural beats, or crystal therapy — creating a deeply immersive, restorative experience.
"Each Reiki session is a deeply personal experience and often no two session are the same. Your experience depends on many factors, including where you are in your personal journey, what intention you call in and how quickly you can allow your body to step into a parasympathetic nervous state - where deep visceral healing occurs." — Arjuna Biswas, Usui Ryoho Reiki Master
Is naturopathic treatment safe, alongside conventional medicine?
Yes — and Arjuna is experienced working collaboratively alongside your GP or specialist. She will always ask about your current medications and adjust her recommendations accordingly to avoid any interactions.
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"Integrative medicine, when practised by trained clinicians, offers patients the best of both worlds — the evidence-based tools of conventional medicine combined with the whole-person focus of natural therapies." - Prof. Marc Cohen, RMIT University,
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According to a 2019 systematic review, integrative naturopathic care significantly improves the quality of life and reduces symptom burden when used alongside conventional treatment — and has a strong safety profile across thousands of patients. (4)
Do you offer payment plans?
Yes — payment plans are available on packages only. The Complete Signature Wellness Package can be paid monthly or across 4x instalments, making it easier to begin your healing journey without financial stress.
Payment plan details are discussed at the time of booking your package.
Reach out directly to Arjuna to arrange this before your first appointment.
Do you offer testing?
Functional tests are particularly valuable during perimenopause and menopause, where hormonal shifts are complex and often missed by standard testing. Arjuna uses results to build a genuinely personalised protocol for you. (9)
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Arjuna offers a full suite of functional testing, including: DUTCH Test (comprehensive hormone & cortisol mapping)
GI Map (gut microbiome & pathogen analysis)
Vaginal Microbiome testing
HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis)
Pathology review (interpretation of your existing GP blood tests)
"Functional testing goes beyond what standard pathology offers — it reveals how your body is actually performing, not just whether you fall within a broad normal range." (10)
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Do I need a specific health condition to benefit from a nutrition consultation?
"Food is information for your cells. Every meal is an opportunity to either create health or accelerate disease — and a skilled clinician can help you understand exactly what your body needs to thrive." (10)
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Research shows that personalised nutrition support leads to meaningful improvements in energy, mood, digestion, and hormonal symptoms — particularly when tailored to the individual rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. (12)
Whether you're managing a specific condition or simply want to feel more energised, clearer, and more at home in your body, Arjuna works with your lifestyle and goals — not against them. Digestion, hormones, mood, energy, skin - nutrition touches all of it.​​
Is Reiki right for me?
"Stress, trauma, and emotional overwhelm don't just live in the mind — they live in the tissues, the nervous system, the breath. Gentle somatic and energy-based approaches can reach places that talk therapy alone cannot." — Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, author of The Body Keeps the Score
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Reiki is gentle and generally suitable for most people. In Arjuna's experience, it tends to resonate most with those carrying stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm; physical tension that won't seem to shift; unprocessed grief or trauma held in the body; or a quiet longing for spiritual clarity and grounding.
Women are often disproportionately affected by the cumulative burden of stress, trauma and overwhelm — and Reiki offers a gentle, non-invasive space to begin releasing it. Arjuna brings her naturopathic training and trauma-informed lens to every session, meaning your experience is held with both clinical understanding and deep compassion.
Creating a space where you can deeply relax, receive, and allow your body to follow its innate wisdom.
What can I expect during my first Reiki session?
"Reiki is a technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is based on the idea that an unseen life force energy flows through us — and when that energy is low, we are more likely to feel stressed or unwell." (14)
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Reiki is a gentle, non-invasive energy healing technique that supports deep relaxation, emotional clarity, and inner balance. Arjuna is a certified Usui Ryoho Reiki Master (since 2018) and works with your body's innate capacity to heal — using either hands-on or hands-hovering techniques, depending on your preference.
Sessions may also incorporate crystals, binaural beats, and essential oils to deepen the experience. Reiki is not associated with any religion or religious practice — it is simply a form of conscious, intentional care.
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A 2019 study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine found that Reiki was significantly more effective than placebo in reducing anxiety, pain, and fatigue, and in improving mood and wellbeing across a range of patient groups. (15)
How is Reiki different to massage or meditation?
In Arjuna's sessions, Reiki is woven alongside crystals, binaural beats, and essential oils — creating a whole body healing experience.
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​"Unlike massage, which works primarily with the physical body, or meditation, which engages the mind, Reiki works at the level of the biofield — the energetic layer that underlies and influences both." — Dr. Ann Linda Baldwin, PhD, researcher in biofield science, University of Arizona
Indeed Reiki is something different from both — it is receptive, not effortful. You simply rest, fully clothed, while Arjuna works with the energy field around and within your body using light touch or no touch at all. As the IARP notes (16), while both Reiki and meditation can bring peace and relief, each goes about it in its own distinct way — and Reiki requires no active participation from you whatsoever.
Many clients find Reiki reaches places that massage cannot — emotional tension, energetic blockages, and the kind of exhaustion that lives deeper than the muscles. It also complements both massage and meditation beautifully.
Can Reiki help with anxiety and stress?
Yes — and meaningfully so. Reiki works directly with the nervous system, guiding the body from a state of stress activation into parasympathetic rest. Many clients describe leaving a session feeling lighter, calmer, and more grounded than they have in weeks.
A study of 118 cancer patients attending a day oncology and infusion unit found that Reiki sessions improved wellbeing, relaxation, pain relief, sleep quality, and reduced anxiety — leading the authors to conclude that offering Reiki therapy in hospitals can meet both the physical and emotional needs of patients. (17)
"Chronic stress dysregulates the nervous system in ways that accumulate over time. Practices that activate the parasympathetic response — rest, stillness, gentle touch — are not indulgences. They are medicine." (18)
Arjuna is trauma-informed practitioner and brings her naturopathic understanding of the nervous system to every Reiki session. For women carrying chronic stress and anxiety — often compounded by hormonal shifts — this combination of clinical knowledge and energetic care creates something genuinely different and deeply nourishing.
Can Reiki support my mental and emotional health?
As a trauma-informed practitioner, Arjuna holds space with both clinical understanding and deep compassion. Sessions are led by you — your comfort, your pace, your priority. Nothing is ever pushed or forced.
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As Reiki is a gentle yet powerful somatic therapy, it is often used alongside other talk therapy— as a complimentary companion.
Many clients find that Reiki creates a sense of emotional spaciousness that is difficult to access through words alone. Grief, anxiety, burnout, and unprocessed emotion held viscerally can begin to shift as the body remembers its own regulating rhythms and safety.
As Dr. Gabor Maté often discusses, it is "the attempt to escape from pain [that] is [often] what creates more pain."
Time and time again, research into energy-based therapies consistently shows improvements in emotional regulation, reduced feelings of depression and anxiety, and an increased sense of inner calm following regular sessions.
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A randomised controlled trial from Goldsmiths, University of London found that participants with high anxiety and depression who received Reiki showed progressive improvement in overall mood, significantly better at five-week follow-up, while no change was seen in the control group. (19)
References
1. Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, ND, Natural Medicine
2. Australian Traditional-Medicine Society
3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
4. Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2019
5. The Journal of the Menopause Society
6. Dr. Lara Briden, ND, author of Hormone Repair Manual
7. Dr. Kerry Bone, leading naturopathic clinician and researcher
8. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal
9. Precision Analytical (DUTCH) | Doctor's Data (GI Map)
10. Dr. Mark Hyman, MD, founder of Functional Medicine​​​
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11. Nature Medicine, 2024, Zoe Method Trial, King's College London
12. Nutrients, 2020 — personalised nutrition interventions
13. North American Menopause Society Journal
14. Mikao Usui, founder of Usui Ryoho Reiki
15. McManus DE, Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine, 2017
16. iarp.org — Reiki and Meditation: Similarities and Differences
17. Birocco et al., 2012, American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
18. Dr. Gabor Maté, MD, author of When the Body Says No
19.Bowden et al., 2011, Goldsmiths, University of London​​​​​