Energy Matters Acupuncture & Qigong

Energy Matters Acupuncture & Qigong Energy Matters Acupuncture and Qigong is here to help you live a longer, stronger and healthier life!

Energy Matters Acupuncture and Qigong helps people of the Bay Area live longer, healthier and stronger lives through personalized wellness and healing services using traditional Chinese medicine. Our skillful practitioners and accomplished teachers bring deep experience and care to the development and maintenance of our clients’ vitality and good health in mind, body, and spirit. We offer an array

of services:
-Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs
-Orthopedic Acupuncture
-Pediatric Acupuncture
-Acupuncture for Beauty-
Qigong Classes
-21 Days to Better Health Program
-Health and Well-being Lectures

September may be here, but in the Bay Area, summer comes and goes. Hot, dry days often stretch well into October—and som...
09/03/2026

September may be here, but in the Bay Area, summer comes and goes. Hot, dry days often stretch well into October—and sometimes beyond.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this time of year is known as **Late Summer**, a fifth season between summer and fall. As the weather stays warm, dry, and sometimes smoky, your skin may need a little seasonal adjustment too.

Think **hydration without heaviness**. Mists and lightweight serums can help replenish skin affected by dry heat, air conditioning, travel, and poor air quality without piling on rich moisturizers—especially if your skin is sensitive or breakout-prone.

A few of our favorite Late Summer options:

🌹 **Organic Rose Hydrosol**
A simple, refreshing mist to use throughout the day. Keep it in the fridge for an extra-cooling spritz—and yes, it’s lovely during hot flashes too.

**Everlasting Glow Balancing Mist**
Chamomile, calendula, lavender, neroli, and helichrysum help soothe and refresh sensitive or reactive skin.

**Ying Herbals Radiance Serum with Hyaluronic Acid**
A lightweight blend of hyaluronic acid and Chinese herbs that hydrates and smooths without the weight of a cream.

**Jade & Ginseng Hydrating Mist**
An easy purse, desk, or travel-bag option for refreshing skin throughout the day.

And don’t forget sun protection. Even as fall approaches, Bay Area UV exposure doesn’t disappear with the calendar. Hats, shade, and sunscreen are still part of the routine.

Your skincare ritual can be more than maintenance—it can also be a small moment to cool down, slow down, and take care of yourself during these long Late Summer days.

Have questions about what your skin needs right now? Send us a message or stop by Energy Matters and we’ll help you find the right fit.

RECIPE: Cool Broccoli Salad with Tahini-Miso DressingFinger-licking tahini-miso dressing from the 21 Days to Better Heal...
07/28/2026

RECIPE: Cool Broccoli Salad with Tahini-Miso Dressing

Finger-licking tahini-miso dressing from the 21 Days to Better Health recipe guide is great over any veg, but cooked and cooled broccoli offers a satisfying crunch, enhanced with a seed topping.

2-4 servings

-4 cups blanched broccoli (about one large head), or frozen broccoli thawed and dried
-¼ cup tahini-miso dressing or to taste
-Toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds to top

Combine broccoli and dressing and top with seeds. Eat immediately. If making ahead, add the seeds right before serving.

PS The 21 Days to Health Program offers tons of support for improving your digestion and developing a whole new relationship with vegetables - plus a blueprint for incorporating whole foods into your daily diet.

Summer produce is here, but so are headlines about cyclospora and other foodborne illnesses. Not exactly what you want t...
07/26/2026

Summer produce is here, but so are headlines about cyclospora and other foodborne illnesses. Not exactly what you want to think about while eating a beautiful salad on a warm evening.

So what’s a veggie lover to do?

One simple option is to eat more cooked vegetables.

Heat can reduce many foodborne pathogens, and cooked vegetables may also be easier to digest. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, cooked foods are often recommended for people dealing with bloating, gas, reflux, diarrhea, or general digestive discomfort.

We see this often in the clinic: someone eats plenty of salads, kale smoothies, and raw carrots but still feels lousy. Replacing some raw vegetables with cooked ones can make a noticeable difference.

Cooking helps break down tough plant fibers, so your digestive system has less work to do. And no, that does not mean eating hot soup during a heat wave.

Try these easy options:

🥦 Cooked veggie salads
Steam, blanch, roast, or air-fry vegetables, then chill them and add your favorite dressing. Broccoli, carrots, squash, green beans, okra, and beets all work well.

🥬 Cooked veggie smoothies
Swap raw spinach or kale for cooked greens. Cooked squash, chard, and other mild vegetables blend easily into smoothies.

❄️ Frozen vegetables
They are affordable, convenient, and easy to keep on hand. To avoid sogginess, heat them in an air fryer or dry pan instead of the microwave, or pat them dry after thawing.

You do not have to give up salads or raw vegetables completely. Start by swapping out one raw serving each day and notice how your digestion feels.

Sometimes, a little cooking can make vegetables much easier to enjoy.

Your digestion involves much more than your stomach.That “gut feeling” you experience has biological roots in the gut-br...
07/24/2026

Your digestion involves much more than your stomach.

That “gut feeling” you experience has biological roots in the gut-brain axis, the communication highway connecting your brain and digestive system. One of its key players is the vagus nerve, which helps regulate digestion, heart rate, immune response, and the shift between fight or flight and rest and digest.

When stress keeps us stuck in fight-or-flight mode, the body redirects energy away from functions like digestion. Stress is also cumulative. A difficult phone call, traffic, deadlines, and everyday worries can pile up, even when no single stressor feels overwhelming.

The good news? The vagus nerve can be supported and strengthened through simple, naturally calming activities.

This weekend, choose one practice that feels good to you:

• Listen closely to calming music
• Hum, sing, chant, or gargle
• Make your exhale longer than your inhale
• Meditate for five minutes
• Try gentle walking, tai chi, Qigong, or restorative yoga
• Laugh or spend time with people you enjoy
• Visit the ocean, woods, or another calming place
• Place a cold washcloth or ice pack on your neck
• Try a relaxation or nervous-system app
• Get acupuncture

The next time you feel caught in a stress loop, try one of these activities before eating. Notice whether your body begins to settle, then bring that calmer energy to the table.

Small, consistent changes add up. Your practice does not need to be complicated. It just needs to work for you.

What helps you shift into rest-and-digest mode?

—Angela C**n, Staff Acupuncturist

This is Part 3 of Angela’s digestive health mini-series. Read Wood and Earth and The Mess of Stress to catch up.

Wellness doesn't have to be complicated. Most people overthink and over-complicate this path. And I get it. If you spend...
06/11/2026

Wellness doesn't have to be complicated. Most people overthink and over-complicate this path. And I get it. If you spend any time with Dr Google, or looking at self-care books, health and wellness looks really complicated and confusing.

After 3+ decades of being immersed in the world of natural health care, I can definitely say that the path to good health is Simple. Not Easy, but it is Simple.

What do I mean by this? As with any sport, or art form, or really any skill set, you can always learn more, do more, to expand your talents. But if you don't continue to lean on the fundamentals, you will not get the kind of results that come from always circling back to and refining the basics.

In the realm of health, these are your basics: moving enough and resting enough, eating nourishing food and staying hydrated, and cultivating heart connections.

Basics, by definition, can feel boring at times, or like you are not “doing enough.” Basics are not as compelling as the "shiny bright object" of the latest health fad or trend.

When you are in pain, or suffering or struggling with your health, we can fall away from the basics in the quest to find “the answer.” But if your foundation of basics is not strong, anything you layer on will not be as effective.

The basics will never fail you. They may not provide you with all the answers during your various health challenges, but they will always support you and help you find more ease along the path.

Wellness doesn't have to be complicated. Most people overthink and over-complicate this path. And I get it. If you spend...
05/28/2026

Wellness doesn't have to be complicated. Most people overthink and over-complicate this path. And I get it. If you spend any time with Dr Google, or looking at self-care books, health and wellness looks really complicated and confusing.

After 3+ decades of being immersed in the world of natural health care, I can definitely say that the path to good health is Simple. Not Easy, but it is Simple.

What do I mean by this? As with any sport, or art form, or really any skill set, you can always learn more, do more, to expand your talents. But if you don't continue to lean on the fundamentals, you will not get the kind of results that come from always circling back to and refining the basics.

In the realm of health, these are your basics: moving enough and resting enough, eating nourishing food and staying hydrated, and cultivating heart connections.
Basics, by definition, can feel boring at times, or like you are not “doing enough.” Basics are not as compelling as the "shiny bright object" of the latest health fad or trend.

When you are in pain, or suffering or struggling with your health, we can fall away from the basics in the quest to find “the answer.” But if your foundation of basics is not strong, anything you layer on will not be as effective.

The basics will never fail you. They may not provide you with all the answers during your various health challenges, but they will always support you and help you find more ease along the path.

Breathe. Move. Rest. Nourish. Connect.
Kirstin Lindquist, Owner

How are you doing? To say we are living in difficult times is both a truth and a gross understatement. Too much, too fas...
05/19/2026

How are you doing? To say we are living in difficult times is both a truth and a gross understatement. Too much, too fast. So much that is beyond our control.

When things get tough, I have taught myself to return to the basics as my best defense against overwhelm, inertia, and other unhelpful stress responses: Breath, Rest, Nourishment, Movement, and Connection.

And I always start my self-care review with the breath: it’s always available to me, it’s free, and it’s so easy that it’s often forgotten or discounted.

Here are three of my favorite “better living through breath work” techniques. Don’t discount them because they are simple. Remember - in the energy realm, little is big and simple is powerful.

1. One Breath Reset: lose your eyes and take a moment to shake/settle/relax your body as best you can. Take a soft, slow, unforced, and long inhale through your nose. Pause for just a moment, and then allow for a soft, slow, unforced, and long exhale through slightly parted lips. Pause for a moment. Slowly open your eyes and return to regular breathing. Repeat often throughout your day.

2. Box Breathing: The rhythm of the exercise is Inhale for a 4 count - Hold for a four count - Exhale for a four count - Hold for a four count. Repeat four times. The symmetry is like the four sides of a box. Click here for a cool video we created to follow for Box Breathing.

3. 4-7-8 Breathing: This follows a different pattern: Inhale to a count of 4, hold for a count of 7, slowly exhale for a count of 8. Repeat 7 times. Click here for a more detailed explanation of 4-7-8.

Pick one technique and practice it for 5 days. See how you feel. If you feel better, great. If not, try a different technique for the next 5 days. Not every breath technique works for everyone, but there is at least one breath technique that will help you navigate turbulent times.

Getting by, one breath at a time,
Kirstin Lindquist

Easier than pie, this fast whole food snack feels like a warm hug. You can substitute dairy butter with your favorite nu...
05/18/2026

Easier than pie, this fast whole food snack feels like a warm hug. You can substitute dairy butter with your favorite nut butter and add other spices like clove or cardamom. Bonus: apples benefit the lungs, a great choice for allergy sufferers.

BAKED APPLES
+1 apple per serving
+Butter
+Cinamon

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Core the apples making sure not to go all the way through and to leave the bottom on the apples.
3. Fill the hollowed out core with 1 tbsp of butter.
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Bake until tender, about 30-40 minutes or until apples are soft.

Lately I’ve been sitting with a lot of despair and helplessness about the state of the country and the world. When I fee...
05/15/2026

Lately I’ve been sitting with a lot of despair and helplessness about the state of the country and the world. When I feel ungrounded, I return to the 14 Mindfulness Trainings—the foundation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. They help me remember how I want to live: with ethics, compassion, and peace… no matter what’s happening around me.

They remind me that creating peace in the places we actually touch—our hearts, our homes, our relationships, our workplaces, our communities—matters. It’s real agency.

A line that’s been supporting me: in times of upheaval, we each have “our own special part”—whether that’s self-care, community care, learning, grieving, creating, organizing, donating, practicing, laughing, resting, or showing up with steadiness and love.

If you could use a grounding anchor right now, I’m sharing the link to the Trainings. I hope they offer you refuge, too.

May you experience peace and help grow it where you can.

— Prajna Choudhury, L.Ac.
Chinese Medicine Practitioner + Mindfulness Teacher

https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-14-mindfulness-trainings

A few years ago, one of my patients shared a technique they were using successfully to stop worrying from interrupting t...
05/15/2026

A few years ago, one of my patients shared a technique they were using successfully to stop worrying from interrupting their sleep. It’s a deceptively simple yet powerful practice that I have shared frequently with others and have used myself.

In the increasingly complex and stressful circumstances we are navigating, it can feel like easy or basic self-care techniques are not strong enough. But simple may be exactly what we need - now more than ever.

So I invite you to try this method of retraining your brain about when, where, and how to worry — and, by extension, when not to worry.

Will it be “enough”? Maybe, maybe not. But there is no harm in trying. You may be surprised by what shifts for you.

The Worry Journal

As my patient explained:

“I give myself permission to worry for 10-20 minutes per day by writing my worries in a journal. This technique is meant to help those of us who awaken in the night, for whatever reason, and then toss and turn for hours thinking about this and that. It's meant to train ourselves to confine our worrying to those 10-20 minutes in daylight only.”

This is a wonderful example of mind/body retraining. Worry is indeed a habit, and habits can be reshaped with practice and consistency.

A few fine-tuning points:

Literally handwriting in a journal, vs typing on a computer or your phone, is often more potent for mind/body recalibration. That said, if you never write by hand, typing into a Worry Journal document will work just fine. But I encourage you to try going “old school” with pen and paper.

The writing must happen during daylight hours. If you forget and it’s already dark, don’t journal. This is a great use of your phone: set a daily daytime reminder.

Set a timer while writing. Stopping when the timer goes off helps train your mind in the habit of containing and redirecting worry.

Like any habit, change can take some time. Commit to the Worry Journal for 21 days. You may see changes right away, or it may take a bit of time.

If you try this out, please let me know how it goes for you.

May you sleep soundly and peacefully,
Kirstin

Address

4341 Piedmont Avenue 2nd Fl
Oakland, CA
94611

Opening Hours

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Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+15105979923

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