Β Prajna Choudhury, L.Ac. β Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine & Mindfulness in Oakland
Β
There is a particular quality of care that emerges when a practitioner brings together rigorous clinical training, nearly two decades of practice, and a deep commitment to their own inner life. Prajna Choudhury, L.Ac. offers that rare combination at Energy Matters in Oakland β a practice shaped equally by the science of Chinese medicine and the wisdom of Zen Buddhist teaching.
Prajna holds a California acupuncture license and is a National Diplomate of Oriental Medicine β the highest credential in the field, encompassing both acupuncture and Chinese herbology. She has specialized certifications in fertility, obstetrics, dermatology, and facial rejuvenation. She was a professor and clinical supervisor at both the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley and the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences in Oakland. She is also an Ordained Dharma Teacher in the lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
In nearly 20 years of clinical practice, she has helped patients navigate fertility challenges, gynecological conditions, skin disorders, facial rejuvenation, mental health, anxiety, chronic illness, and the full arc of primary care from adolescence through older age. She serves a diverse Oakland community β including LGBTQ and BIPOC patients, activists, artists, educators, healers, and families β with the same depth of attention she brings to every clinical encounter.
A Practice Built on Three Foundations
Clinical Depth
Prajna's clinical training is among the most comprehensive available in East Asian medicine. Her National Diplomate in Oriental Medicine β a credential that requires advanced competency in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine β reflects years of rigorous study and examination. Her post-graduate certifications in fertility, obstetrics, and dermatology reflect a practitioner who continues to deepen her expertise in the areas where her patients need the most.
Her years as a professor and clinical supervisor at two Bay Area TCM colleges have sharpened her diagnostic precision in ways that only teaching medicine can. Supervising students means articulating what you know with clarity β naming the pattern, explaining the reasoning, defending the treatment strategy. That kind of teaching practice deepens clinical intuition into genuine expertise.
The Dharma Dimension
Prajna is an Ordained Dharma Teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh β a lineage rooted in engaged Buddhism, the practice of bringing mindfulness and compassion into direct contact with the suffering of the world. This is not separate from her medicine. It is the ground from which her medicine grows.
Her work as a mindfulness teacher β offering teachings on inner peace, outer peace, and wisdom for what she calls the polycrisis β informs how she listens, how she asks questions, and how she holds space for the full complexity of what patients bring into a treatment room. The practice of witnessing suffering without turning away, which is central to both Chinese medicine and Buddhist teaching, is something Prajna has cultivated for decades.
The Integration
Before Chinese medicine, Prajna pursued a doctorate in research psychology and spent years working with survivors of violence, running a crisis hotline, and implementing violence prevention in communities. The thread that runs through all of it is the same: how do we understand suffering clearly enough to help someone move through it toward something better?
When she discovered Chinese medicine, she describes it as the moment when all the pieces fit together β a way to use her head, hands, and heart together in direct service of another person's wellbeing. That integration is what patients experience in a session with her.
Areas of Specialization
Fertility, Women's Health & Gynecology
Prajna has specialized certification in fertility and obstetrics and brings particular depth to the full arc of women's health β from menstrual disorders and PMS through fertility support, IVF accompaniment, pregnancy care, postpartum recovery, perimenopause, and the transition into menopause. Her approach is comprehensive: regulating hormones, normalizing menstrual cycles, supporting the body's natural rhythms, and addressing the underlying constitutional patterns that shape reproductive health across a lifetime.
She offers non-hormonal, non-invasive alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions for gynecological conditions β addressing root causes through acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietary guidance, and lifestyle support. Patients working through fertility challenges receive full-spectrum care that addresses not only the reproductive system but the digestive, nervous, and endocrine systems that are inseparable from fertility outcomes.
See: Prajna Choudhury β Fertility, Pregnancy & Women's Health in Oakland
Facial Rejuvenation & Skin Health
Prajna offers a complete range of facial rejuvenation services β traditional facial acupuncture, the acupuncture facelift, microneedling, and nanoneedling β as well as deep expertise in dermatological conditions. Her approach to facial work is grounded in the same whole-system Chinese medicine philosophy that underlies everything she does: the face reflects the health of the entire body, and genuine facial rejuvenation comes from treating both together.
Her stated goal with facial rejuvenation is that patients leave loving their face β not from numbing or erasing, but from restoring vitality, circulation, and the natural expression of health. She provides non-toxic, non-invasive alternatives to Botox, fillers, and surgical facelifts, with results that build over time rather than requiring ongoing chemical maintenance.
For skin conditions β eczema, acne, rosacea, psoriasis, and others β she brings a perspective that treats skin conditions as systemic imbalances rather than isolated surface problems. The skin always tells a story about what is happening internally, and her herbal medicine training is particularly valuable here.
See: Prajna Choudhury β Facial Rejuvenation & Skin Health in Oakland
Mental Health, Anxiety & Nervous System Regulation
Regulating the nervous system is, in Prajna's own words, one of the most important things we can do for ourselves, our families, and our communities in these uncertain times. Her background working with survivors of violence and trauma, combined with her Dharma Teacher training and her clinical expertise in depression and anxiety, makes her uniquely equipped to work with patients for whom the mental, emotional, and physical are deeply interwoven.
She teaches mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh β bringing the practice of present-moment awareness, deep listening, and compassionate attention into direct contact with suffering. This informs not just how she treats mental health presentations clinically, but how she is present with patients.
See: Prajna Choudhury β Mental Health, Anxiety & Nervous System in Oakland
Primary Care & Family Medicine
Prajna treats patients across the full lifespan β from children to older adults β and serves as a primary care practitioner for many families in the Oakland community. Her scope of practice encompasses pain management, digestive conditions, respiratory health, immune support, sleep disorders, fatigue, and the range of conditions that define primary care. She is particularly committed to serving LGBTQ and BIPOC communities, activists, artists, educators, and healers β bringing culturally attuned, trauma-informed care to patients who may have experienced marginalization in conventional medical settings.
See: Prajna Choudhury β Primary Care & Family Medicine in Oakland
Chinese Herbal Medicine
As a National Diplomate of Oriental Medicine β a credential that specifically tests advanced competency in Chinese herbology β Prajna brings a depth of herbal knowledge that distinguishes her practice from acupuncture-only practitioners. Chinese herbal medicine is a sophisticated system with thousands of years of documented use and clinical refinement, capable of addressing internal conditions that acupuncture alone cannot reach and providing safer, side-effect-free alternatives to many pharmaceutical interventions.
She prescribes individualized herbal formulas as a core part of her treatment approach β extending the effects of the acupuncture session between appointments, addressing constitutional patterns that require daily treatment, and providing home care that actively supports healing rather than waiting for the next session.
See: Prajna Choudhury β Chinese Herbal Medicine in Oakland
Credentials & Training
Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac.), California
National Diplomate of Oriental Medicine β Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology (NCCAOM)
Ordained Dharma Teacher, lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
Meditation Instructor: Inner Peace, Outer Peace and Wisdom Teachings for the Polycrisis
Specialist certifications: Fertility, Obstetrics, Dermatology, Facial Rejuvenation
Former Professor and Clinical Supervisor, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College, Berkeley
Former Professor and Clinical Supervisor, Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences, Oakland
Background in research psychology (doctoral-level study)
Years of clinical experience working with survivors of violence and trauma
Member and Treasurer, Voices Lesbian A Cappella for Justice
Insurance & Fees
Prajna is in-network with Cigna and the VA. All other insurance: superbills provided.
Initial Acupuncture Consultation: $195 (includes treatment)
Follow-up Acupuncture: $135
Acupuncture Facial Rejuvenation: $205
Acupuncture Facelift: $275
Microneedling: $500
Nanoneedling: $195
What Patients Say
"Prajna is the best! My acupuncture sessions always address my chief complaints β physical or emotional β and improve my energy. I feel balanced, restored, refreshed, or recharged every session. She also recommends Chinese/holistic medicine I can buy or order on site as needed for any ailments I may experience. 10/10 highly recommend!" β Monica T.
"Prajna helped me get pregnant!!! (at 40!) I was willing to try fertility acupuncture and Chinese medicine after an unexpectedly unsuccessful round of IVF. I should have started with her instead of with IVF. Her acupuncture sessions were holistic, not just about fertility, so if I was having digestive issues or anxiety, she'd address that too. She taught me an incredible amount about menstrual cycle phases, basal body temperature, hormone strips, and fertility diet. My BBT was all over the board when I started working with her, and after a few months under her care it was normalized and she deemed my body ready to try. I got pregnant right away and my baby is on the way! I owe my growing family to Prajna." β Nina R.
"Prajna has been and is always an excellent partner for my overall health! On the vanity level acupuncture facelift is spectacular and the results undeniable!! Huge thanks!" β Lisa D.
How Prajna Got Here
When Prajna was a child, she wanted to be an astronaut. As she grew older, the question that drew her wasn't the stars themselves but the deeper one underneath: why do people do what they do? She pursued a doctorate in research psychology, which brought her to the Bay Area. She loved what she was studying, but wanted to impact people's lives more directly.
She went on to work with survivors of violence, run a crisis hotline, and implement violence prevention in communities. Meaningful work β but she knew there was still something more.
When she discovered Chinese medicine, all the pieces fit together. It gave her a way to use her head, hands, and heart together β to create real change by helping people in very tangible as well as intangible ways. She helps most patients find genuine relief from what brought them in. And even for the very few who don't get the full relief they were seeking, they still leave feeling more relaxed, heard and witnessed, and better than when they came in.
She describes it this way: "I feel I have actually achieved the essence of what underlay my desire to become an astronaut β to discover and explore the vast mysteries of the universe, through the microcosm of our bodies and selves."
Book with Prajna
Prajna sees patients Monday through Thursday at Energy Matters in Oakland.
Energy Matters is an LGBTQ2S+ and BIPOC affirming practice. All are welcome.
energymattersonline.com | Oakland, CA