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Monday 10am - 6pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am - 6pm Sunday 10:30am - 8pm

The Better Place

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United States
Oakland, CA
The Better Place

Hello! I'm Sarah Donnelly, a chaotic good acupuncturist, esthetician, and bodyworker The Better Place is your local holistic healthcare clinic in North Oakland.

We are inspired to specialize in: cosmetic acupuncture; postop, fibrosis, scar care; lymphatic drainage, long-hauler syndrome (chronic damage from illness or medical treatment).

02/28/2026

The reason treatment stalls isn't the technique or modality. It's the sequence.

Full excerpt in bio

02/23/2026

Proteodynamic Work and When Healing Stalls are now available.

Two volumes, one framework

These monographs present the theoretical structure underlying my clinical work with patients whose recovery has stalled

Clinical volume and plain language volume included

Link in bio.

02/20/2026

Two volumes, one framework

The practitioner volume builds the clinical theory. The patient volume translates it into a language anyone can use to understand what's happening in their body, and why treatment must follow a specific order.

02/12/2026

Menty Break Days

Intentional checking out as scheduled maintenance, not emergency response. I take Wednesdays. My friend takes Fridays. We check in Sundays to coordinate so we won't overlap and can support each other.

Protective infrastructure for sustained function under chronic stress > crisis management

02/04/2026

The same information, intentionally translated
Two monographs: practitioner - facing and patient - facing.
Releasing February 23, 2026

11/18/2025

I’ll Be at AIMC’s Acupuncture & Arts Autumn Fest This Saturday

Hi friends,

A quick announcement for anyone who will be in Berkeley this weekend: I’ll be vending at AIMC’s Acupuncture & Arts Autumn Fest this Saturday, November 22 from 12–5 PM at 2550 Shattuck Ave.

AIMC is (one of) my alma mater, and this event is a community celebration as the school rebuilds and reopens. There will be free community acupuncture, herbal goods, ceramics, art, tarot, reiki, and more.

What I’ll Be Sharing

At my table, I’ll be offering:
• information on post-operative recovery
• guidance on lymphatic and scar-tissue care
• my Pain Paws tools for sale
• Q&A about swelling, healing timelines, and recovery architecture
• (and yes, you’re welcome to ask about shockwave / radial pressure wave therapy)

If you’ve been curious about how lymphatic or systems-focused work fits into healing, this is a great low-key opportunity to chat in person.

Feel free to stop by and say hello! I’d love to see familiar faces and meet more of the community.

10/30/2025

I've added a new instrument to the clinic: the Storz radial pressure wave.

It sends a mechanical acoustic wave through the tissue that reopens micro-circulation, softens fascia, and accelerates lymph flow.

For the work I do: myofascial and lymphatic systems troubleshooting, it's the perfect match. Precise, rhythmic, connective.

There are 2 kinds of shockwave therapy: focal, which acts like a laser, and radial, which acts like sound. I chose radial, because my focus is networks, not single points.

What patients notice: pulsing pressure, then lightness, faster drainage, cleaner movement.

What I notice: that thrill when a system wakes up after hibernation

Every new tool teaches me something new about flow. This one sounds like music to me.

10/19/2025

My grandfather, Leon, worked in the Oakland shipyards.

Precision, rhythm, ans labor shaped how our family understood systems: as both cultural and mechanical. Shopyards => manual therapy, the port is part of my lineage: a rhythm that continues to this day.

10/12/2025

After attending the conference in Rotterdam, I've been reflecting on how knowledge moves through time. In code, medicine, and lineage.

Before sharing more from the Netherlands, I wanted to return to the stories that carried me here: the crossings, ports, and bands the way I see systems and healing.

The next post begins with an ancestor of mine: a Canton herbalist whose knowledge crossed oceans before I did.
-------------------------------------

My great-great grandmother's father was an herbalist in Canton.
He practiced with herbs and formulas: knowledge passed through hands, not pages.
When my family crossed the ocean to Oakland, that medicine crossed too.
It moves through my work today.

10/11/2025

I went to the TEDx Coolhaven: Women in AI event last night at OASE, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Listening to women speak about artificial intelligence as something that touches creativity, care, and connection - felt pretty close to home.

Curiosity itself is a form of intelligence, and traditions keep evolving: every generation adds new ways of listening and pattern-recognizing, whether through needles or neural nets. Curiosity is what keeps both lineages alive.

Feeling grateful for the conversations that keep expanding how I see both my field and the future.

08/04/2025

My Personal Restoration Work Journey

The changes I notice the most:
- Clearer facial definition and symmetry
- Reduced puffiness, esp around the eyes
- Improved skin texture and elasticity
- Less tension in the jaw and neck
- Better overall energy and sleep

This is the same systematic approach I use with patients: addressing restriction patterns layer by layer, restoring drainage pathways, and supporting the body's natural capacity for tissue regeneration.

The timeline matters: sustainable changes happen gradually, with consistent intervention. Quick fixes don't address the underlying patterns which create the issues.

The systemic changes surprised me the most - better digestion, clearer vision, better energy management. This work affects the whole body, not just where you apply it.

This is why I'm passionate about teaching people how to understand their own tissue patterns and maintenance habits over time.

07/12/2025

This trip to study with the legendary Kiiko Matsumoto in Berlin changed me in so many ways. Not only will her material change the way I approach healing, but the trip itself fundamentally changed the way I look at the world and my place in it.

I feel fortunate to be granted this opportunity, and will pay the healing forward

Address

6536 Telegraph Avenue Suite C-104
Oakland, CA
94609

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 6pm
Sunday	10:30am - 8pm

Telephone

+19252680878

Website

https://betterplaceforhealing.com/

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