Vote! It’s good for your health!

We originally sent a version of this article in 2022 before the midterm elections, and with the upcoming enormously important election on November 5, we wanted to share it again.

It’s easy to feel powerless these days, in the face of a list of worries that seem overwhelming: climate change and natural disasters, global warfare and brutality, financial insecurity, and assaults on our human and reproductive rights and self-determination to name just a few.

At Energy Matters, we see the health consequences of these worries every day - anxiety and depression, physical symptoms caused by stress, and medical issues that go untreated because of overwhelm, overwork, or underinsurance. We’re faced with the flesh and blood consequences of policy decisions that make life more dangerous and unhealthy for everyone, especially people of color, poor and working-class people, women, disabled and chronically ill people, and LGBTQI people.

So that’s the bad news. What if I told you there was one simple thing you could do that would help your health immediately, and impact the health of your entire community - and country? It’s not something we carry in our pharmacy. It’s voting!

Taking action - even if we aren’t sure of the outcome - has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and result in measurable health improvements. In a liberal democracy like the United States, voting is an action available to most people, and one that has been key to many of the most important social changes in our history, including civil rights legislation, medicare and social security, pollution controls, same-sex marriage, and abortion rights.

Approaching the US election on November 5, 2024, the importance of taking action - voting and more - has never been more clear. Whether you’re making calls, knocking on doors, writing postcards, or talking to friends and family about the issues - our individual actions can add up to a collective movement.

As healers, we know that small, consistent changes can bring about enormous transformation. Never underestimate the power of small actions done many times to improve the health of our country and society.

Here are a few resources to help you vote and know more about the issues, especially propositions for those of us in California.  

• Oaklandside.org General Election Coverage: Profiles on local candidates and breakdowns of ballot initiatives from this local nonprofit news source.

• Vote411.org: find voting and election information from the League of Women Voters

• Bay Rising Action Voter Guide: Voter guide from a local progressive activist organization

• KQED Voter Guide: Non-partisan voter guide from our local public radio station KQED

Please vote - your acupuncturists recommend it!
Kirsten Cowan,
Clinic Manager