From April 15-April 27, if you become a member of the People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA) for $25 (or more, on a sliding scale), you will receive 5 acupuncture treatments– 2 for you and 3 for friends!

Here’s how it works:
1- Sign up online to become a member of POCA.

2- Bring your receipt to our office between 4/15-4/27, and you will get a free treatment (appointments recommended).

3- Once your membership is processed, you will receive 4 free treatment cards. One is for you, to be used on your birthday. 3 are for friends who have never tried acupuncture before. These can be used at any POCA clinic across the country.

Along with your membership, you will also receive a monthly newsletter, and voting rights in the POCA cooperative.

POCA membership fees go toward expanding community acupuncture services to areas in need across the country.

POCA members are also automatically qualified for volunteer positions in our office!

Thank you for supporting community acupuncture!

We have many exciting events coming up! Mark your calendars for 2/15, 2/22, 3/3, and 4/3!

Due to the snowstorm, we have rescheduled our free day for new patients to February 15. Do you have friends or family who have always wanted to try acupuncture? Please let them know about this opportunity! This is valid for both our morning and afternoon shifts, but for one day only!

Friday, February 22 will be our second annual fundraiser for Abby’s House in Worcester. Abby’s House provides many important social services for women and children, including shelter and transitional housing. 50% of the proceeds from all acupuncture treatments on 2/22 will be donated to Abby’s House. In addition, we will have a donation jar in our waiting area for the entire week, so you can donate even if you can’t make it on 2/22. We will post more information about this event soon!

Down to Earth Acupuncture also will be participating in health fairs on February 22, March 3, and April 3, and we could use some help! Would you be willing to join us for some or all of the time, to help staff the table (so Emily can take breaks) and answer questions from a patient’s perspective?

The Friday, February 22 fair is at Assumption College (Plourde Recreation Center) from 3-6pm. The Sunday, March 3 fair is in Webster, MA (at Bartlett HS) from 10am-2pm. The Wednesday, April 3 fair is in Worcester at UMass Medical School from 3pm-6pm.

Any help would be appreciated! Please contact Emily at emily@downtoearthacupuncture.com or (508) 890-8899 if you can volunteer. If you can’t help out, please consider stopping by and telling others about the fairs. Both the March 3 and April 3 fairs are free and open to the public.

As a member of The People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA), we work with other clinics to help make affordable community acupuncture (CA) available across the country.

One of the challenges we face is the need for more acupuncturists who desire to work in a CA setting, either to start their own clinics or to work in existing clinics.

Currently, acupuncture schooling does not prepare acupuncturists to work in CA, and it is so expensive that many graduates have enormous student loans at the end of their training.

POCA’s solution is to start our own acupuncture school—POCA Tech– which will train acupuncturists to work in a CA setting while costing a fraction of traditional acupuncture school.

The program is in development, and we are fundraising to make it a reality. POCA Tech needs $125,000 in start-up costs, and currently has a little under a quarter of that.

We at Down to Earth Acupuncture have donated over $1,000 to POCA Tech. Now, we would love to get our patients and community involved in this effort!

Can you spare an extra $5 at your next appointment? We are hosting a buy-a-brick fundraiser at the office— for $5 you can put your initials on a cardboard “brick” that will grow and grow up our office wall. It will be a great visual to show the progress toward the realization of POCA Tech.

Here is a picture of the fundraiser at Working Class Acupuncture in Oregon (they are using Legos for the visual).

Have you ever wished that there was a clinic close to your relative in another part of the country? More CA-trained acupuncturists can help make that happen! Please consider donating to POCA Tech! If you can’t make it into the clinic, you can also donate online (just let us know, and we’ll write out a brick for you!).

Put on your artist hat and help Down to Earth design our new T-shirts!

Ever since we changed our name this year, we have been wishing for some new office T-shirts. But we haven’t been able to find the right image or slogan.

We know that many of our patients are artistic and creative. So, we decided to open it up to you!

What kind of T-shirt would you like to wear? What picture would be on the front (or back)? What would it say?

Enter your ideas in our design contest, and you could win an amazing gift basket of prizes from local practitioners and businesses. We have items ranging from massages and vitamins, to beauty and cleaning products. In fact, we have so many prizes that in addition to a grand prize, we will probably have several honorable mention gifts!

Send your designs to emily @ downtoearthacupuncture. com. Submissions must be received by December 14, 2012 at 5pm. The winner will be chosen by a panel of DTE employees, volunteers, and patients and will be announced on or before February 1, 2013.

You don’t have to be a DTE patient to submit an entry, but it does help to have an understanding of the office and have a feel for community acupuncture. Please pass along this email to any artists or graphic designers you know who might be interested.

See below for a list of confirmed prizes and the contest rules.

Confirmed Gift Certificates and/or Products from:
Massage/ Bodywork:
Leo McCarthy, LMT
Deep Relief Massage Therapy
In Balance Massage
Back to Nature Massage and Reflexology
Healing Hands Massage Therapy

Chiropractic:
Sjogren Chiropractic
Dr. Karen M. Griffin

Personal Training/ Fitness:
Studio Joy (Nia class)
Committed Fitness
Leo McCarthy, CPT (personal training)

Life Coaching:
The MotivAct Group (Tom Ingrassia)

Household/ Beauty:
Shaklee cleaning (representative Lea Cristo)
Pampered Chef (representative Sharon McLaughlin)
Arbonne (representative Sue Nesbitt)

Food/Nutrition:
Budget Cuisine Coach (Paula Denoncourt)
Healing Journey
Isador’s Organics

Gifts and Wellness Products:
Generations Gifts

Plus acupuncture treatments from Down to Earth
… And of course, a T-shirt of the winning design!

Contest Rules:

• Submission must be your own original artwork and design.
• It must be in digital format (jpeg or pdf)and “camera ready”.
• You may submit multiple entries.
• By submitting your entry, you are giving permission for DTE to use your art in our marketing materials.
• You are agreeing that you will not receive any royalties or other payment for the entry, with the exception of the prize basket (if your entry is chosen as the winner).
• Submissions must be received by December 14, 2012 at 5pm. Email submissions to emily @ downtoearthacupuncture. com

We have great new artwork in our office by Jackie Penny, the author and illustrator of the children’s book Goodnight Worcester. On display are the original watercolors from the book, which are beautiful scenes depicting Worcester landmarks like Union Station, Shrewsbury Street, and the Worcester Public Library.

Jackie wrote Goodnight Worcester for her own children. Because of the sentimental value, this artwork is not for sale and it has never before been displayed in public. This may be your only chance to view the original watercolors in person, so stop into the office to see them soon!

On Wednesday, February 8 from 3:30-6:30pm (Ellen’s shift), we will be holding a fundraiser for Abby’s House of Worcester.

All proceeds from acupuncture treatments during this shift will be donated directly to Abby’s House. In addition, we will have a donation jar out in our waiting room for the entire week, so that you can still donate, even if you can’t make it on the 8th.

Abby’s House is a local Worcester service organization that provides emergency shelter and affordable housing to women and children. We will have brochures available in the office so that you can find out more information about the programs your donation is supporting. Also check out their website for details, or to donate online.

To make an appointment, call the office at (508) 890-8899, or use the online scheduling link on our website.

Please help us spread the word by forwarding this information on to your friends and family.

Thank you in advance for your support!

The James Street bridge will be closed as of June 1. If you normally come to the office that way, it’s probably easiest to take Heard Street instead, and cut over on Clover Street. Give us a call if you need help with directions!

On Sunday, May 1, from 10am-1pm, River Valley Acupuncture will be offering free acupuncture at its second annual May Day celebration!

Acupuncture treatments will be free for all patients, whether they are new to the office or returning clients. Treatments will last approximately 40 minutes. Appointments are strongly recommended. Walk ins will be taken on a space-available basis. To make an appointment, sign up online or call the office at (508) 890-8899.

The May Day celebration is in association with the non-profit Community Acupuncture Network. Over 70 clinics across the U.S. and Canada are scheduled to participate. See a complete list here.

For those of us who practice community acupuncture, the term community has two meanings. One, of course, is a reference to the group setting. We believe that when people are treated together in a group, they experience deeper relaxation and enhanced treatment benefits.

The other aspect has to do with our hope to be a useful part of our local communities. In addition to making acupuncture more accessible to the community, community acupuncturists also try to support local programs through activities such as being a drop-off point for CSAs, displaying the work of local artists, and volunteering at veterans acupuncture programs.

At the Holistic Happenings health fair last weekend, I asked attendants to share their thoughts on the meaning of community. Although some people found this difficult to answer, the combined answers come up with a very complete description.

Here are several of the responses I received to the question “What does community mean to me?”
Togetherness
Family, support, and service
Helping one another in times of need or even just for no reason at all
Sharing
A group of individuals coming together to achieve a common purpose/goal
It is what you put into it
A group of people who live and work together supporting one another to satisfy their needs
Those you care about and spend time with
Compassion
Comfortable caring environment filled with people that care and want to help
People working and getting along together
Friends supporting each other

From these definitions, it seems that the concept of community has three parts. The first is the idea of togetherness. A community must include more than one person, and they can’t exist in isolation. The next thought is that community requires work. For a community to survive, everyone must put in the effort to satisfy their common needs and goals. And finally, a community includes a sense of caring and compassion for one another. This sounds like a great definition to me!

What does the term community mean to you? Do you think that “community acupuncture” practices actually contribute to the well-being of the community? If not, how can we improve?

This Sunday, October 10 from 10:00am to 5:00pm, River Valley Acupuncture will be participating in the annual Holistic Happening fair in Quinebaug, CT. The fair features demonstrations, lectures, and interactive workshops about different healing modalities.

Some of the participating practitioners include massage therapists, reiki practitioners, hypnotherapists, and reflexologists. Demonstrations include belly dancing, tai chi, yoga, and drumming.

The admission cost is a donation of food for the local food pantry or no-kill animal shelter. The fair takes place at the new Quinebaug fire department, 720 Quinebaug Rd (rt 131). Quinebaug is just over the Connecticut line, close to Dudley, Oxford, and Sturbridge MA, and Putnam and Pomfret CT. I hope to see you there!