This month's date for Free acupuncture treatments for POCA members, is tomorrow - Tuesday, November 12th.

POCA?
Yup, The People's Organization of Community Acupuncture!

One of the best things about Manchester Acupuncture Studio is our connection to a bigger network.

We want acupuncture to become affordable and accessible to as many people as possible. It turns out a lot of other people do too! That's why we are among the founding members of a multi-stakeholder community acupuncture cooperative - The People's Organization of Community Acupuncture. POCA's membership is made up of different groups; patients, organizations, clinics, and acupuncturists.  These various groups have stakes in seeing more affordable acupuncture expand into more places and communities.

Your membership dues provide microloans to start affordable clinics all over the country and have help to found the first affordable acupuncture technical school, POCA Tech. POCA Tech students graduate with a fraction of the dizzying amount of student debt that a traditional acupuncture program requires. POCA Tech grads are trained to be job-ready, providing their communities with safe, high-quality acupuncture.

Many of you have been members of POCA for years. Thanks! We are always looking out for different ways to show our appreciation for this.

In addition to free days for POCA members at MAS, your POCA membership comes with:

 - 3 free treatment coupons to give to friends and family, accepted at any POCA member clinic

 - a membership card that gets you a free treatment the week of your birthday

 - $10 off first-time visits to all POCA clinics world-wide

 - Free e-books on Acupuncture Theory, in case you want to geek-out on acupuncture

 - access for POCA's monthy e-newsletters

Please consider joining, or renewing, your membership today.

This coming Tuesday, the 12th is November's Free Day @ MAS for POCA members.

Yes, it's time again to thank POCA members for supporting affordable community acupuncture far and wide.

Thank you fellow co-op members!

This means:

1) Free treatments for active POCA members at MAS Manchester & Nashua clinics on designated days. Like next Tuesday. Just bring in your current membership card and have a needle nap on us, in Manchester or Nashua.

2) We repeat these free treatment days for POCA members at MAS quite frequently, along with other periodic member specials.  Keep your eyes on MAS newsletters and the blackboards in Manchester & Nashua clinics, as well.

Wait...what?! You're not a POCA member?

Well, you may be interested to know, annual memberships start at only $25.
Sign yourself up online and enjoy the following terrific benefits of the world's only acupuncture cooperative, all year long:

- Free acupuncture on your birthday

- 3 Free first-treatment cards for your family and friends, accepted at POCA clinics worldwide

- Waived fees on first visits to POCA clinics worldwide

- Opportunities to volunteer, vote and discuss all things community acupuncture

- Monthly e-newsletter Sticking Together

...and regularly scheduled free days at MAS, to boot.

Basically with MAS-sponsored specials alone, as well as other POCA benefits, your membership is paid for a few times over.

Most importantly, your membership greatly helps to support the growth of affordable acupuncture services via low-interest loans offered by POCA for new and expanding community acupuncture clinics throughout North America and beyond.

Does acupuncture work by placebo? Let's ask a skunk.

Earlier this year, we were delighted to see a news story about a Skunk named Luna who receives acupuncture treatments. It is observed to help her manage arthritic pain.

We've also read about an elephant who gets acupuncture at a zoo in Singapore and an elderly penguin in New Orleans who can swim much better after a 10-minute acupuncture treatment. 

And of course acupuncture has been utilized widely and for many years in the horse-racing industry as well, for performance enhancement and immune support.

In fact, we've met many folks over the years who end up seeking acupuncture for pain relief because they first got to see how well it helped their dog, cat or horse.

(Just to be clear, we don't treat anyone's pets here at MAS. Many veterinarians in the surrounding area practice acupuncture for animals.)

We are not going to dispute the fact that the placebo effect is real and can be just as effective as actual interventions. It's also currently being studied itself, as the research community grapples with its understanding of the effect.  

But animals receiving treatment likely don't have expectations that tiny needles will give pain relief, or increased abilities. Accordingly, we'd have a hard time attributing the benefits of acupuncture strictly to psychology. 

While this debate will probably rage on, we prefer to continue to hone our collective skills and make the best use of them for folks seeking better for themselves no matter what the mechanism.

For the last few years we've invited our staff and clinic-goers to consider bringing in NEW socks, underwear and/or tee shirts to be donated to local neighbors in need, during the month of October.

This year is no different.

Look for the box in the Front Desk area at MAS - Nashua & Manchester until the end of the month.

Thank you!

(Somewhere in Vermont, last week)

Most of us associate Fall with changing leaf colors and apple-picking, for obvious reasons.

In the world of Chinese Medicine this season is mostly associated internally with the functions of the Lungs and Large Intestine, moving on from the old and protecting what's left behind.

This article does a decent job of laying out more. 

We hope it turns out to be useful for you.