March Updates

Hello!

First, I just want to say that sending marketing emails right now feels pretty uncomfortable! Some things are bringing me hope (like this list of 800+ Iowa businesses standing in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Iowans), but a lot of things are really difficult right now. One frequent conversation in the clinic lately is just how tired everyone is feeling and how we need to give ourselves a break!

So, with that in mind, I’m keeping this email shorter and to the point!

One highlight: Our third (free!) book trade is coming up on Sunday, March 16, from 1-3 pm, and I want to make sure everyone has a chance to sign up! We’d love to see you, and it’s always really lovely to spend some time in community with people! Come, drink some chai, and hang out. More details and the link to sign up are below.

Take care,

Kate Thomas, LAc

P.S. If you’d like to jump to a specific section of the newsletter, you can click the links below.

In this newsletter:

• Clinic News

• Fireweed Acupuncture Memberships

• Spring Book Trade!

• Recent Blog Entries

• Recently: Reading & Tea

Clinic News

• New Patient appointment availability: I have space for one more new in-person patient in March - click here to see available appointment times! I also have 2 openings for virtual coaching - more info on that here.

• Fullscript: In the spirit of saving everyone a bit of money, I set it up so that anyone can get 15% off purchases on supplements from Fullscript - you don’t need to be a current patient! Sign up is free, so you can click around and see if it is a good fit for you.

  • Pros: Fullscript is a free, excellent alternative to Amazon. The prices are competitive, and you can set up auto-ship (you get an additional 5% off if you do). Also, unlike Amazon and other online retailers, Fullscript has a quality control process for the products it carries to ensure their safety. They offer free shipping on orders over $50!

  • Buying your supplements through Fullscript is also a great way to support my (very small!) business at no cost to you! I make a small amount from your purchase. The PDF below has a bit more info on that!

  • If you’re curious about price comparisons, I made a quick chart comparing some supplement prices on Fullscript and Amazon - click here to see it! (PDF download). The main takeaway is that Fullscript isn’t always a better deal for more mainstream brands like Jarrow, but “practitioner-grade” products are cheaper.

Fireweed Acupuncture Memberships

Don’t forget: I offer clinic Memberships! Memberships are a great deal for people who have two or more appointments per month. Each membership includes:

• 2 discounted appointments per month (you pick your appointment type)

• A discount on additional appointments

• A 10% discount off in-clinic retail (including herbal formulas!)

• An additional 5% discount from Fullscript (making it 20-25% off list price)

There’s no minimum commitment - I just need 15 days notice to cancel your membership. For more info or to sign up, visit the Memberships page. Let me know if you have any questions!

Spring Book Trade!

Sunday, March 16 - 1-3 pm
Held at Fireweed Acupuncture (3520 Beaver Ave, Suite C)

Seeta and I are hosting our third free Book Trade! This time, we’re accepting adult fiction books (no more YA books) of any genre, cookbooks (no diet cookbooks!), and gardening books. You’re welcome to hang out, see what others bring, and chat with others, too! We’ll have (non-diary) chai to sip while you look at the books, too.

Click here for more information on how the book trade works, answers to FAQs, accessibility information, and to sign up!

Recent Blog Entries

I tackled the FAQ “How often do I need to get acupuncture?” in the blog. You can click below to read my answer. In this entry, I talk about:

• A helpful way to think of acupuncture

• Explain a bit more in-depth why it’s not just a one-and-done process

• How often I recommend people schedule other types of appointments, too (like coaching, herbal appointments, and more)

Not a blog entry, but I recently added a page to my site explaining what being a neurodivergent-affirming and sensory-friendly acupuncture practice means at Fireweed Acupuncture. Neurodivergent affirming is more common in other fields but not so much in acupuncture and Chinese medicine (yet!). Click below to read more about it:

Recently: Reading & Tea

Reading/Watching

• My attention span has been all over the place, so I have been reading shorter pieces and skipping around in my non-fiction books lately!

• I’ve been reading a few essays from The Impossible Will Take a Little While* by Paul Rogat Loeb. I bought this book years ago in Colorado, but it seems more relevant than ever.

• I’ve been reading essays from a few anthologies of essays from disabled authors from the library:

  • Disability Visibility*, edited by Alice Wong

  • About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times*, edited by Peter Catapano

• I recently found Ness Labs, and I’ve been enjoying her writing. I always like the perspective of thinking about changing habits as experiments! A few articles I’ve liked include emotional agility, her summary of the growth mindset, and mindframing. I’m looking forward to looking through her new book - I’m on the waiting list at the library!

• Also, this video of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande performing songs from Wicked at the Oscars was amazing!

Drinking

• A lot of tea. I drink a lot of matcha, mostly from Breakaway Matcha. Their Culinary Matcha is probably the best cost/taste balance for matcha lattes. They also don’t seem to be out of stock, unlike a lot of other companies who sell matcha right now (like another favorite, Ippodo)! I’m also enjoying the Yunnan Purple Beauty I sell in the clinic.

*affiliate links!

That’s all for now! As always, feel free to email me back with any thoughts or questions.

Take care,

Kate