Hi Little Birds,

How is it already the winter holiday season?! 

Our shifts are filling up quickly and we can’t thank you enough.  We love providing affordable and accessible acupuncture and massage to our community. If you haven’t had a chance to check out our new covid-19 safety protocols, please learn all about them here: http://www.littlebirddc.com/covid-19-safety. If you have any questions or feedback on our new policies and procedures, please don’t hesitate to reach out and give us a call at 202-328-1804 or email us at info@littlebirddc.com.

See below for a few announcements as we enter enter into the end of 2020 and beginning 2021.

SCHEDULE CHANGES

Acupuncture Adjustments:

-Wednesday, December 23rd: 12pm – 7pm
-Thursday, Dec 24th and Friday, Dec 25th: CLOSED
-Wednesday, December 30th: 12pm – 7pm
-Thursday, Dec 31st and Friday, Jan 1st: CLOSED

Massage Adjustments:

LBCA will not be open for massage appointments from December 11, 2020 until mid January 2021 so Adrienne can quarantine and visit her family for the December holidays. Be on the look out later this month for her next schedule. 
 

NEW VIRTUAL CLASS

LBCA is excited to announce that Adrienne is going to be teaching a virtual restorative movement class. Restorative movement is any kind of movement with your body intended to help lower and stabilize your blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormones like cortisol. These movements may help you achieve similar results you get from receiving a massage such as, increased flexibility, softened muscles, and a calmer mind. We’ll be sending out a separate email soon with all of the details including the upcoming start date. In the meantime, check out Adrienne’s “Introduction to Restorative Movement” video to get a better understanding of the practice. 

Are You Following Us on Social Media? 

We’re posting on Instagram (@littlebirddc) and Facebook (Little Bird Community Acupuncture).

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

Hi Little Birds,

We are excited to announce that Adrienne is booking 60 and 90 minute massages again. There are now appointments available for you to book through October 1, 2020.
 

The following protocols are in place at LBCA in response to the covid-19 pandemic:

Clinic in general: 

• Masks must be worn at all times by both staff and patients.  Please bring your own. Masks with valves are not allowed.
• Appointments are required.
• We ask that you either wash your hands in the bathroom or use hand sanitizer, which we have on site, when entering and leaving the clinic.
• Social distancing is being enforced. We ask that people keep 6 feet away from others.
• We are wiping down the credit card machine, door handles, and all patient points of contact after each use.
• If you use cash for payment, it must be exact. 
• We have suspended offering self-service tea and water. However if you do need water, we will happily get you a cup. We recommend you bring your own water bottle with water.
• We will take your temperature with a touchless thermometer upon your arrival to check for a fever and will be observing if you are presenting any other covid-19 or other communicable disease symptoms. Please, if you know you have a fever, cough, sore throat, or any other communicable disease symptoms, only come in for your session when you are feeling better.

Massage specific: 

• As we have always done, we are using freshly laundered sheets for each new patient, and now we are also washing or steam cleaning all massage padding after every session.
• As we have always done, we are using freshly laundered pillow cases for each new patient, and now under the pillow cases we are also layering new disposable, hygienic pillow case covers to add an extra barrier between your face and the actual pillow.
•  Due to the current restrictions on patient capacity due to the covid-19 pandemic, our sliding scale is now  $65-$90 for a 60 minute session and $95-$120 for a 90 minute session. We may reassess our rates again at a later date.

Click on our Massage Scheduler to book a massage appointment! You can also find our massage scheduler on our website: http://www.littlebirddc.com/make-an-appointment. Adrienne looks forward to working with you again or meeting you soon!
 

If you have any questions or feedback on our new policies and procedures, please don’t hesitate to reach out and give us a call at 202-328-1804 or email us at info@littlebirddc.com.


Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Are You Following Us on Social Media? 

We’re posting on Instagram (@littlebirddc) and Facebook (Little Bird Community Acupuncture).

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

Hi Little Birds!

We have missed you all and are looking forward to re-opening tomorrow, Monday, June 22nd!

We will start off with a limited schedule in order to ease transition and have time to assess new policies and procedures and adapt them as needed. The scheduler will be open two weeks at a time instead of four weeks so we can adjust our hours as deemed appropriate. 

We want to assure you that we are continuing to honor our mission to create a physically and emotionally safe community space for healing. The coronavirus pandemic has meant making adjustments and taking additional precautions.

First and foremost, we are asking those who are sick and experiencing a fever and/or cough to please stay home. Before being treated, everyone will be pre-screened for coronavirus symptoms.  A temperature check using a touchless thermometer will be taken prior to each treatment.

The following are the extra precautions we are taking:

• We have removed four chairs from the treatment room (so there are 4 instead of 8) to provide appropriate social distancing between people.
• The above means scheduling is occurring every 20 minutes instead of 10 minutes.
• Due to decrease in patients treated per hour and increase in cleaning expenses, we have increased our sliding scale to $25-$50 with a $15 new patient intake fee.
• Masks must be worn at all times.  Please bring your own.  Masks with valves are not allowed.
• Appointments are required.
• We ask that you either wash your hands in bathroom or use hand sanitizer when entering and leaving the clinic.
• We are no longer offering blankets.  We are using space heaters to keep the treatment room warm.
• We are changing sheets after every treatment.
• We are wiping down the credit card machine, door handles, and all patient points of contact after each use.
• We will suspend offering self-service tea, water, and *gasp* ginger chews. However if you do need water, your acupuncturist will happily get you a cup.
• Massages are still being suspended. 
• If you use cash for payment, it must be exact.  We are unfortunately unable to offer change.

 
We can’t stress how much we look forward to re-opening Little Bird and being able to support our community. If you have any questions or feedback on our new policies and procedures, please don’t hesitate to reach out and give us a call at 202-328-1804 or email us at info@littlebirddc.com.


Photo by Frank Cone from Pexels

Are You Following Us on Social Media? 

We’re posting on Instagram (@littlebirddc), Twitter (@littlebirddc), Facebook (Little Bird Community Acupuncture).

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

Hi Little Birds,

We hope you all are taking good care! As of this writing, Mayor Bowser has mandated a stay-at-home order, which means keeping Little Bird closed until at least April 24, 2020.

We miss you all so much and are disappointed to have to extend our closure. However, our community’s health and safety is our top priority, so we will continue to follow Mayor Bowser’s mandates as well as CDC guidelines to inform our response to this pandemic.

We are periodically checking our email and voicemails, so if you need to get in contact with us, please leave us a voicemail at 202-328-1804 or email us at info@littlebirddc.com.

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

Hi Little Birds,

We have come to the difficult decision to close at least through the rest of the month beginning March 19, 2020. Over these last few weeks we have been implementing protocols to keep you all safe, however, as we all have learned from the CDC and WHO, it now seems that the best course of action to keep our community the safest is to temporarily close. Keep a look out in your email and on our social media to find out when we will officially reopen.

We hope you all are able to stay safe and healthy. If there is a way we can support you in the meantime, please reach out by leaving a voicemail at 202-328-1804 or emailing us at info@littlebirddc.com.

We appreciate you all so much. See you on the other side!

Instagram @birdernerd

“By acting compassionately, by helping to restore justice, and by encouraging peace, it helps us acknowledge that we are all part of one another.” Ram DassAre You Following Us on Social Media? 

We’re posting on Instagram (@littlebirddc) and Facebook (Little Bird Community Acupuncture).

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

Massage Pilot Program

Little Bird is piloting a new massage therapy program and applications are now live to apply. The pilot will target a specific therapeutic concern over the entirety of the program. It will consist of a 45 minute initial session and five 30 minute follow-up sessions over the course of eight weeks. Each session will be on a sliding scale of $30-$50. If the low end of the scale is cost prohibitive, please still apply and note that at the end of your application. You must be a current Little Bird patient and at least 18 years old to apply. 

Little Bird’s massage therapist, Adrienne Banks, will be running the program and providing the massage. The pilot will start at the beginning of December and applications are due by 11:00pm on Friday, November 22, 2019. You can click here to access the application and learn all of the pilot’s details. New Scale for 60 and 90 minute massages

We have created a sliding scale for our 60 and 90 minute massages. Beginning December 2019, the scale will be as follows:

• 60 minute: $60-$80
• 90 minute: $90-$110

Please note that we do not accept gratuity (tips) for massage services just like acupuncture. Here at LBCA we view massage therapy as any other health service you receive. If you would like to further support us and the LBCA community at large, pay more than the minimum on the sliding scale. That helps us continue to provide a sliding scale so others who cannot pay more than the minimum can still receive our services and we are still able to keep the clinic thriving.

December appointments are now available and there are even a few November slots left! To schedule an appointment click here: https://calendly.com/littlebirddc

Holiday Hours

The following is our holiday schedule:

• Thursday November 28th –  CLOSED
• Tuesday December 24th – 10am-4pm
• Wednesday December 25th – CLOSED
• Tuesday December 31st – 10am-4pm
• Wednesday January 1st – CLOSED

Acupuncture When Sick?

It’s unfortunately that time of year when we are frequently asked the question, “Can I come in for treatment when I am sick?” While we love to help those suffering from the flu and colds, it is important that we keep the treatment room contagion-free to protect all of our Little Birds. That means if you are in the contagious stage of your illness you will need to stay home. We ask that you wait 24 hours after your fever breaks before coming in for treatment. Also, If you are coughing uncontrollably, vomiting or having diarrhea, please stay home and rest up. If you come in for treatment and are contagious, we regrettably will not bet able to treat you. We will be happy to help you recover once you are no longer contagious!    

Inclement Weather Policy

It’s crazy how the weather has been all over the place and threatening us recently with some wintery mix. Our policy for inclement weather is if the buses and Metro are not running, we will close Little Bird and will call and email everyone with an appointment to notify them of the closure. If you are ever concerned about being late or not making your appointment due to the weather, please give us a call to let us know!

Are you following us on Social Media?  We’re posting on Instagram (@littlebirddc), Twitter (@littlebirddc), Facebook (Little Bird Community Acupuncture).

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

Have you had a chance to meet Adrienne yet?!  She’s the friendly face you’ve seen at the front desk on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  She’s here to support Little Bird in many ways, including massage therapy.  She will start booking massage appointments this month and will pilot a community inspired massage program at the beginning of November.  Please read on to learn all the details!

Meet Adrienne

Adrienne grew up in Richmond, Va, but has since lived in many other cities both domestically and internationally.  She landed in the DC area this September to work at Little Bird and is excited to help support and expand its programming while also providing therapeutic massage.  She has a Master of Public Health in Community Health Sciences and Global Health and is a certified Holistic Health Practitioner and yoga instructor.

Licensed in Washington DC, Adrienne has over 10 years of experience in various massage modalities, and specializes in deep tissue and helping people improve their overall structural alignment. Additionally, as a Holistic Health Practitioner, she finds massage therapy an excellent avenue for processing emotional energy in a healthy way. 
 

Massage with Adrienne

There are two ways to receive massage therapy from Adrienne:

1.  You can book either a 60 minute for $60 or 90 minutes for $90 massage.  Days and times vary, so please click on our massage therapy scheduler to book an appointment on a day and time that works for you.  Note, it is easier to schedule on your phone if you download and use the Calendly App.
2.  At the beginning of November 2019 we will be starting a 6 week pilot program with a group of people for a sliding scale massage format.  The pilot will provide us feedback and help us implement a larger scale community inspired massage program.  Our goal for massage (like for acupuncture) is to make it affordable and accessible.  Be on the lookout for an email to learn more about the pilot program and how to apply.
    

Have You Met Jamee Yet?!

We wanted to remind you that we now have another Acupuncturist!  Jamee is currently poking on Mondays and every other Saturday along with a few other days depending on the month.  You can work with both Jamee and Sara interchangeably!  They share charts so you don’t have to worry about repeating yourself.

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture! 

(Adrienne-left, Jamee-right)

Best Wishes,
Little Bird Staff

We have two new additions to the Little Bird team!  First, we have hired an awesome acupuncturist, Jamee Pineda. Second, you will initially see the friendly Adrienne Banks covering the front desk, but she will soon be expanding her role to offering massage and so much more.  Please read on to learn about our amazing new team members.

Welcome Jamee!
You know we’ve been trying to find another acupuncturist for a while, and it turns out that good things really do come to those who wait!  Jamee received a Master in Science and Oriental Medicine from Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine.  After years of practicing in Seattle, he relocated to Washington, DC in 2018.  Jamee lists bringing creativity to medicine and meeting people where they are as two of his favorite aspects of this work. 

Jamee is a queer, trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, Filipinx transplant originally from the West Coast.  When Jamee thinks of holistic medicine, he includes the context of a person’s social, professional, physical, and spiritual experiences.  He believes treatments are a joint endeavor between a patient and a practitioner. Jamee has a special affinity for working with patients from communities of color and/or LGBTQIA communities.  It is important for him to create safer healing spaces for folks surviving the effects of structural oppression in its many forms.  His goal is to meet people where they are and work with them on their journey towards wellness and ease.

Please show Jamee a warm Little Bird welcome!  Book now for one of his shifts or give us a call at 202-328-1804 to schedule an appointment.  He will be poking for us every other Saturday starting September 7th from 10am-3pm and every Monday 3pm-8pm, starting September 9th. 

Please note there will be some exceptions to his schedule at the end of September due to his vacation.  Sara will cover the Monday shift on September, 30th and we won’t be open Monday, the 23rd.  Jamee will pick up an extra Saturday shift in October.  

Welcome Adrienne!
You will see Adrienne covering the desk on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting this month!  She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Holistic Health Practitioner certification from Body Mind College.  Adrienne will soon be offering affordable massage as well as other holistic health services.  Keep a look out for our next newsletter to learn more about her and how she will be serving the Little Bird community!

As always, thanks so much for supporting Little Bird Community Acupuncture!