Community Acupuncture Studio

The atmosphere is nice, relaxing and not over the top. The staff that i have met are friendly and professional. The facility is clean and well kept. I’ve only been once, but plan on going back. The price is very fair and will hopefully open the possible value of acupunture to more people.

This place is really warm and inviting. They are very dedicated to holistic healing and are willing to work with your financial situation. The room was very relaxing with low lighting, comfortable recliner chairs, and soft low music — I fell asleep pretty quickly. Pretty straightforward process, only one form to fill out, and its about your current ailments. They seem highly flexible and don’t require an appointment. If you wanted an appointment they are really easy to make online and they will send you an email reminder if you choose. They said that if you wanted to stay for more than one hour and relax or sleep that is fine too– wow! Super cool! Definitely going back.

The Community Acupuncture Studio is great. You might know it as the place where people are all in the same treatment room at once instead of in private rooms. That might sound weird, but it’s actually what I like about it.
In a typical Western acupuncture setting, you talk to your acupuncturist for a while, then get undressed and lay on a table, where you get needled and then «rest» by yourself for a half hour, after which they come remove the needles and check up on your progress.
In the Community Acupuncture setting, modeled more on typical Asian clinics, you wear something that leaves your arms exposed from the elbow down, and your legs exposed from the knee down, kick back in a big lounge chair, and the acupuncturist listens to the pulses in your wrists to see how you’re doing inside. Then she places needles in your arms, legs, and sometimes head, puts a blankie on you, and lets you rest.
This is my favorite part and one of the biggest advantages of the group model: you get to stay as long as you want. As long as you need.
When I get acupuncture, almost always, I’m immediately sucked into an irresistible nap. And it’s a powerful nap. Things are happening inside the nap. It wouldn’t be as good if I had to get up in exactly half an hour. So whether I marinate in my treatment for forty-​five minutes or for two and a half hours (it’s happened before,) I get what I need in this setting.
I also like the fact that I’m around other people. At first I was concerned about lack of privacy, but I found that the atmosphere of other people seeking their health encouraged me.
And as a bonus, it’s also much more affordable than other acupuncture: the sliding scale is $ 20-​$ 40 per treatment. (If you make $ 20,000/yr or less, you pay $ 20, and then it goes up roughly in proportion to how many thousands of dollars per year you make.) And if you walk, bike, or come on the bus, you get $ 5 off.
Gianna McManus, the acupuncturist, is very talented and also has a great understanding of Five Elements Chinese Medicine and can make recommendations about diet and herbs to help supplement your treatment. I really admire how she started the clinic immediately after graduating from Bastyr: she had a dream of providing affordable, quality acupuncture, and she just jumped right in and did it.
It’s a different model of acupuncture than most Western practitioners do, more like the way it’s practiced in Asia, which makes it more affordable but not less effective.