Jan 25, 2017
By Lynn Bondi, owner of Sloth Around Community Acupuncture.
Take a slow, deep, breath. Pause, and then release it. What do you notice? Were your thoughts with your breath, or racing to complete your mental “to-do” list? At Sloth Around Community Acupuncture, we believe in slowing down. We believe in being present. We even believe that sloths may have something to teach us about health and healing. By slowing down, by noticing, by moving with intention, the sloth teaches us how to live life on life’s terms, and how to awaken to the profound beauty that exists in the mundane. This perspective underlies how I run my clinic, and how I approach healing in general.
Community acupuncture is rooted in a deep sense of ‘togetherness.’ Although each patient receives a personalized treatment specific to what they need, treatments occur in a communal room. This connection is very important to me. In a group setting, individuals become part of something larger. There is something profound about the shared intention in a room collectively harnessing each individual’s healing capacity. Your Illness might be isolating, but your healing doesn’t have to be.
Because I approach health from a community perspective, I also believe that health and wellness are impacted by both individual and societal factors. Structural inequalities, like unequal access to healthy food, or being regularly targeted by microaggressions, lead to undesired health outcomes. Treating the individual without addressing the root cause of inequality falsely places the burden of health struggles on individuals. At Sloth Around, we believe in addressing those barriers to health through partnering with local community organizations who have justice and social change as their goals. Through partnership, we collectively work to undo systems which undermine a person or community’s natural tendency towards health and wellness.
We offer all of our services at a sliding scale rate of only $20-50 per treatment. Healthcare is only as effective as it is accessible. We believe that affordable, accessible, and empowering healthcare is a basic human right and I am both proud and grateful that I get to be part of offering that to my community.
I joined the GSBA and became LGBTBE certified because of my strong belief in community. Not too long ago, my own family went through a major health crisis which culminated in my wife receiving an organ transplant. Despite the difficulty, I was frequently overjoyed by the very best of people coming out, coming together, and offering support. The financial and emotional backing to be able to open Sloth Around came from friends, family, patients, and sometimes even strangers. My clinic was opened from a position of extreme gratitude. My hope is that everyone who comes to Sloth Around experiences the care that springs from this gratitude.
Sloth Around. Feel Better.
