Odigo Wellness Shares Inclusive, Community-Focused Approach to Wellness at New Center

Odigo Wellness recently opened its new wellness center in Minneapolis. This BIPOC-, queer-, immigrant- and woman-owned center is committed to sharing wellness tips, offering a variety of experiences and supporting the overall well-being of its community. The dedicated team of workers, practitioners and staff at Odigo is passionate about helping people move their bodies and nourish their spirits.

Odigo Wellness offers a diverse range of services to meet the needs of the Minneapolis community. The center provides chiropractic care, acupuncture, therapeutic massage and yoga classes. In addition, they offer specialized wellness approaches such as Somatic Experiencing, functional medicine, manual lymphatic drainage and dance movement psychotherapy. These services aim to help regulate the nervous system, among other wellness benefits. The practitioners at Odigo prioritize delivering high-quality care to their clients and patients.

Marakah Mancini de León, the Director of Cooperative Strategy at Odigo Wellness, describes the center’s opening as a dream come true. Mancini De León loves having a range of clients from any gender or cultural background. She truly appreciates when her clients want to heal themselves and feels really grateful to be able to help them on their journeys.

She deeply appreciates the other practitioners, many of whom also describe working at Odigo as a dream job.

“Buying our building was a huge leap of faith and a very heavy lift — but we feel strongly about the level of agency it gives us,” Mancini de León says.

The wellness center is collectively owned by a group of individuals committed to promoting health and wellness. This model of communal ownership represents an innovative approach to community care, one that emphasizes health and wellness for all. The development of Odigo Wellness was also made possible through the support of partners such as Vision Bank, Fortis Capital and the City of Minneapolis’ Two Percent Loan program.

“Community care means that we take care of each other. That is baked into the recipe at Odigo and has evolved naturally in so many ways,” Mancini de León says.

Odigo Wellness is particularly proud of its support for the LGBTQ+ community in Minneapolis. The center offers a range of services for individuals who have undergone gender-affirming surgeries. Many of Odigo’s providers are queer and LGBTQ+-affirming, ensuring that clients feel supported and cared for in a safe environment.

“Some of our offerings are particularly useful for re-balancing the nervous system during times of stress, overwhelm or uncertainty,” Mancini de León says. “Other modalities are especially helpful following surgery, such as manual lymphatic drainage, which I love offering after gender-affirming surgeries. For anyone planning facial feminization surgery, I highly recommend incorporating craniosacral therapy into the long-term care plan. This gentle approach can help the tissues of the cranium find their new place of balance after such significant work.”

In a recent press release, Marakah Mancini de León shared the journey that led to the creation of Odigo Wellness:

“This space and this dream would not have been possible without the support of the brilliant people who have dedicated their careers to fostering genuine community development … we were committed to creating stability for practitioners and building programs that serve our incredible community. This was only possible because of community-minded funding streams and the individuals who do the work.”

The newly renovated building was inspired by a small group of practitioners who wanted to create a center that provided care aligned with their values for the community. Odigo Wellness also partners with organizations such as Queermunity and Justicia Law to strengthen their community connections.

Understanding the importance of accessible wellness services, Odigo offers sessions such as Community Acupuncture and Community Reiki at affordable prices. They also provide a sliding scale to make their services more accessible, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. The wellness center is BIPOC-, queer-, immigrant- and women-owned, which guides their commitment to offering culturally aware and accessible services. Odigo is also inclusive because it recognizes that chronic pain and other disabilities disproportionately affect marginalized communities.

“A huge part of our mission is to support both community members and providers alike — which means finding creative ways to balance affordability for clients with sustainability for the people doing the work,” Mancini de León says. “Community acupuncture and community reiki are great examples of this approach: both are offered on a sliding scale, with clients sharing space.”

To learn more about Odigo Wellness and sign up for a session, visit OdigoWellness.com.