Ommmango Wellness
Before opening Ommmango Wellness, her acupuncture and massage therapy studio in Fort Greene, Gina Pierre had already gone through a few transitions. She’d had a career in modern and West African dance. After becoming a mother in her 20s, she reinvented herself as a schoolteacher. “I knew I needed to do something that served others, but the solution I was looking for really was healing,” she says. Pierre found her modality of choice in acupuncture (she’s also a licensed massage therapist), opening Ommmango Wellness six years ago.
The self-described Brooklyn girl, who moved to the borough from Haiti at age eight, explains the practice’s name as a combination of her dedication to holistic wellness and her Caribbean heritage. “Om is the universal sound of all things, and mango is my very favorite tropical fruit,” she says smilingly, still tickled by the hybrid. “I grew up eating so much mango, and the Haitian mango, if you’ve ever tried it, is one of the best!”
Though located on the well-beaten path of Fulton Street, Ommmango Wellness bears the qualities of a serene, remote getaway. “My training comes from integrative health, where we’re taught to focus on being clinical — but I feel healing is spiritual,” says Pierre. So instead of a hospital setting with cold, hard chairs, she sought a comfy retreat with plush couches, soothing candles and a spacious deck for warm-weather yoga sessions.
“Massage therapy is like a band-aid, whereas acupuncture is deeper work that can solve the root issue of what is going on.”
Pierre sings the praises of acupuncture with so much enthusiasm, she could convince even the needle shy. Not that there’s anything at all to fear — the hair-thin needles are painless, gentle and don’t involve any veins. Most important, according to Pierre, are acupuncture’s abounding benefits. “Massage therapy is like a band-aid, whereas acupuncture is deeper work that can solve the root issue of what is going on,” she says. “I love seeing how it supports people with things like uterine fibroids, anxiety and emotional issues, and all kinds of chronic pain. Also being able to send somebody home just feeling relaxed, while closing the door to some of those painful thought patterns, that’s nice too. Acupuncture can reach us in such a deep way: mind, body and spirit.”
759 Fulton Street, 917-715-7532, ommmangowellness.com
