About AMBi
How can we build a wellness practice that prioritizes queer, trans and inter, fat, disabled, marginalized, Black people and people of color? How would our interactions and use of language change if they were focused on the wellbeing of all customers?
These questions lead Mag.a* Sunanda Mesquita to open AMBi - the practice for intersectional wellbeing in Vienna, which is open to all people who want to take advantage of holistic wellness and health services. A particular focus here is on communities that are marginalized in multiple ways - who position themselves as BIPoC and/or queer, trans, inter. Wellness services specifically for cis women have become established in Vienna in recent years. However, these services do not actively include trans, inter and non-binary people and BIPoCs, which means that these groups are intentionally or unintentionally excluded. AMBi, a wellness practice in the 7th district run by a genderqueer wellness practitioner of color, closes this gap.
AMBi's services, premises, equipment and use of language are geared towards the wellbeing of all customers and focus on actively breaking down barriers - on a structural, communicative, social, economic, interpersonal and institutional level.
The intersectional approach and the removal of barriers make AMBi a unique place of wellbeing in Vienna. Āyurvedic sessions, massages and bodywork offered by Sunanda Mesquita are complemented by treatments from AMBi's resident practitioners, who offer holistic, preventative and palliative methods for physical and mental wellbeing from the fields of massage, shiatsu, physiotherapy and osteopathy - and share visions in the areas of queer, trans empowerment and anti-racism.
The space is also available for private rental for small events, workshops and 1:1 sessions- please send an email for enquiry about price, dates and conditions.
Inscribe, connect and network - it takes a village
When founding AMBi, it is important to Mag.a* Sunanda Mesquita not to completely reinvent the wheel, but to inscribe into a history of community-oriented organizing of spaces, to connect and network with initiatives that have placed and continue to place the wellbeing of marginalized groups at the center. AMBi follows in the footsteps of WE DEY x SPACE, the art and community space that Mesquita led and co-founded in 2017 - 2019. Maintaining the space was made considerably more difficult by the outbreak of the pandemic and ultimately led to its closure in 2020.
AMBi is inspired by previous as well as parallel initiatives - Casa Kuà in Berlin, Third Root and Meta.den in the USA, Healing Justice Collective and Myxelia in London and many more. - and seeks to connect with those that are still in the making.
“Ambi” means mango sprout in Konkani, Sunanda Mesquita's paternal mother tongue and stands for the potential of a seed breaking through the earth, activating the potential and expressing its own unique form. Everything is already present and united in the seed, all the information is stored and just waiting to be realized. This is the vision of AMBi - the wheelchair-accessible intersectional and transdisciplinary wellness space in Vienna's 7th district. In Latin ambi means “both” and “around”, for Mesquita it stands for “being in between” and contains the potential, strength, inspiration and knowledge that they and many others draw from this state - living as queer BIPoCs within the diaspora in Vienna.
Accessibility
For AMBi accessibility is an ongoing, continuous learning process. We want to understand accessibility as an act of love – referring to the concept born from Mia Mingus, Alice Wong and Sandy Ho – instead of a burden or an after-thought.
Please contact us for more detailed information on the barriers and equipment of the individual offerings or with suggestions and ideas.
- Stepless entrance from the street side
- Wheelchair-accessible sanitary facilities: barrier-free toilets, incl. wheelchair-accessible washbasin and grab rails
- Threshold-free, extra-wide doorways that take wheelchair users' movement areas into account
- Contrast markings on the glass doors
- Non-slip floor tiles in the bathroom, flat roll-over dirt-trapping mats
- Most of the treatments take place on an electrically height-adjustable massage table with an adaptable height of 50 - 105 cm and a width of 80 x length of 200 cm and a maximum load capacity of 180 kg.
- Natural and chemical fragrances are reduced where possible.
- The first appointment of the day can be used for clients with weakened immune systems, furthermore FFP2 masks are worn on request and a HEPA room filter is used. The practice room is of course regularly ventilated between clients.
- For events and workshops, we recommend carrying out an antigen test before attending.
- Please do not attend appointments or workshops if you feel unwell or show symptoms of a cold or flu.
- Some of the treatments are partially covered by health insurance through medical referrals.
- There are a limited number of social tariffs.
- We are dreaming of a Collective Care Fund through which further discounted rates can be offered, but this is still in the making and can be supported by a redistribution of funds, among other things. If you would like to support our Collective Care Fund, please get in touch via the contact form.
CONTACT
AMBi - Praxis für intersektionales Wohlbefinden e.U.
Seidengasse 32/2
1070 Wien
sundanda[at]ambi-space.com