Magical Transformations

I began getting massages from Akheem Shalom (I know I am spelling his name wrong...) in the late 90's, back when he worked as a therapist with UCB's recreational sports facility. Before that he worked as a massage therapist for one of the local hospitals (I remember reading his resume somewhere and that's what it said).

He started his own practice down near the Berkeley/Oakland border a few years ago and he has at least a couple of other female therapists working with him there. I usually ask for Akheem because he has really strong hands and I need those to work on my screwed up computer shoulders and neck.

His office isn't as fancy or "spa" like as some of the really high end and pricy places, but it's comfortable and pretty well isolated from the street noise (it's located on Telegraph near Alcatraz). And besides, when you're faced down and staring at the floor (assuming you haven't fallen asleep yet), that kind of fluffy stuff hardly matters.

He usually uses lavander scented oil for the massage and afterwards wipes you down with nice ,hot, freshly steamed towels.

He's quiet during the massage unless you talk to him, which is what I prefer. I don't like it when they talk too much... :-/

I've been to several different MTs in the past few years, both locally and internationally. I think Akheem is one of the best.

Pros: experienced, hardworking staff. relaxing massages (esp for computer induced pains)

Cons: none that i can think of right now