I found Andreea on Yelp today. I had sharp pain in my upper back/lower neck with pain radiating down my left arm. So thankful to have found her. Although she referred me to a good chiropractor, she worked on me for a short time and I noticed a dramatic difference about ten minutes later. No longer taking pain meds now and was able to swim 2 miles today mostly pain free. She didn't want to charge me because it was short and she felt I needed a chiropractor to adjust. She genuinely cared for my well being. Thank you Andreea. read more

Well, I can zip up a dress again without wincing through awkward gymnastics. After a single session. My right shoulder had been plaguing me for months. My range of motion was significantly limited and I was in pain every time I tested those boundaries. I had plenty of massages and acupuncture, but nothing relieved the issue. I decided to give Andreea a call, and I'm so glad I did. Now, bear in mind, this is no zen spa experience. Don't come in here for dim lights and gentle atmospheric piano. I at one point compared it to childbirth (in a learning to be present with discomfort way, not in a dear god there's a human exiting me way). It was intense. But immediately afterward, I sat up and scratched my back. Big whoop, you think? Indeed. I hadn't been able to do so without pain in at least six months. This was an investment, but Andreea got the job done in a single session. I even asked if I needed to come back, and she was completely transparent that she didn't think I needed to, but of course was welcome back if anything came up in the future -- zero upselling pressure. If you're experiencing pain and nothing's worked, I highly recommend getting in here and getting better. read more

It's not an overstatement when I call Andreea a life saver. I came to Andreea about 6 months ago in extreme pain due to a car accident. I had already gone through months of physical therapy and chiropractic care for my neck and back with only minor improvements. I was desperate for pain relief! I knew I needed some deep tissue work and not a superficial feel good massage - Andreea fits the bill! At my first session she did some hands on bodywork and also taught me some somatic exercises to do at home to release and ease the pain and tension. I left in less pain and with tools to help myself. What she was able to teach me in the one session far surpassed the fairly useless stretches and exercises my physical therapists had given me. I've continued to see Andreea and have made leaps and bounds in healing my body. The mix of deep tissue and trigger point techniques shes uses are very effective. She is kind, warm and intuitive and as a larger bodied person, it's noteworthy that I've felt very at ease having Andreea work with me on my body. She's truly a loving healer and empath. The space she works from, Hibiscus Spa, is calm, quiet and welcoming and has easy street parking. She also has very accommodating hours. I'll say it again, Andreea is a life saver! read more

Andreea is an amazing healer. Plus, she is more than willing to work with your budget and accommodate your availability. Per a friends recommendation, I contacted Andreea after a wisdom teeth surgery gone array to help with lock jaw and intense muscle pain. Prior to Andreea, I had 4 surgeries, including the wisdom teeth removal, and as a result, I had severe pain in my muscles and limited range of motion. I was hoping that through muscle work I would be able to increase my opening range and decrease my pain level. She worked with my price range, which was extremely helpful to me. After receiving all of my medical bills I was definitely in a poor financial place. And after hearing my story, Andreea was more than happy to work with my sliding scale. Additionally, she was great at scheduling appointments at odd times. She even worked with me once for 2 hours at 9:30pm...ending around 11:30pm! Which was amazing. Her work is great, and she has really helped my pain and range of motion. For lockjaw, she works very closely with your jaw muscles and she even does some internal work where she massages your gums and muscles and breaks up scar tissue. Definitely unique and awesome! Additionally, she worked with my shoulders, back, and sacrum---since these are the primary areas that are connected to your jaw. Andreea's bedside manner couldn't be better. She is sweet, accommodating, and very professional. She is quite knowledgeable and really displays genuine care and concern for her patients. read more

Andreea is a life saver. When an exercise incident left me in pain, she quickly isolated the source and worked the muscles back into a manageable condition. She also prescribed some naturopathic anti-inflammatories that were useful in my recovery. read more

I've been living with a back pain for the most of my life. I made countless attempts to heal it or understand it by working with various doctors (and even was hospitalized) or other programs . Everybody was just giving a simple answer like "you spend too much near computer", but none of their solutions made any difference. Massages, exercises, stretches... And nothing helped me for more than a day. Andreea is completely different. She didn't reduce my problem to a single issue like many others tried. She spent time analyzing the way my body behaves, showed me and explain the systematic issues I had: how a seemingly irrelevant muscles in a part of my body changed the balance and behavior of other muscles and how it was all a self supporting in a bad way system of wrong overcorrections. It would be a tough work to break out of this circle, but first-time in my life I finally feel I have an understanding of what is wrong and the path to fix it. read more

Andreea was amazing. She managed to really alleviate the back pain I had been suffering from and my shoulder, which has been hurting for a year, feels infinitely better. I can't wait til my next session! read more

Andrea is by far one of the best massage therapists I have ever been to. I highly, highly recommend her if you have chronic pain or stress in your life. ANDREA WILL FIX YOU! She is extremely knowledgeable about the body and is very intuitive in her work. She has trained in yoga, martial arts and various styles of massage. You will not regret a session with Andrea and will most likely leave feeling great and learning a bit about yourself as well. I wish I could give more stars. read more

Update to my review, which I posted last year. I finished my 10 sessions of Rolfing about 6 months ago, and when I was done, I had grown 1/2 an inch, due to the decompression I experienced. I have had a few maintenance sessions, and each time, I feel 100% relief when I leave. I would say that on a daily basis after going through this process, I'm 95% pain free, leaving that 5% for random shoulder flair-ups after I play raquetball, which are always relieved when I do the exercises Andreea gave me to help me maintain. I feel the need to comment on the 2 star review by Mik A ... not quite sure what this guy is talking about. Andreea's prices are absolutely reasonable for the amount of time she spends with you. No, the rolfing wasn't CHEAP as an over-all dollar amount, but the VALUE of all of Andreea's services far exceed the price. She has a wonderful energy, she's extremely intuitive -- and professional -- and her knowledge of anatomy is unmatched. Her studio is not in a heavily trafficked area in El Cerrito, and it's virtually never noisy. Half the time I'm there, we're the only people in the building, which brings me to my next point, that Andreea goes out of her way to accommodate my schedule whenever she can, scheduling both early and late appointments if she needs to. And I think I've been to her about 20 time and have never once been freezing cold in there. Never. I wonder if this person has even been to her, honestly, or if he's just another less-good practitioner trying to sabotage her business... I've sent a total of 7 people to Andreea, and have had all positive reviews and nearly all have been repeat customers. I am already working on getting a few new coworkers to make appointments as well, because she's the first person who pops into my head every time someone complains about chronic pain. I can't say enough wonderful things about her or her services. read more

Andreea is easily the most intuitive, communicative, and effective body worker I have ever seen. I started seeing her after I threw out my back and was having significant lower back pain for months. She started working with me, using somatic therapy to address my back pains, and eventually expanded out to encompass all of my muscle soreness and physical issues. I'm now virtually pain free and have an arsenal of exercises that provide relief when flare ups do occur. Where most Chiros, CMTs, etc. have only one tool to address body problems, Andreea is extremely knowledgeable in a variety of techniques and methodologies, allowing her to tailor the therapy to exactly what she believes is occurring in your body. Before seeing her, I assumed that all practitioners had the problem of "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". Not Andreea. She is incredible at assessing your body's motions and pains and providing a complex diagnosis that reflects the complexity of musculoskeletal disorders. She then can use a spectrum of tools to resolve the individual components of the pain's source. I also want to address the negative review that Mik A. posted below. I seriously question whether this person ever actually saw Andreea. The only accurate thing in that review is that her room is very small. However, it is ample space for her to do the work she needs, and I've never felt uncomfortable there. Every thing else this person wrote is flat out false. Andreea is one of the sweetest, most professional, and most accommodating people I have ever been a client of. Her prices are completely reasonable for the quality of work and the length of the appointments. For sessions that routinely last 1.5 to 2 hours, she could easily charge much more than she does. I have never had her cancel an appointment on me, and she bends over backwards to find a time that's convenient for my busy schedule. She never watches the clock - her appointments take however long they take and she will always answer as many questions as you want to ask. I've sent a number of friends to her and every one of them has been overjoyed with the quality of care they received. If you want true relief from bodily pains and chronic issues, go see Andreea and you will not be disappointed. read more

I am now learning to walk correctly after years of stiff legs, feet and ankles. With the help of Andreea watching and teaching me the correct way to move and balance my hips and position my legs, I am on a new course to healthy walking and posture. It takes new learning - but I will get there. Thanks, Susan read more

To put it simply, "Yes". What I was looking for was less than I found. To put that another way so as to not be misunderstood; Go to Andreea at Ahimsa on Stockton in El Cerrito! Those who know a good bodywork session also know that feeling when she leaves and it's time to get off the table and get dressed and your body, being so much wiser, wonders "why?" and you standup and the world starts coming slowly back and you are "there". That space where we seeking types should live, those of us who have always out-done it and tried to reach farther physically and spiritually. I won't tell you how long I have appreciated massage, but i will tell you my birth year was just after the invention of water :) . And the few adept body workers I have met both spiritually, emotionally and on a physical/mechanical plane just increased by one. read more

I have never been so impressed by a health practitioner's intuition, caring, and proficiency. I spent three months suffering from symptoms that completely disappeared the day after my first meeting with Andreea. I wish I'd found her sooner, and if I ever have those problems again, she's who I'll call. I found the studio to be comfortable, the location to be safe and convenient (the journey from BART is a ten-minute walk through a residential area), and the prices to be reasonable. Andreea was available almost immediately and was flexible in scheduling follow-up appointments. The "splurge" designation is inaccurate. Andreea's rates are comparable to what you'd pay for a massage, but she provides a more deeply therapeutic service, one that was the only effective option for me. I'm a frugal person on a modest budget, and I had no problem paying what I paid for the relief I continue to feel. It's a shame that she has to be penalized with "$$$$" because there's no equivalent practitioner around. And besides, this isn't dinner and drinks, it's your health. read more

This is the first Yelp review I've written, and I'm doing so because of the amazing help I received from Andreea. Like many other reviewers here, I went to western doctors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, massage therapists, and others. They all helped in some ways, but I was still feeling significant muscle tension and some pain for many months. Andreea understood my situation immediately and gave me an understanding of the problem and ways to fix it. Not just provide relief. I am extremely grateful to her. She has a deep knowledge of the body as well as a wide breadth of modalities and expertise. I have other friends who swear by her - from deep massage to situations like mine. I can't recommend her enough. Do yourself a favor and see her. read more

I have been getting body work regularly for over 30 years and I have never met anyone with Andreea;s abilities. Andreea has an impressive knowledge of physiology and is expert at a wide variety of body work techniques. One of the things that makes Andreea unique is her uncanny intuition and ability to hone in on areas that need attention even if you are not aware of it when you come to see her. I have had a number of chronic injuries cured by Andreea that have allowed me to continue to maintain an athletic lifestyle in my 50's. Having Andreea work on me is a wonderful experience and I highly recommend her. read more

I continue to see Andreea regularly for bodywork. I was fortunate enough to be referred to Andreea several years ago by a local acupuncturist who was unable to fully threat my neck pain. After years of poor posture and stress, I developed CHRONIC pain and immobility originating from the right side of my neck. With the first session, I was able to move my neck more than I had in about two years. I continued my work with Andreea and really began to embrace the process. In the five years I've been seeing her, I've completed two sessions of Zen biotherapy (10 consecutive sessions working on different parts of the body for the purposes of restore me to proper alignment) and endless monthly sessions. I stand taller and straighter than I ever have. Many who haven't seen me in years tend to think I've either lost weight or attribute my overall healthier demeanor to a new hair cut, but I know the root lies in the healing work with Andreea. As a client of several years (not simply a session or two), I can say that Mik A.'s comments could not be farther from the truth. Andreea is extremely accommodating with regards to scheduling appointments and has yet to cancel. Her prices are reasonable considering she is very generous with her time. I've often been her last client of the day and time is the least of her concerns. The building lacks luxury, but her space is cozy and inviting. Overall, I've recommended many to Andreea and continue to do so. I'm a devoted client and see her about once a month for maintenance because I've wholeheartedly benefited from bodywork. For those of you reading these reviews, Mik A. stands out as the least representative of all the postings. I suggest you try it yourself and form your own opinion...I've given you mine. :-) read more

I went through Andreea's rolfing sessions and movement instructions and she helped me incredibly--I feel great! She is insightful, knowledgeable and very competent--and also very humerous. Her sessions are a delight! I recommend her to anyone with aches and pains and movement limitations or simply to advance wellness. read more

Andreea is great! I have worked with her on and off for the past 5 years. Andreea never has cancelled a session on me and is very reliable. Andreea has helped me with my repetative stress injury while working the whole time I have had it and now almost completely healed it. When Andreea works with me it is like she feels what I feel, and together we find the places where I am holding and then release it. Andreea is always learning more techniques and different forms of healing. Andreea is clear with her energy and is open to whatever you bring in the room, without judgement. I highly recommend her and give her 5 stars! read more

One of the things I depend on with Andreea, is that when I am in pain she is always there. If I am less in need she will reschedule with me when someone else is in crisis. I have always felt I received more than I expected could happen. Andreea is dedicated to her clients pain-free living. Thank you for changing my life and my view of my body. gratefully, Linda read more