Where We're Located

                                                         

We are conveniently located in the historic Phelan Building at 760 Market Street, between Grant & O'Farell, right at the North Market exit of the Powell Street MUNI/Bart Station—the same block as Virgin Megastore and CompUSA. We're just off Union Square and just blocks from the Financial District. MAP.

                                                         

Parking

The most convenient parking for your visit to True Massage & Wellness is the Ellis/O'Farrell Garage, with entrances on both O'Farrell and Ellis, between Powell and Stockton. Alternatively, the Fourth and Mission exit of the Fifth and Mission Garage is just two blocks away.

                                                               

There's plenty of natural light, and a warm, but simple decor with photographs by Director Mary F. Jenn, and original artwork by Bay Area artists Mel Adamson and Mike Kimball.

                           

When you enter our suite, you will be in our waiting area. If you are early for your appointment, feel free to take some time to do whatever you need to do: make sure your cell phone is off, use the restroom and help yourself to some water.

                                                         

About Us and Our Work

                                                               

                      

Michael LaCroix, CMT

Michael has over five years experience as a massage therapist and works with several massage techniques: swedish massage, clinical deep tissue, sports, trigger-point, acupressure, and reiki. He spent a year working at Marin General Hospital as a volunteer where he gave complimentary health care to patients to aid them in coping with pain, stress, anxiety, and in overall treatment support.

                                                               

With his studies studies including the McKinnon Institute, The Acupressure Institute, and the Body Therapy Center, Mike brings both Eastern and Western perspectives to his body-work approach by influencing Chi (life-force energy), and manipulating soft tissue to correct muscular imbalances that lead to chronic pain and discomfort, lethargy and sickness.

                                                               

He has studied Aikido and Qi Gong for eight years and brings what he has learned about centering and integrating the energy body with the physical body to his massage practice. Mike also gives his clients various exercises they can do for self care in the way of strengthening and stretching as well as preventing the perpetuation of existing conditions. In his free time he enjoys traveling with his beautiful wife to coastal vistas and vineyards.

                                                               

                                            

Lauren Wandell, CMT, RYT

Lauren has been a massage therapist since 2001 with over 750 hours of training in various techniques including Acupressure, deep tissue, Craniosacral therapy, Thai massage, Reiki, Neuromuscular therapy, Myofascial release and other modalities.

                                                               

She has also been teaching yoga since 2006. She trained extensively with a Parayoga teacher for over four years and received a 220 hour certification from a Sivananda Advaita Vedanta ashram. She is currently enrolled in the yoga philosophy program at CIIS and at the Healing Yoga Foundation teacher training in the Krishnamacharya lineage.

                                                               

Lauren has a particular fondness for facilitating and supporting the healing process of individuals who are recovering from injuries or trauma. Whether it's source is something physical or emotional she is more than happy to take the time to help you figure out what will be useful for you during your session.

                                                               

                                            

Brittani Karhoff, CMT

Britt comes to bodywork from a long-standing interest in the body and its ability to restore and heal itself. She has a calm and caring touch and enjoys watching the body unravel. Her studies at McKinnon Body Therapy Center include Swedish massage, Pre-natal and Infant massage, Elder massage, and Shiatsu. Britt also holds a BFA in Dance from UC Santa Barbara where she studied modern dance, composition, improvisation, and contact improvisation. She enjoys bringing the playful and creative qualities from dance into all her bodywork sessions.

                                                               

Britt has performed with local dance companies Joe Goode Performance Group, Flyaway Productions, Project Bandaloop, and Dance Monks. She loves to sing, play, and adventure whenever she can.

                                                               

                                            

Elizabeth Cover, CMT

Elizabeth was inspired to become a body worker from the moment her feet touched the sand in Hawaii. She discovered that university, though fulfilling, left a gap in work that truly made a difference. She dreamed of working with people and being able to provide a space where the body can release, and the mind can let go. Her journey took her to Maui to fulfill dreams of living a healthy, holistic, and invigorating lifestyle. While living there, she kept in her daily practice of yoga, which soon took her to the Maui School of Therapeutic Massage. She spent the next year working diligently on honing her skills, which include many modalities, such as deep tissue, neuromuscular therapy, sports massage, hot stone, polarity, reiki, pregnancy massage, lomi lomi, and reflexology.

Body work is paramount to Elizabeth’s daily life, and she keeps actively pursuing her many passions. She believes that the body, mind, and spirit work together to bring about true wellness in an individual, and her passion and dedication to her many practices of yoga, hiking, reading, writing, and scuba help her address clients with a variety of needs. In addition to being in the field for over five years, she has experience in the spa world of San Francisco as well. Her work at Kamalaspa brought her the influence of Ayurvedic massage, as well as learning much in the realm of relaxation massage. She is also a member of the American Massage Therapy Association as well as being certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Her commitment to her practice and her varied background give a basis for clients with a variety of needs, including relaxation work as well as deeper work addressing very specific therapeutic needs.

                                                               

                                                               

                                            

Caitlin Sweet, CMT

Caitlin Sweet has been a body worker for over five years and studied at East West School of Healing Arts in Portland, Oregon. Her work is deep yet nurturing, intuitive, and customized to each person's needs in the moment. She has studied anatomy, jen shen acupressure, myo-fascial release, and somatics.

                                                           

Caitlin has experience working with clients who are recovering from trauma and injuries, have chronic pain, migraines, repetitive stress injuries, and the over worked and stressed. She believes that bodywork is a fundamental part of wellness and seeks to create well being and pain and stress reduction in her clients. Outside of being a body worker, Caitlin spends her time making art, reading, riding her bike, gardening, and taking care of all the animals in her life, a bunny, a cat, a dog, and a few chickens.

                                                               

                                            

Andy Blum, CMT

Andy's integrative style flows between the edgy manipulation of soft tissue and soothing, subtle bodywork. Coming to us from Kamalaspa, she brings her influence of Ayurvedic massage and combines it with training in Neuromuscular Therapy, Trigger Point Therapy, Shiatsu, Swedish and Connective/Deep Tissue.

                                                           

Andy's passion for bodywork is rooted in her education from the Florida School of Massage, where she graduated in March 2005 with 665 hours of training, including anatomy and physiology. She has since taken continued education ranging from Reiki to Ortho-Bionomy and is certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB).

                                                           

Having used massage to manage her own chronic pain and sleeping disorder, Andy knows first hand the benefits of bodywork. This also lends to her open, compassionate and mindful nature as she listens with her hands and creates space for your body to let go of old holding patterns and move toward harmony and ease. She works with a variety of clients, including those seeking relief from pain associated with repetitive stress like carpel tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, scoliosis and migraine headaches.

                                                           

Outside of the office she volunteers with the Community United Against Violence.

                                                               

                                                               

Director Mary F. Jenn, CMT

I came to massage after years of getting bodywork to alleviate pain from old injuries. There have been times that I was in so much pain that I couldn't get out of bed, so I know what it's like. My work is a bit unconventional, and is informed not only by classes I've taken, but by work that I have experienced, and has worked! Fortunately, I have never taken pain killers or had surgery.

                                                           

I received my professional massage therapist certification in August of 2002 from Phillips School of Massage in Nevada City, CA. My education there included a clinical internship, as well as experience working with the special needs of seniors, sufferers of PTSD and outpatient oncology patients. Since then, I worked at International Orange—a busy San Francisco spa, and APEX Fitness—a Financial District personal training facility. Between those two facilities, I was able to further hone my skills and gained experience with pre-natal massage, as well as the special needs of all sorts of athletes, including runners, dancers, bodybuilders and yogis. I have since taken workshops all over the Bay Area and United States, including a Rotator Cuff workshop and a Cadaver workshop, where we were actaully able to see the muscles and their attachments.

                                                           

I can best describe my work as slow and firm, as I "listen" to the body and how it's responding to the work. I tend to work "on the edge", directly addressing tight nodules and bands of tissue to allow them to release. While I do go into deeper levels of tissue, I believe it is more effective--and more soothing--to do so gradually rather than forcefully.

                                                           

The field of bodywork and massage is so vast and it never ceases to fascinate me. Therefore, I am constantly seeking new ways to more deeply understand the structure of the human body and the body/mind connection. So along with reading books on massage, I've also taken continuing education classes at both the Body Therapy Institute in Palo Alto, The Neuromuscular Institute in Boston, and the San Francisco School of Massage and am certified in Trigger Point Therapy.

                                                           

I graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor's degree from San Jose State University in Studio Art, Computers in Fine Art. During and after college, I worked in technology as a web developer and still enjoy working on my own website.

                                                           

Philosophy

It seems that everyone knows massage is a great way to relax. But why is it? I believe that massage is about more than just working out the knots—it's also a great opportunity to take a time out from our busy lives as workers, family members, friends and parents; to not have to do anything or be anything, but to just be. And breathe.

                                                           

Finally, I never consider myself a "healer" because I believe we each have our own innate ability to heal. It's my place to merely be a facilitator in your healing process. And while it may seem that what I am doing through my work is very healing, I see it as an interactive relationship. Since everybody's different, that means different things for different people. As I always have, I will do everything I can to support my clients in achieving optimal wellness, and will always be glad to share any insight or knowledge they ask me for.

                                                           

Among many volunteer jobs I've held, locally I've done volunteer work with LIttle Brothers Friends of the Elderly, and have been invited to join Charlotte Maxwell, a non-profit that provides complementary health care to underserved women with cancer.