I can’t recommend Amanda highly enough. I began seeing Amanda about two months ago for tui-na massage at the Octagon North clinic in Oakland as an adjunct to acupuncture treatment. I quickly came to appreciate that her natural gifts as a healer, combined with her eclectic and in-depth training as a psycho-somatic practitioner, far exceeded the realm of «body work.» She works empathically with her voice as well as her hands, and has a knack for honing in on the root causes of where I’m feeling ungrounded or seeking greater balance. My initial 20 minute session quickly turned into hour-long weekly sessions — made possible by her extremely reasonable hourly fee. I’ve heard it said that«the issue’s in the tissue.» I love that. And truly, I’m amazed at how skilled Amanda has been in honing in on several stubbornly held beliefs I’ve held that seem to lead directly to restrictive somatic patterning, aka stuck places, in my body. Within only a couple of weeks I noticed myself feeling less rigid in my posture, less anxious throughout the day, and more effortlessly relaxed and alert — basically, less in my head and more in my body. So nice! I know this seems like a hyperbolic review, but as a psychologist with a long-standing interest in exploring Eastern and Western approaches to healing, I’ve come into contact with a wide variety of healing practitioners over the years, and come away underwhelmed by many. Amanda, whose sensitivity, humility, humor and intelligence are immediately apparent, is the real deal. I’ve come to think of her as a bona fide«shamama» :)