Our Massage Therapists
Abe
Walnut Creek
Abe graduated with Honors from NHI in 2014 and has spent the last 5-6 years refining the skills he learned. While on the NHI sports team he began to fuse modalities like sports massage with Shiatsu and Thai massage, and developed a love for clinical massage that addresses specific pains or health issues. A World traveler, he has played many different sports!
Modalities he uses include Swedish, Shiatsu, Thai, Deep tissue, Myofascial Release, Sports, and Anxiety release/ relaxing if necessary (and combos of).
Abe enjoys learning about and helping his clients meet their unique goals.
Amy
Walnut Creek & Danville
Growing Up in the East Bay and Delta area, Amy began studying yoga at her Dr.’s recommendation after she experienced some sciatic flare ups. This experience sparked a life-long interest in healing arts offered outside of traditional western medicine. In addition to massage therapy, she has since studied Reiki, Shamanic training, crystal healing, and other healing art forms, and holds three teaching certifications in Yoga. She works with clients to explore their daily activities and to discover what may be creating barriers to their healing process. She has volunteered providing Reiki to hospice patients and caregivers, and enjoys all water sports, including scuba and kayaking.
Chelsea
Walnut Creek
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Chelsea has always been an avid lover of movement, dabbling in various sports, hiking, theater and dance.
She graduated from National Holistic Institute Advanced Neuromuscular program, and has since become an enthusiast of puzzles of the human body. Her perspective on massage is that you are the expert on your body and its sensations, her job is to help you find the right tools in and out of session to achieve your goals. Goals can range from stress release and relaxation to targeted focus work dealing with injury or chronic pain. Her priority is working with you to make sure each session meets your needs and is happy to make adjustments as they are needed. She specializes in Swedish, Myofascial and Neuromuscular therapy.
Claudia
Danville
After years of athletics and countless injuries that have needed time to heal, Claudia understands the importance of self care and maintenance a person needs to have a steady recovery. During her time at school, National Holistic Institute, she also gained experience at San Jose State University with the Athletic Training department treating their athletes for recovery from an injury or prepping for a game.
She has a background in massage therapy at a chiropractic office and wellness center where she learned from different individuals on how to care for specific areas due to stress and injuries ranging from car accidents to sports related. With a knowledge of kinesiology, current studies in psychology, and years of experience as a soccer player, she brings a focus of therapeutic work for individuals that have experienced injuries, traumas, stress, pain or are seeking general maintenance for the body. She comes with a heavy hand, but understands that every person is different and adjusts the pressure accordingly to the client’s standards.
Gina Tibbs
Walnut Creek & Danville
Gina Tibbs, HHP, Instructor / Therapist, is the founder of Loosen up Bodywork. As a practitioner, her focus is on listening to her clients’ experience, to help them understand their bodies’ needs, and to create a plan to reduce pain that will work for their lifestyle. Her sessions range in intensity depending on clients’ needs but clients always walk away feeling like they understand more about their condition and empowered to care for themselves.
Her goal as a mentor and business owner has always been to connect people with practitioners who have the unique skills to help them. Massage therapy is a vast field of specialties and each requires time to master. Gina takes pride in bringing talented therapists into Loosen Up and helping them build a fulfilling practice where their unique skills can be honed and utilized by the people they can most help.
Jacki
Danville
Jacki, a Certified Advanced Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, fell into massage by generously giving her friends a massage. With 15 years of practice, Jacki is a forever sponge, always willing to soak up the knowledge of the body.
She was an instructor at IPSB College teaching Hydrotherapy and Self-Care and at Pacific College of Health and Science teaching Tui Na Massage. She is a fan of all things Disney, Harry Potter, Spice Girls, SF Giants, and 49ers, to name a few. She may be a child at heart, but she always shows professionalism, maturity, and dedication to massage and her clients.
Jacki incorporates and specializes in Deep Tissue, Neuromuscular Therapy, Tui Na, and Swedish. In her sessions, she is thorough at finding “troubled” muscles that could help alleviate the origin of pain or discomfort. She enjoys making “sandwiches” in her session – start with a bit of Swedish to see how the muscles feel (something nice), add more pressure – if needed – with additional focus (no so nice part), finish it with a more soothing technique (make nice), and add some stretching where needed.
Kawika
Walnut Creek
Kawika is a longtime movement and fitness enthusiast having grown up playing soccer and racquet sports, shifting to competitive marksmanship and later becoming a military diver in the Coast Guard serving with 10+ years of honorable service working in the fields of Emergency Management and search and rescue. He began his massage training in 2019 to focus on helping people on a more individual basis and graduated from McKinnon Body Therapy Center having focused on Deep tissue, Swedish, Thai and Shiatsu modalities.
Kennadi
Walnut Creek
Kennadi’s life has always focused on fitness & wellness, which has led her to a career in massage therapy. She is a graduate of the National Holistic Institute and Advanced Neuromuscular Program. Her passion for massage and anatomy combined with her friendly personality & communication skills result in her clients feeling both relaxed and restored.
Krystal
Walnut Creek
Krystal Cade brings deep tissue massage to the table with a chiropractic background.
Kyle
Walnut Creek & Danville
Kyle has 7 years worth of both clinical and spa oriented massage experience. This gives him a unique ability to provide healing using therapeutic technique , while also having the ability to relax the body and mind using the traditional Swedish modalities. He is also versed in craniosacral therapy, reflexology and neuromuscular stretching. Kyle has additional experience providing prenatal and postnatal massage therapy to maximize comfort and recovery from pregnancy.
His background in chiropractic environments gives him a very western medicine outlook to massage therapy. He loves to work with clients to find the work they need from massage and also educate them about work they need to do at home to get the best paths to pain free living. He customizes each session to exactly what you are looking for that day, combining a mix of modalities and techniques to fulfill your needs.
Being a former full time athlete and coach, he is very adept with both common everyday muscle issues as well as sports related injuries. Having family that work in the medical field, he also has a soft spot for supporting those who are working in the front lines of western medicine.
Leslie
Walnut Creek
Leslie has been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 2005. Before being “touched” by the healing power of massage therapy, which helped her overcome a deep-seated injury, she always knew that she wanted to help others heal. She creates customized treatment plans, complete with education on self-treatment protocols to utilize for recovery, maintenance, and mobility between sessions, along with referrals to other complementary health pros if needed.
Her style of massage is deeply relaxing and intuitive, working with the body and not against it, making her a sought-after therapist for clients with fibromyalgia. She occasionally likes to incorporate cupping to help “unglue” the tissues in a more gentle way. Leslie’s expertise lies in the realms of integrated, restorative deep tissue, and prenatal work. She continues to enrich her practice with a current interest in manual lymphatic drainage, Tragerwork, and aromatherapy. She is also happy to incorporate reflexology and subtle energy work upon request.
Her client base has ranged from “desk-bound warriors,” weekend warriors, amateur/collegiate/
Leslie is a certified YoMassage instructor, Mindfulness Facilitator and Kid’s Breathwork teacher. She is currently completing her Doula and Childbirth Educator certifications.
She works with all body types, injuries, ages and gender identities. Her goal is to treat each client with compassion, respect, love and hope. A “master of the art of pressure,” Leslie draws upon her background and trainings to create a very thorough, individualized experience that is not only therapeutic, but deeply relaxing.
Lily
Walnut Creek
Lily has been practicing massage since 2004. Her sessions are a “therapeutic flow” with her focus being to help people keep moving their bodies.
“The only constant in life is change.”
– Heraclitus
The human body’s ability to heal and adapt has always fascinated her.
With over 1,000 educational hours in massage therapy, injury care and prevention, and athletic training, Lily will use a variety of modalities and techniques to develop a session plan for you. Deep Tissue, Trigger Point, Sports, and Facilitated Stretching – to name a few. Lily is a perpetual student and has completed a myriad of certifications in the health and fitness industries. Her resume is just as diverse in the types of work she has done and she is currently perusing certification as a Medical Assistant set to graduate in April.
She is excited to be a part of the Loosen Up team and to help those who she may cross paths with. Her clients always report deep relief from pain and always come out of their sessions happy.
Marcial Castillo
Walnut Creek
Marcial comes to us with a wonderful, wide-ranging mix of knowledge from Western and Eastern massage modalities as well as Native/Latin American Shamanic healing arts. He found massage through his mentors, learning the art of Esalen massage and has lectured at UC Berkeley and the University of Northridge on his experience combining energy work with massage. After an injury to his own back, Marcial began to study ways to heal soft tissue.
He found Mckinnon Massage in Oakland and began specializing in deep tissue and sports massage.
Marcial knew he was meant to work with people and the body and utilizes multiple techniques from all such modalities to bring balance back to “you” your body.
Modalities: Swedish, Deep Tissue and Sports, Shiatsu, Acupressure, Lymphatic Drainage, Esalen, Shamanic and Curanderismo.
Michael Cuglietta
Walnut Creek
Michael found massage through his own athletic endeavors competing in track and field and trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials in 1996. During this time he discovered the benefits of receiving massage for improving performance and for preventing injuries. Michael is a USATF certificated coach and works with two local high school teams as well as amateur runners needing help with training plans.
Michael is also a Sports/DT Massage Instructor and has considerable knowledge of anatomy and muscle function. He is happy to explain techniques and very helpful in understanding the path to take for better muscle function. Being a running coach and having worked in shoe retail as well, he is able to analyze gait and give advice on running shoes and equipment.
“Massage is an important part of one‘s routine for peak performance. Whether you are a weekend warrior or a pro athlete, none of us want to suffer through an injury and/or be sidelined from our activity. Reaching for the best range-of-motion and the ability to rely on your muscles’ full capacity will save your body, mind and spirit.”
Michael
Walnut Creek & Danville
My work is a fusion of structural techniques, Ortho-Bionomy, Deep Tissue, and Cranial Sacral techniques. The approach addresses many skeleton-muscular dysfunctions: back and headache pain, rotator cuff dysfunctions, scoliosis, and hypermobile joints. I have had a lot of success working to help with postsurgical pain, TMJ, and whiplash injuries. Athletes with sports injuries, active folks, and those wanting to address chronic or acute pain will benefit a lot from my work.
If you have had surgeries or are anticipating surgeries this work is ideal. I have worked with clients post heart valve replacements, heart attacks, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This work is deeply relaxing and healing. It is non-invasive, and does not cause pain, nor does it use painful techniques to release pain. I am excited to be working with you here at Loosen Up Bodywork.
Mitch
Walnut Creek
Mitch Pengilly studied the core massage program at the National Holistic Institute before going on to complete its advanced neuromuscular therapy program. He has been a massage therapist for 6 years, having worked in a variety of settings ranging from corporate chair massage events to spas to the clinical rehabilitative field he currently enjoys.
His experiences growing up with chronic pain inspired his decision to pursue massage therapy. The body mechanics and self-care techniques he learned through his massage education helped him alleviate his condition and enjoy a vastly improved quality of life. Now he wants to use what he’s learned to help other people struggling with their own forms of pain, both through massage and through advising clients on exercises and practices they can adopt in their daily lives to reduce that pain.
With the newfound energy and relief that massage has provided him, he likes being active in a variety of ways, including archery, Muay Thai/kickboxing, and rock climbing, but he enjoys a wide range of nerdy interests as well.
He employs a background in myofascial release and trigger point therapy–combined with techniques incorporated mainly from Shiatsu, sports massage, pin and stretch, and Thai–to find and release tension in his clients. He is passionate about his work and deeply grateful for the opportunity to offer this service to people.
Mykala
Walnut Creek
Mykayla is passionate about helping facilitate healing through bodywork. Having completed her education through National Holistic Institute, she has worked in a chiropractic setting with people from all walks of life including athletes, veterans, children, seniors, prenatal clients, as well as people with limited abilities, providing therapeutic touch on a need basis.
Whether you are recovering from an injury, dealing with chronic pain, stress, or other ailments, Mykayla believes each person has their own unique needs, and that can all benefit from massage. Client safety, communication and satisfaction are her priorities, and she will listen attentively, educate, and guide clients so that they can take charge of their health, become in tune with their bodies and receive exceptional service.
Paul
Walnut Creek
As someone who played sports, and then followed that up with becoming a coach, Paul figured out early what could relieve strained muscles. Professional massage was a natural progression of helping over-used muscles on their way to healing. Paul is a 2011 graduate of The College of Healthcare Professions, of Houston, TX.
According to Paul, massage has changed the course of his life! “I find it so fulfilling because I get to help people through difficult situations. And, of course, every body is unique, so really listening to my clients is the best way to give a customized massage – tailored to their specific needs. Their goals become my goals, as I try to provide positive ongoing results.
Trang Phan
Walnut Creek & Danville
As a marathon runner and rock climber, Trang understands that it is crucial to maintain health and balance of the body for it to perform its best. She earned her bachelor’s degree in physiology, from which she gained extensive knowledge in the functions and anatomy of the human body. Coupled with her training from School of Holistic Touch, Trang thoughtfully works with each client to treat both major and minor injuries, prevent future injuries, and restore strength and mobility in order to maximize the functional capacity of the body. Modalities include Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports, and Lymphatic Drainage.
