Services
Office includes services such as:
- Head and Shoulder
- Swedish Massage
- Deep tissue massage
- Acuapressure Massage
- Tuina masage
- Healing Touch
- Hot Stone Massage
- Integrative Acupressure
- Perineal Massage
- Reflexology
- Face Massage
- Four Hands Massage
- Lymphatic Breast Massage
- Full body Massage
- Prostate Massage
Location
1165 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA 94939, United States
Timing
24 hours
Briget
March 23, 2021 at 12:57 pm
I did a 500 hour yoga teacher training a year and a half ago here.
I have over 1000 hours in Yoga Alliance teacher training.
Robin and Lynn Weinberger are soulful teachers with a vast knowledge of therapeutic yoga.
Robin hires skilled professionals .
The Stress Management Center is on par with studio’s such as Yoga Tree.
In fact, if you have special needs or worried about your safety in a yoga class you have come to the right place!!!!!!
I would send anyone new to yoga to The Stress Managment Center.
This is one of the quietest yoga studio’s and massage centers one can patron.
Come see for yourself
Beth
March 23, 2021 at 12:58 pm
I recently had a knee replacement and although it has been 8 months I continue to have pain in both knees. I came to SMC because I need some adaptation to do yoga and I read about Robin Gueth’s ability to develop an individualized yoga plan for before and after joint replacement. I was able to meet with Robin one on one prior to starting yoga classes and it has been a phenomenal experience. Robin is very wise and intuitive and the individual time with her has helped me with a plan for strengthening the muscles above and below my knees. She also noticed other things I could do to gently adapt to my situation. I have benefited so much and I am noticing that I am experiencing less knee pain by following her suggestions for icing and yoga. My experience at SMC has been great and I will keep coming back.
Cf
March 23, 2021 at 12:59 pm
This review is for the MASSAGES I’ve had at “SMC”…I can’t speak to any of the Yoga classes or other services they offer. I’ve only had massages done.
Over the past two years I’ve been here several times for massage to work out the stress and tension I seem to hold on to like a bad habit. I’ve made several observations and seen how this place has consistently gone downhill to the point that I will no longer go there. Here’s why:
First of all, it is rare to ever get a live human on the phone. You’re prompted to “press 4 for massage” and then have to leave a message, launching an endless game of phone-tag to just make a simple appointment. It can be very annoying.
Overall this is a cool two-story space with the large yoga studio downstairs, and two treatment rooms upstairs. The reception area is also a small retail store that seems to change on a monthly basis–first they sold new-age jewelry, then yoga clothes, then the store went away altogether and replaced with someones desk, now back to a new-age book & tchocke shop. It just gives you a kind of disorganized, haphazard feeling every time you walk in there, like they don’t know what they’re doing.
All of the practitioners here are freelancers that simply pay a fee to SMC for the space–no one is an employee. You tell them what you’re looking for and they assign someone to you. The three female masseuses I’ve worked with have all been decent (one really good) but they all seem to leave, move away, disappear at some point. My last masseuse ended up leaving in a dispute with SMC about something. They seem to have a problem holding on to people.
Lastly, and the biggest problem for me, is that of the two treatment rooms upstairs. The first room was huge with a skylight, very quiet, light and airy. The second smaller room also has a skylight and was cozy, but it is unfortunately positioned directly above the bicycle shop next door…so the entire time your treatment is going on you have to listen to the banging and clanging of equipment, and loud people yelling “Dude!!” constantly (please meet Marin’s granola element…). I always asked for the large room to avoid that distraction.
Now, the owner apparently has decided to turn the large treatment room into her own personal office, leaving only one room for treatments (the “Dude!” room) which also hosts group meetings or something because it’s filled with clutter…and no longer a calm oasis ideal for treatments.
That was the last straw for me. Its become obvious they no longer seem to care about client’s needs or creating a environment suited to the services, so I will no longer be patronizing them.
Michelle
March 23, 2021 at 12:59 pm
Since 2002 I’ve taken weekly+ yoga classes at SMC and have had massages at least once a year here and it’s hands-down my favorite place because it is small, real, and intimate, not a big corporate polished giant.
The yoga classes are great – real people from all walks of life, not the Stepford Wives and Hotty Dudes in spandex yoga gear, smashed wall-to-wall doing downward dogs. Have a bad back? Take the healthy backs class. Over 75? You’ll feel at home in the gentle yoga. Want a serious yoga workout? The core classes are great. Try Nicole’s meditation and yoga topics series. There have been prenatal classes, even yoga for kids. Everyone should find a yoga class that works for them here.
There’s room to breathe here, and the teachers get to know their students’ aches and needs, changing the practice each time to fit the people attending. Most teachers have been with SMC since it opened.
First update to SFnativeGal’s review — the bike shop has moved, hooray, and the bike dudes no longer interrupt massages or yoga classes with their loud music and hammering.
Robin (the owner) does what she can to keep the business viable in these tough times, so yes there isn’t a 24-hour-a-day receptionist, and the personal training spaces change depending on who is currently part of the team. But in my 7+ years at SMC it has never diminished my experiences there.
Your first yoga class is free, so give it a try for free. There are often yoga + massage packages to new students offered around the holidays, so try both next time the deal is offered and see if you agree!
Cylivia
March 23, 2021 at 1:00 pm
I went to the Stress MAnagement Center about once a month for a year or so, to have private sessions of Yoga therapy and teaching to help me to manage my chronic back pain. I worked with Robin each time. She is very good at identifying (or helping one to identify) the specific movements/positions that will benefit, or conversely, those to avoid, in order to ease pain and get back to health. I went to her specifically to develop my own daily routine for life, and she did just that, giving me very clear notes with drawings. I use the routine each and every morning, and it has been a great benefit. It was so much more comprehensive and helpful to me than the group classes at Kaiser (no disrespect to them) because it was one on one, and I had her complete attention to help me with my specific problems. I reccommend SMC to anyone who wants to take control of managing back pain. It’s so much nicer not to be taking pain pills nightly (my mornings are clearer!), and I have a much more optomistic view of my future now that pain isnt a constant