Mindful Bodywork

Paul is the best massage therapist I’ve encountered in the Bay Area. I came in with a headache from hell that aspirin couldn’t relieve, and an hour or so later, I was not only pain free, but I also felt looser.
Though I used Unilocal to find Paul, I normally don’t trust reviews by people I don’t know — especially when it comes to restaurants! However, in this instance, I did go with Paul based on the few, very specific, very pain-​relief centric reviews. It’s the first time I found a Unilocal rating to be completely accurate.
Unilocal reviews are either too over-​the-​top for my taste (too salesy and thus are probably written by friends) OR they’re just stupid. But if you are one who pays attention to reviews and your goal is to relieve aches and pains, you won’t go wrong with Paul. I don’t know if he gives those oil-​based, aromatherapy types of massages, but if he does, he’d probably be great at those, too.
I’m happy to have found Paul — and you will be, too.

I’ve had many so called deep tissue and sports massages intended to help tightness, muscle repair, circulation and mobility none have been as affective as one treatment from Paul. I highly recommend his service and confident he can help anyone in subtle and substantial ways. Do yourself a favor and book a treatment.

Paul is a gifted, compassionate body worker who healed my chronic lower back and hip issues that Ive had for many years in very few sessions. He works with your whole body and all its systems to get to the root of your physical issues, and addresses them right on.
Paul even worked on body issues resulting from my two pregnancies, issues I didnt even know I had, like my ribs! I didnt think my ribs or breathing were a problem, until Paul worked on them, and I feel so much better! Im an active runner and ride horses, and Paul’s work has helped me pursue these activities pain free.
He is my one stop shop for my body. No more chiro, PT, massage, I only need Paul! A nice, easy going guy who really, really knows his stuff. Seriously gifted.

I cannot say enough about Paul Burke’s abilities, insights and skills. Paul’s combination of «neuro» work and «active release therapy» together with his vast knowledge of the body make his approach truly unique.
When I first came to Paul, I had several persistent problems preventing me from running as much or as well as I wanted to. After just one session with Paul, everything changed. After a few more sessions, I was completely and totally healed. Since then, occasional check-​ins have helped me to keep minor issues from leading to major problems.
As a 51-​year-​old man, I felt a little like it was just «normal» that my running would have to wind down. Now, I have a completely different perspective. I’ve run two marathons and am training for another. My speed is increasing naturally and most importantly, I’m really enjoying the activity. I feel a new sense of youthful health that I just didn’t expect to feel again.
On top of everything else, Paul’s just a great, easy going guy. It’s a pleasure to go see him for body work. It always feels like I’m about to give myself a big treat. Do the same for yourself! If you live within easy driving distance, you shouldn’t miss the chance.

Paul changed my life. This is not an exaggeration. A mix of scientist, artist, medical-​detective and intuitive, Paul truly cares about figuring out what ails your body and fixing it. He resolved my significant whiplash, displaced jaws, chronic pain, and increased my range of motion back to where it was pre-​car-​accident — all with cheerful doggedness. He’s is the smartest person about body mechanics, muscles and neurology I have ever met. Confident yet gentle, creative, engaged, Paul has mastered a unique way of working, utilizing several different cutting-​edge techniques that got results for me very quickly.
When I first saw Paul, it had been nearly two years since a head-​on collision left me with severe pain daily and significantly reduced my mobility and functioning. I’d seen dozens of specialists of all kinds and spent a lot of money. All efforts to get better hadn’t helped, or helped minimally (and I think some may have even made things worse). I’d gotten to the point where I thought I’d have to just accept that life would never return to normal again, would never be pain-​free, that I’d never be able to enjoy the things I’d previously enjoyed and loved.
Within a short time of experiencing Paul’s work, my body began to heal and my nervous system began calming down. Within a few months, I am now able to live my life without negotiating with terrible pain every day. It is an incredible change! There were some plateaus along the way, but Paul always continued to work on figuring out the roadblocks and getting the healing moving more quickly again.
I can now live my life! I can walk for several hours at a stretch, just completed a favorite and very vertical hike that I never thought I’d be able to do again, am active throughout my day, no longer wake up several times a night in agony, am sleeping far better as a result, am increasing my work load, I’m making plans, etc. etc. etc., and have cut down the amount of medication I take to barely none.
I cannot express how grateful I am to this genius bodyworker, Paul Burke. I am almost completely healed and feel positive changes in the right direction every single week. My life would be so different right now if I hadn’t had the good fortune to have heard about Paul and his work.

Paul is a gifted, compassionate, and knowledgeable bodyworker and comes with my highest recommendation. I started seeing him over a year ago for persistent RSI wrist and neck pain and he’s been kind’ve a miracle worker. His massage/​bodywork has really held and made lasting changes and he’s recognized and helped correct movement patterns that have proved elusive for other practitioners I’ve worked with.
Furthermore, Paul is friendly, genuine, and a true pleasure to work with. Everytime I book a visit, I find myself truly looking forward to it and feeling much lighter and happier afterwards (even if I’m kinda sore from an effective session).
Definitely give Paul a try!

I saw Paul enough times to get a real solid sense of his skills, sophistication and sensitivity when it comes to identifying and working on various issues with the body. His work does feel very mindful. He was able to help me make changes that many Chiropractors I worked with were not. I found really surprising and refreshing just how knowledgable Paul is. He is also a warm and fun person to be around. I actually enjoy and look forward to the appointments. He has a great sense of humor and has a creative mind, so even though were working hard it feels fun, relaxing and therapeutic simultaneously. I am so grateful that there is someone like Paul around locally.

I had the amazing fortune of finding Paul through a Unilocal deal. For decades I’ve been plagued with chronic pain and discomfort in my back, which I mainly endure … until it explodes into new areas and I’m finally motivated to get help. Miraculously, I found Paul very soon after I, and my damaged arms (nearly incapacitated from packing, moving, and driving across the country) landed in the Bay Area. And he not only fixed them, but got to the root of the problem and helped me with strategies and exercises to ameliorate the chronic conditions as well. More recently, when I was struck with plantar fasciitis, I ran (so to speak) back to Paul — and sure enough, I felt remarkably better after just one visit.
Like many reviewers, I’ve had a lot of bodywork over the years, but Paul is unquestionably the BEST! He’s incredibly skillful, knowledgeable, and communicative; so, in addition to feeling much better, I’ve learned a lot. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION.

Update: the changes and corrections I experienced from Paul’s work with me held. I think that’s impressive — more lasting results for me than I’ve experienced with chirpractic work (not dissing chiropractic work here — just as with physical therapy, I like and respect it).
I’ve been to see Paul a second time: again; amazing work received on my neck and thoracic region.

I am 48 years old and started long-​distance running competitively (since high school) a year ago. As what happens with people my age, we think we can run like we did when we were 16. In my case it was strained calves: first the left, then the right, then the left again. I began seeing Paul after a friend recommended Neurokinetic Therapy and an experience with Active Release Technique. Paul got me to where I am running pain-​free. He not only provides therapy and exercises, but he educates his clients as to why the muscles have stopped working and patterns of compensation we do time and again. He is very good at getting one back into balance and helping us become more aware of the ways our bodies move. He is also a warm and friendly person. Highly recommended.

I was mugged earlier this year and have been experiencing a bunch of spine effects. I’ve been trying out a number of different practitioners as I work on healing, because I’m finding some people have been able to help a lot, and some, not so much.
I was really impressed by Paul’s skill. I haven’t experienced the bodywork techniques he uses before, and he was able to restore movement and reduce discomfort in an hour. There was a big change in the way I feel, and when you’re talking about chronic back pain (as I’ve learned since the attack), a little pain relief adds a lot of functionality. In fact, I’d go back tomorrow if I could.
Paul also explained the physiology as he went, which is something I love, because it helps me to think about and understand what’s going on, and he finished the session by teaching me some exercises I can do to increase the benefits. he both modeled them and asked me to try them myself so he could give me feedback before he left. This kind of holistic approach is one I think is great and for me reflects a depth of care about a client’s recovery beyond just getting them hooked on treatments.
I found Paul friendly & casual and his unassuming personality put me at ease, which helped because my muscles were already tense before I arrived from trying to hold me in alignment!
If you’re still hesitating to schedule an appointment, why?

Mindful Bodywork is the perfect name for what Paul does, because in addition to having a skillful touch, he brings great knowledge of anatomy and an intelligent approach to healing what ails you. I had chronic pain in my shoulder that was seriously impacting my life, and after a few treatments with Paul, I felt so much better. Like the other reviewers, I’ve had lots of massages and bodywork over the years, and he is unquestionably the best. He’s an experienced, yet intuitive bodyworker who really cares about helping his clients get better – you can’t ask for more.

It is with great pleasure that I share with you my impressions of Paul Burke and extol his extraordinary work at Mindful Bodywork. He and his amazing skills have enriched and benefited my life beyond my expectations. I have, in over 50 years as a dancer, experienced the bodywork of numerous practitioners, but to me, Paul is unquestionably the very best. I highly recommend him.
Frank Shawl
Executive Director & Co-​founder
Shawl-​Anderson Dance Center
Berkeley, CA