Malai Thai Massage - Berkeley

I am a massage therapist myself, and Cayla (Sripai) is one of the only massage therapists I trust to give an amazing session. I usually get the 90 minute Thai deep tissue, and each time, Sripai goes above and beyond. She is an incredibly intuitive and strong bodyworker with great sensitivity and understanding of the body. I am always amazed at how different each session is, and the variety of techniques she has in her toolbox. I have a few quirks with my body and some areas are extra sensitive, and Sripai is always super responsive and careful in those areas when I tell her. Her flow is perfect, pressure is always exactly how I want it, and you can tell she really cares. I leave feeling like a different person every time. Everyone here is so lovely and kind. I see some reviews about therapists taking phone calls during sessions, or talking to their coworkers during sessions. These are things that one has to accept given the extremely reasonable price point and convenient location of this establishment. I imagine it is so difficult to run massage business as immigrants who speak a totally different language, having to be far away from their families in order to support themselves. Let's have some empathy for these therapists, who are people just like you and me. If you are looking for a totally silent, fancy experience, go to a spa or high end place which will charge you double the price for a subpar Swedish massage. If you are looking to get real, effective work done, I cannot recommend Malai Thai enough. These wonderful therapists work very hard. Please tip them well if you can. As a bodyworker, massaging is really hard on the body and these workers are putting in so much energy for our healing. Especially as inflation increases, consider showing appreciation for your therapist with a tip if you have the financial capacity.

Self-care? Ha. But Malai Thai squeezed me in last-minute. 90 mins of kid-free bliss. They used this minty oil that cooled my burnt-from-meal-prepping hands. Therapist noticed I was clenching my jaw (!) and worked my temples. Felt human again. Treat yo’ self, mamas.

Think of your tension like a knotted kite string. Loop by loop, Malai Thai is the steady hand that unravels it. The stones that are hot? Gold in liquid form. The low light levels? A lullaby for eyes weary of the city. I felt as though I had slept in a jungle canopy for a hundred years. Pure magic.