14 | EDIBLE SF SPRING 2026 AGAINST THE GRAIN Sculpting bodies with wood—a Bay Area guide On a sunny corner of Valencia Street in San Francisco, Shaped is quite possibly the most Instagram-friendly Bay Area spot to seek wood therapy (facials and a head spa are also available). Behind the welcoming reception area curtained-off treatment rooms await, designed to evoke Tulum vacation vibes that contrast the treatment nicely. That’s because the vigorous succession of movements performed by my experienced practitioner, who had taken classes from the Brazilian lymphatic drainage guru Renata França, were anything but chill, in the best way imaginable. Rather, during the full-body session, my thighs, belly, arms, and backside are positively tenderized by the various wooden tools, in addition to gentle tapping on lymph nodes, soothing manual massage, and machine-operated suction cups that help mobilize the cells. By the end of the treatment, my stomach has a nice, desirable dip, and my legs and arms feel as light as a feather. shapedaf.com Nourishment: As you’re asked not to eat before treatment due to the pressure on your stomach and organs, you’ll naturally get hungry after. The nearby Japanese café Bon, Nene is the perfect accompaniment to my newly found weightlessness—get the pristine Maguro Bowl for a zen lunch. Price: $250–$300 per session SHAPED AF 956 Valencia Street 1 You think you know all there is to know about wellness, but then you find yourself in a boat pose (for those lacking yoga lingo, essentially a V shape with legs and shoulders raised), laughing uncontrollably as your stomach is being scrubbed by a wooden roller composed of cubes. Welcome to 2026, the year of wood therapy—a brand-new experience that’s been hiding in plain sight, and just the right thing to shake things up a little, quite literally. I discovered the treatment as I searched for a transformative, energetic way to enter the new year and feel actual, tangible renewal. Rooted in ancient Asian practices and popularized in ’90s Colombia as a tool for body sculpting, wood therapy utilizes various wooden tools—rollers, suction cups, “mushrooms” with rounded spikes, and even a wavy paddle resembling a boomerang, to break down body fat, smooth contours, and stimulate lymphatic drainage. The promise? A smoother, toned body; better overall sensation; positive effects on energy levels and metabolism. If that sounds too good to be true, consider this: The lymphatic system, practitioners told me, can be viewed as the body’s “garbage disposal,” filtering out toxins and reducing water retention. Wood therapy, with its various shaping, scrubbing, and pressure techniques, aims to get rid of our body’s junk faster. It is also a metaphor, if you will: Who doesn’t want to release toxic stuff that gets under one’s skin? Growingly popular in the Bay Area, it is also a whimsical, surprising, and curiously personal practice that stands out in the sea of relaxing, meditative treatments. Am I looking all contoured up? Perhaps. But more than that, I wanted to be moved, in more ways than one; stirred into existence, and I found just that. You can, too. Here’s how. Writer—Flora Tsapovsky
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