Since his 1978 graduation from the New England School of Acupuncture, Richard Gold has devoted his professional career to the study, practice, teaching, researching and publishing in the field of Traditional East Asian medicine, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, Seitai Shiatsu, and traditional Thai bodywork.

Richard has pursued advanced studies in China (1980), Japan (1986) and Thailand (1988, 1989, 1992).

Richard has been instrumental in helping establish traditional Thai bodywork in the West through his teaching, publishing and video productions. His book, ‘Thai Massage, A Traditional Medical Technique’ was the first professionally published book on Thai massage in English (1998, 2^nd edition 2008). Subsequently, this book was published in Japanese and Portuguese.

Dr. Gold was one of the four founding Board members of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) with accredited campuses in San Diego, Chicago and New York City. He served on the board and faculty of PCOM for over 20 years. (www.pacificcollege.edu)

In 2012, Richard along with his creative partner, the award winning composer and performer, Yuval Ron established Metta Mindfulness Music, a production company that produces beautiful original music combining knowledge from ancient wisdom traditions and modern neuroscience. (www.mettamindfulnessmusic.com)

Co-Founder of ThaiVedic Systems, Traditional Thai Massage Teacher GCT 300

Sebastian is a student of the Body, Breath and Movement. These studies brought him into different disciplinary practices such as martial arts, dance, bodywork and traditional healing arts. For the past 17 years he has been immersed in the learning and practice of Traditional Thai Medicine; rooted in the Five Element Theory and Buddhist principles of mindfulness, kindness and compassion; following the lineage of the acclaimed Master Arjhan Pichest.

Laura Allen is the President of Sales & Marketing at AHC Ventures, the parent company of CryoDerm, a family-owned company located in Margate, FL that makes plant-based Pain Relief and Therapeutic Massage products. She is also on the team of CryoDerm Educators.

A graduate of Shaw University and The Whole You School of Massage Therapy, Allen began her studies of bodywork in 1993, and has been a licensed massage therapist since 1999. From 1998-2003, she was the administrator and an instructor at The Whole You. From 2003-2016, she owned THERA-SSAGE, a multi-disciplinary clinic offering chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, esthetics, naturopathy, and nutritional counseling. Allen has been an Approved Provider of Continuing Education under the NCBTMB since 2000, offering classes in professional ethics, research literacy, business and marketing, massage therapy techniques, and training for those who want to be instructors of massage therapy. She has taught classes all over the US, in Canada, and Europe.

Allen’s regular ethics column, Heart of Bodywork, appears in Massage & Bodywork Magazine. She has had numerous articles published in massage publications, including Massage Magazine, Massage Today, Massage & Bodywork Magazine, and the International Journal for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. She is also the author of numerous books.

Glenn H. Mullin (born 1949, Quebec, Canada) is a Tibetologist who lived in the Indian Himalayas between 1972 and 1984, where he studied philosophy, literature, meditation, yoga, and the enlightenment culture under thirty-five of the great living masters from the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

His two principal tantric gurus were the late masters Ling Rinpoche (1903-1983) and Trijang Rinpoche (1901-1981), who were best known as the senior and junior tutors of the present (14th) Dalai Lama. Mullin’s other teachers and initiation masters include the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Khenchen Konchok Gyaltsen, Geshe Ngawang Dargyey, Geshey Rabten, and Gongsar Tulku. (An Interview with Glenn H. Mullin, Tibetologist)

After returning to North America in 1984, Glenn founded The Mystical Arts of Tibet. This association, under his direction, facilitated music and dance tours of Tibetan *monks in North America. The first such tours to reach the west, they also included demonstrations of mandala sand paintings. In accordance with their primary purpose, these cultural exchanges contributed… “mystically to world peace and planetary healing” and they raised “an awareness of the Tibet situation," at that time. Moreover, the association generated funds for India’s refugee community and later dedicated its mission to the activities of Drepung Loseling, the largest of Tibet's monastic universities. (Faces and Lives of Glenn H. Mullin)

Glenn is the author of over twenty-five books on Tibetan Buddhism. Many of these focus on the lives and works of the early Dalai Lamas. Some of his other titles include Tsongkhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa and The Practice of Kalachakra (Snow Lion); Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition (Arkana/Viking Penguin); Mystical Verses of a Mad Dalai Lama (Quest Books); The Mystical Arts of Tibet (Longstreet Press); and The Fourteen Dalai Lamas, as well as The Female Buddhas (Clear Light Books). He has also worked as a field specialist on three Tibet-related films and five television documentaries, and has co-produced five audio recordings of Tibetan sacred music. In 2002 his book The Fourteen Dalai Lamas was nominated for the prestigious NAPRA award for best book, and in 2004 his book The Female Buddhas won a Best Book Award from Foreword Magazine.