Teachers

    Laura E. Covington  has been a NCBTMB and Virginia certified massage therapist for nine years.  She studied with the American Institute of Massage in Richmond, Virginia.  After working and teaching for the American Institute for two years, Laura moved on to establish a small private practice, All About Massage, LLC.  She continues to offer therapies in Swedish and deep tissue, hot stone massage, Barefoot Therapy, and her personal favorite, Traditional Thai Massage, Herbal Massage, and Thai complimentary therapies.

       Laura met Pierce Salguero, owner of the Tao Mountain Association, in 2003, first experiencing Traditional Thai Massage.  She quickly immersed herself into learning this modality, receiving all of her training directly from Pierce and the Tao Mountain Association.  Laura has completed over 800 hours of course work, internships, and logged practice time set forth by Tao Mountain to be an instructor of Traditional Thai Massage and Sen Theory.  Upon successfully graduating the Tao Mountain Teacher Training Program, Laura established The Bodhi Tree Learning Center with the blessing of her teacher Pierce, to continue in the shared goal of Traditional Thai Medicine education.

    Laura traveled to Thailand and deepened her Thai massage with two months of training in February and March of 2008.  She had the fortunate benefit to study with teachers Ajahn Pichest Boothumme and Ajahn Wit Sukhsamran. She is grateful for the knowledge and experiences that were gained from these two amazing teachers.  Laura recognizes the art of Traditional Thai Massage as sacred wisdom that has outlasted centuries of outside change because of its valuable and healing importance to Thailand.  She believes this modality needs to be shared, translated, and preserved in its traditional and authentic form.  Her compassion and appreciation for this modality creates an altruistic learning environment.  Laura welcomes students in cultivating a new respect for this ancient healing art of Traditional Thai Medicine.

   Pierce Salguero, M.A. and director of the Tao Mountain Association has degrees in Anthropology, East Asian Studies, and is currently obtaining a Ph.D. in the History of Asian Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  He has written his master's thesis on the cultural history of Traditional Thai Medicine.  While living in Thailand from 1997 to 2001, Pierce trained as a practitioner of Thai Massage and Herbal Medicine in Chiang Mai.  He continued his apprenticeship with individual healers such as Lek 

Chaiya and Mama Nit, and completed teacher training certification at the renowned Shivagokomarpaj Traditional Medicine Hospital's School of Thai Massage.  Upon returning to the United States with the blessings from his teachers, Pierce founded the Tao Mountain Association to continue the Shivagokomarpaj Lineage and give students the most authentic experience possible when studying Traditional Thai Medicine.  He is the author of A Thai Herbal (the first English speaking guidebook to the practice of Thai Herbal Medicine), The Encyclopedia of Traditional Thai Massage, and The Spiritual Healing of Traditional Thailand, and many more articles and books on Thai Medicine.