About Gail Gustafson & Jeff Bickford

Gail Gustafson

Gail’s unique path is marked by her experience with exceptional teachers of meditation and movement. She works with people of multiple ages and abilities, from seniors to elite athletes. Gail is honored to teach in private sessions, courses, and retreats. 

Gail’s Buddhist teachers include Thupten Chodron, Ani Tenzin Kacho, Ajahn Passano, and Yvonne Rand. For 15 years, Gail was guided by Ken McLeod and in 2003 she received Buddhist teacher authorization from him.  Additionally, the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn and Thrangu Rinpoche influence her practice and instruction. 

Gail’s movement teaching is informed by her experience with choreographers and somatic pioneers.  Master Mei Juan Luo was Gail’s primary Chen Tai Chi Teacher and Robert Hoffman has provided Gail with ongoing instruction.  She studied Intuitive Archery with George Payton. Warren Lamb was her mentor in Movement Pattern Analysis. Her movement teachers include Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Simone Forti, Eiko & Koma, Pam Schick, and Robyn Hood. She performed with Yen Lu Wong, Jeff Bickford, and others.

Jeff Bickford

Jeff guides students in private sessions, classes, and retreats. He feels fortunate to have invaluable teachers in this life. His spiritual practice began in the 1970s in the Sufi tradition with Pir Vilayat Khan. After a number of years, he began Buddhist practice, first in the Soto Zen tradition, then Shingon, finally Tibetan with Ven Tenzin Kacho who introduced him to author/teacher/translator Ken Mcleod. In 2007 Jeff completed Ken McLeod’s three year teacher development program and was authorized to teach.

Concurrently, Jeff practiced and studied awareness in movement, beginning in the early ’70’s with Alwin Nikolais who pioneered a total theater approach to choreography and dance, which led to studies in Laban Movement Analysis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and the Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic Education. For 30 years, Jeff was a dancer, choreographer and director of a movement theater company based in Seattle WA.