Sylvia Boorstein

Sylvia Boorstein grew up in Brooklyn, New York. All four of her grandparents arrived in America, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, between 1900 and 1920. Sylvia went to Barnard College and majored in Chemistry and Mathematics. She earned a Master's Degree in Social Work from the UC Berkeley in 1967 and began working as a psychotherapist. At the College of Marin in Kentfield, California from 1970 until 1984, she taught psychology, Hatha Yoga, and introduced and taught the first Women's Studies course. In 1974, she was awarded a Ph.D. in Psychology from Saybrook University. She was a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and the Marin Women for Peace. She marched, accompanied by her four young children, two sons and two daughters, in rallies protesting the Vietnam War. A few years ago, she was part of a clergy peace rally, and agreed to be arrested, along with friends and colleagues, as a protest to the invasion of Afghanistan. Her first Mindfulness mediation experience was a weekend retreat in 1977 in a private home in San Jose, CA. Her main teachers since that time have been Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberz, and Joseph Goldstein. She began teaching meditation in 1985 and has taught a weekly meditation class at Spirit Rock for fifteen years. (Photo and bio courtesy of SylviaBoorstein.com.)