A lifelong meditator and SF Bay Area native, Syra began her personal meditation practice as a teen in 1988 and has been practicing in the Theravada Buddhist tradition since 2009. She graduated East Bay Meditation Center’s Commit to Dharma program in 2011 and became a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader in 2017. Syra teaches Insight Meditation and mindfulness throughout the SF Bay Area and beyond and proudly serves as Core Teacher with the San Francisco LGBT Sangha. Syra is honored to serve as Board President as well as on the Guiding Teachers Council with the meditation community of San Francisco Insight.
Syra is a Community Teacher with the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland California, where she is co-creating space with one of the most diverse communities of dharma practitioners in the US. She has served in several roles with EBMC over the years including the Center’s Fundraising Event Manager and Development Associate in earlier days. There, Syra helped to raise community and a robust generosity driven Center economy.
In 2013 Syra Founded Oakland’s Dana Cafe, a monthly gathering offering transformational teachings at no cost to participants. One of 7 recipients nationwide, in 2014 Syra became a Sharing Cities Fellow and founded the East Bay ShareFest. After serving as lead organizer for 2 consecutive years, this decentralized open collaboration brought together over 60 local sharing projects and organizations in solidarity.
Syra has been educating and working with young people for more than 20 years. She coordinated and co-facilitated EBMC’s weekly Teen Sangha and eventually established and served as Co-Guiding Teacher for the Center’s first peer-led Young Adult Deep Refuge Group. For several years, she worked with Resolve to Stop the Violence, an award winning program in the San Francisco County Jail System utilizing contemplative and restorative practices to impact violence and recidivism in our prison communities. As an instructor with the Mind Body Awareness Project, Syra worked directly within the Alameda County Juvenile Justice System, offering tools for resiliency to high risk and incarcerated teens.
Syra presently resides in Lake County, California with her wife of 27 years and 5 fancy felines!
Syra is a Community Teacher with the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland California, where she is co-creating space with one of the most diverse communities of dharma practitioners in the US. She has served in several roles with EBMC over the years including the Center’s Fundraising Event Manager and Development Associate in earlier days. There, Syra helped to raise community and a robust generosity driven Center economy.
In 2013 Syra Founded Oakland’s Dana Cafe, a monthly gathering offering transformational teachings at no cost to participants. One of 7 recipients nationwide, in 2014 Syra became a Sharing Cities Fellow and founded the East Bay ShareFest. After serving as lead organizer for 2 consecutive years, this decentralized open collaboration brought together over 60 local sharing projects and organizations in solidarity.
Syra has been educating and working with young people for more than 20 years. She coordinated and co-facilitated EBMC’s weekly Teen Sangha and eventually established and served as Co-Guiding Teacher for the Center’s first peer-led Young Adult Deep Refuge Group. For several years, she worked with Resolve to Stop the Violence, an award winning program in the San Francisco County Jail System utilizing contemplative and restorative practices to impact violence and recidivism in our prison communities. As an instructor with the Mind Body Awareness Project, Syra worked directly within the Alameda County Juvenile Justice System, offering tools for resiliency to high risk and incarcerated teens.
Syra presently resides in Lake County, California with her wife of 27 years and 5 fancy felines!