Gail Zinberg, LICSW, Certified MBSR Teacher, has been a dedicated practitioner of Vipassana/Mindfulness meditation since 1983, having completed numerous silent retreats over the decades. She has been a psychotherapist in private practice since 1999, specializing in trauma and dissociation, Relational Gestalt and Buddhist psychology.
When diagnosed with a life threatening cancer in 2012, rather than feeling overwhelmed with fear and anxiety, Gail experienced the capacity to meet uncertainty, discomfort and stress with equanimity, balance and ease. Recognizing this experience to be a direct result of her mindfulness meditation practice, Gail wondered if she could learn how to share this invaluable benefit with others, following her cancer treatment.
With this intention, in 2014 Gail began studying MBSR in Mind-Body Medicine with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli. Gail was struck by how remarkably effective the evidence-based MBSR program was in its ability to make the undiluted essence of mindfulness accessible to people within the context of their everyday lives. Determined to learn how to teach MBSR, Gail embarked on the teacher training pathway at UMass Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, receiving MBSR Teacher Certification in 2018. Gail received certification as an MBSR Live Online Teacher by East Coast Mindfulness in 2020.
Gail continues to study and teach MBSR classes, whether in person or online, through Mindful Berkshires.