Giovanni Dienstmann

Giovanni Dienstmann is a meditation teacher, coach and author whose daily sitting practice goes back to the year 2000, when he was a teenager. Over the years he took formal initiation in Zen, Advaita, Raja Yoga and mantra practice, spent ten weeks at a monastery in France, trained with the Satyananda School of Yoga and gained teacher certification through the Meditation Association of Australia. His yogic and tantric study continued with initiations from Shivarudra Balayogi and in the lineage of Swami Nikhileshwarananda. He first became known through LiveAndDare, a long-running meditation blog, and later through Higher Mind, where he now works.

His approach treats meditation as a source of strength as well as calm: alongside stillness and letting go, he teaches values, purpose, willpower and steady self-discipline drawn from wisdom traditions and psychology. He wrote Practical Meditation, an illustrated beginner's guide from DK, followed by Mindful Self-Discipline and Wise Confidence. Today he works mostly through one-to-one online coaching, including a newer programme on sankalpa, the yogic art of setting and charging an intention, and through his app and newsletter. On Insight Timer he shares guided meditations, self-enquiry and talks in English, Portuguese and Spanish.