Matteo Pistono is a writer, meditation teacher, and breathwork guide. His forthcoming book on optimal breathing for health, sports, and meditation will be published in 2024 by Hay House. Matteo's previous books include Roar: Sulak Sivaraksa and the Path of Socially Engaged Buddhism (North Atlantic Books, March 2019) Meditation: Coming to Know Your Mind (Hay House 2017), Fearless in Tibet: The Life of the Mystic Tertön Sogyal (Hay House 2014) and In the Shadow of the Buddha: One Man's Journey of Discovery in Tibet (Dutton 2011).
Matteo's photos and writings about meditation, Buddhism, yoga, and Himalayan and Southeast Asian cultural, political, and spiritual landscapes have appeared in The Washington Post, The Global Post, Buddhadharma, Tricycle, BBC's In-Pictures, Men's Journal, Kyoto Journal, and HIMAL South Asia.
Matteo was born and raised in Wyoming where he completed his undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming, and in 1997 he obtained his Masters of Arts degree in Indian Philosophy from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. After working with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. on Tibetan cultural programs, Pistono lived and traveled throughout the Himalayas for a decade, bringing to the West graphic accounts and photos of China’s human rights abuses in Tibet, which was documented in In the Shadow of the Buddha. Matteo sits on the Executive Council of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists. Matteo and his wife, Monica, live in southern California with their dog.