Vani Dahlgren was introduced to the Siddha Yoga path in 1976, after a family friend mentioned that Baba Muktananda was in New York. Vani’s husband, Alfred, had found and read a copy of Baba’s book Play of Consciousness in their local library the previous year. Inspired by what he had read, the couple drove to New York from their home in Andover, Massachusetts, to have Baba’s darshan. The following year, Vani began offering seva in the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in Andover. Since 1996, she has served as a Siddha Yoga meditation teacher. Presently, she offers seva as a writer and editor in the SYDA Foundation.

Vani is a retired teacher and tutor. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and a secondary teaching credential from the University of California, Berkeley.