Mateu Hunter

My first yoga experience was at the University of Montana with Marvie Redmond.  It was a hatha yoga class with some breath and concentration work.  I really enjoyed the experience and invariably left the class feeling better, as if a layer or two of crud had been removed.  My first experience with yoga was a memorable one.  However, when the class ended, I did not continue on my own, but rather I waited for the next class to come around. 

I drifted in and out of yoga for a few years then after a running injury, I had a desire to make yoga a regular part of my life.  I started by taking another yoga class at the U of MT which was derived from the Bikram series.  About half-way through the course the teacher had other priorities surface and she asked if anyone was willing to take over the class and I agreed to.  The first thing I learned as a teacher was how important it is to have a regular practice of yoga to properly fuel teaching it.

Around this time, I began exploring the Missoula yoga scene taking classes from various teachers in a variety of styles.  One such style was the full Bikram series taught by a teacher who had recently moved to Missoula to start a Bikram studio.  Being an active person most all of my life, I enjoyed "the workout" that the Bikram series provided. In addition, we did it in a 70 degree room so my Pitta nature could generate a lot of internal heat without overheating.  History repeated itself in that the teacher had other life priorities arise and was looking for some people to take over the teaching.  A couple of us agreed, myself included.

After a while though, I found myself losing interesting in teaching the exact same routine every time.  In addition, I felt somewhat at odds with the Bikram mentality of "This is the one way" not to mention the full heat of a Bikram studio is too much for my constitution. During this time-frame an important event occurred in that I experienced an Iyengar yoga class with a senior level teacher in Amsterdam.  It revealed to me the depth of attention to detail and alignment that Iyengar yoga possesses.

With the desire to expand my knowledge both as a practitioner and teacher I began to look around for yoga training.  Having experience with Bikram yoga I looked for other teachers that had studied in the Ghosh lineage but found their own way.  Once such teacher is Tony Sanchez.  Instead of just one routine, he has a few of them including a 1 hour yoga series, Yoga Challenge 1, that I have really enjoyed doing and I could teach in my 1 hour classes.  I was considering training with Tony so I went to his San Francisco studio to find out more about him.  As I approached the studio I noticed a guy sweeping the sidewalk in front then he made his was behind the desk to register me for class.  When I went to Tony's class it was the same guy.  I thought "Now there is a humble yoga teacher".  I was quite interested in his teacher training program but unfortunately I would have had to move to San Francisco which I chose not to do.

As my search for yoga training continued, I recalled my Iyengar experience in Amsterdam and started  searching the Northwest for Iyengar trainings.  I came across Richard Schachtel in Seattle.  I had some family at the time in Seattle with whom I could stay so I signed up for a week long training.  Technically speaking it went rather well, but I did not resonate with his personality so I kept looking. 

Being somewhat of a connoisseur of life, I examined the list of Iyengar yoga teachers for those with the highest of degree of training.  I came across a handful, one of which was Aadil Palkhivala of Yoga Centers.   He is based in Bellevue, Washington (near Seattle) and it was a feasible trip for me.  I signed up for a week long yoga workshop.  It exceeded my expectations. I had never worked so intensely and never felt so good.  The depth and breadth of Aadil's knowledge was very refreshing.  I knew that I had found a very high quality yoga teacher that matched my needs and with whom I could study with on an extended basis.

Over the course of about 3 years I returned to Yoga Centers for several week long trainings.   During this time Aadil was defining his own yoga which incorporated the teachings of Iyengar combined with Sri Aurobindo.  The Iyengar side provides a very physical component through asana and pranayama while the Aurobindo element focuses on awakening the divine consciousness that we all have access to.  Aadil chose to call his style of yoga "Purna Yoga" or complete yoga.  Let me be clear that at this stage in my journey I am very much a beginner of Purna yoga in its fullest sense, and I may not even agree with all the principles.  However, I do feel it has greatly influenced me and provides me with a very solid foundation to build upon.

Towards the latter part of my intensive trainings with Aadil, my partner, Kirsten, and I became pregnant. We did copious amounts of yoga under the watchful eye of Aadil, Ramanand Patel and Lois Steinberg.  We were blessed with a "yoga baby" we aptly named Surya, meaning light or sun.  This set off a series of events: we got married and shortly after decided to travel.  We lived in a few different places while being away from Missoula for a few years.  I did miss having a teacher the quality of Aadil in proximity but it was a time in which I had to rely on my own practice.  Even if I was not doing longer sessions of yoga I took what I had learned and applied it on a regular basis in shorter sessions.  I found that even a little bit a yoga on a regular basis can go a long way.

Recently, my family (now 4 of us) had the opportunity to return to Missoula, my wife and daughter's home town.  Upon return, I searched Missoula for some quality yoga studios as I wanted to complement my home practice by taking some public classes.  I found two good studios with Jennifer and Veronica of Hot House Yoga and Brian Baty's Inner Harmony yoga.  I have really enjoyed the classes at Hot House but the heat is a bit too much for me (recall I have a lot of fire, Pitta, in me).  The maximum heat for me when I want to do an active/intense yoga class is something in the 80's which is what Tony Sanchez does with his classes.

The other studio I visited, Inner Harmony Yoga, has in Brian Baty someone who I also felt in very good hands with.  Brian is a compassionate, knowledgeable and safe teacher.  It is he who asked me to write this bio in preparation for teaching a class at Inner Harmony.  Namaskar.

- Mateu