Chandrakant Hiester is a senior teacher and seminar leader at the Amrit Yoga Institute in Salt Springs, Florida. He prepares, presents, and leads professional trainings, both nationally and overseas, in Amrit Yoga and Amrit Yoga Nidra, as well as a variety of other yoga and stress-reduction programs.
For the last eleven years, Chandrakant has been instrumental in developing and presenting programs for the Amrit Yoga Institute. As a student and practitioner of yoga and meditation with Yogi Amrit Desai for forty-seven years, his experience has given him a solid foundation for implementing programs that nurture and encourage positive changes in behavior, understanding, and practice.
For over two decades, Chandrakant served in various capacities at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. Among them was his service as executive chef, supervising the preparation of tasty vegetarian meals for 500 to 700 guests daily. He also served as Yogi Desai’s personal valet and chef for twelve years, where he learned authentic Indian cooking from Yogi Desai’s beloved wife Mataji.
Chandrakant is a preacher’s son, a Vietnam-era veteran, a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in psychology, and a longtime practitioner of martial arts. He brings a unique blend of street-level experience, understanding, and practical psychology to all his seminars and workshops, conducting programs for educational organizations, recovery groups, community service agencies, hospital staff, and large corporations, as well as yoga and meditation groups.
