I was fortunate to have been born into a family of seekers. My mother, Magda, introduced us all to Shri Mataji in 1980; I was thirteen and my brother, Caleb, was sixteen at the time. My actor father, Gwilym, met Shri Mataji a little later than the three of us: he initially held back from coming to Sahaja Yoga meetings for reasons of his own. There are some poignant moments connected to his first meeting with Shri Mataji, and his subsequent return to good health and wellbeing, that are shared among these memories.

Because I was so young when I first met Shri Mataji, I think my age has likely coloured my early memories of being with Her with a sense of awe and wonder.

Some of the experiences narrated here took place over forty years ago yet still feel as accessible to me as if they had happened yesterday. There was something about being in Her presence that seemed to put time on pause.

When I went along to my first meeting, I was going through one of those awkward teen fashion phases (imagine ‘punky’ dyed-red cropped hair and badly drawn eyeliner!). And my brother was immersed in the ‘New Wave’ fashions of the ’80s. He was a regular at punk-rock gigs with his spiky hair, safety pins and cool leather jacket…). My mum had been an actress, and a model in her younger days, and was never without her glossy coral lipstick and glamorously styled blonde hair. While we may not have been easily ‘typecast’ as future yogis, we were ardent seekers, and this is, of course, what Shri Mataji immediately saw in us.