Doing the 40 day yoga nidra course with Kate has been a pivotal experience for me. 2019 started on a very desolate footing, when a culmination of life factors, losses and pre-existing ocd/anxiety stifled me: my mood plummeted, my energy levels were so low I thought I had a physical illness, and the depression led me to be on medical leave from work for 7 months.

Attending Kate’s magical yoga classes helped me as I started to clamber out of the worst throes of it, and this was catalysed by her integration of yoga nidra into her teaching. Having never been able to settle into a regular meditation practice in the
past, and being quite dubious about the whole ‘mindfulness’ industry, yoga nidra has been a truly awe-insipiring experience.

Even before doing the 40 day course I was noticing a feeling of rejuvenation in the
aftermath of Kate’s Nidra practices, and felt that this was a meditative routine that was actually fruitful for me. This feeling was strengthened during the 40 day course, which Kate taught with empathy, interest and curiosity: fantastic.

Setting the Sankalpa has proved to be an enlightening experience, and I believe it has been a crucial part in enabling me to feel more powerful in work, in sharing my emotions with others and in setting much-needed boundaries. Altogether, this has boosted my self-esteem.

On another basis, it has drastically improved my sleep. Although I knew in the early months of this year my sleep quality was poor, only after adopting yoga nidra as a regular practice through Kate’s course did I realise how deficient it had been. I track
my sleep through my Fitbit, and the general trend since I did the course (and I have carried on almost a daily practice) is that I get far more deep sleep per night, and my level of restlessness has decreased drastically.

Even if I have a demanding day ahead of me, I now approach it with an air of calm radiance which I did not possess before. I am more at ease with myself, other people and my life: I find it easier to tap into inner tranquility, and undoubtedly this has been a panacea to many of my overthinking and ocd patterns. Sharing experiences in the yoga nidra course class was so helpful, and Kate’s deep knowledge of the subject was notably stimulating.

The engagement with opposites has also been helpful for me as I try to tackle some of the issues that decimated me this year, as when I now want to batter myself for feeling weak or powerless, I can guide myself - even not when directly in Nidra practice - to think of instances and emotions when I felt strong and powerful.

I am quite a cynical person when it comes to spirituality and belief in my capacity to change life perceptions and experiences. So, when I say that Kate’s yoga nidra guidance has proved transformative, I’m not being tokenistic: she has enabled me to adopt a habitual practice that has helped me eto be in a far more constructive place. I’m not giving yoga nidra up ever! Diolch o galon.

Mari William