Coming Home to Myself in Mauritius: A Journey Back to Courage, Breath, and Belonging

Before I came to Mauritius, I almost went back to Bali. Bali was familiar. Bali was safe. Bali would have been easy.

I know the island, the temples, the beaches, the rhythms.I know where to stay, where to breathe, where to disappear and re-emerge.It has always held me in my healing seasons, a place to soften, to reconnect, to feel supported by a spiritual current that is so alive you can almost hear it humming.

Even though Bali is magical, nurturing and sacred to me, I knew deep inside…it is not my home.

It is a place I will always return to, a place I honour deeply, but not the place where I am meant to build the next chapter of my life.

I wasn’t looking for comfort this time, I was looking for home. A place where I could root myself, where I could feel held and nurtured, where I could belong to a community not just as a visitor,but as someone who offers something meaningful.

Bali is part of my journey, but Mauritius…Mauritius is where my soul whispered, “Look here.”

Leaving the UK Before Old Patterns Returned

I didn’t come to Mauritius for a holiday.I came because I knew that staying in the UK any longer would pull me back into a version of myself I have worked so hard to grow past.

The UK doesn’t serve me mentally, physically, or emotionally.

I could feel old habits beginning to flutter at the edges of my mind. Old behaviours tugging at me.Old patterns trying to return.It felt like my body was warning me:

“If you stay here too long, you’ll lose the woman you’ve become.”

So I listened.And I left before the old world could tighten around me again.

At 50 years old, I stepped into a new chapter with nothing but my breath, my intuition and the courage to choose myself.

Stepping Into the Unknown: Alone but Not Lost

Coming to an island where I knew no one was daunting.There were moments of fear, the kind that makes your stomach flip and your mind question everything.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“What if I don’t belong?”

“What if I’m too old to start again?”

But something stronger rose beneath the fear: a knowing that if I didn’t take the leap now, I never would. I was not running away from my life, I was running towards the life I’m meant to live.

How Breathwork Held Me Through the Fear

Breathwork has been my anchor, my medicine, and my teacher.

In the UK, when the fear whispered and the limiting beliefs tried to resurface,I chose breath instead of spiralling.Breath instead of collapsing.Breath instead of going backwards.

My breath gave me:

✨ the courage to get on the plane

✨ the strength to land on an island alone

✨ the openness to meet new people

✨ the calmness to explore without fear

✨ the trust to let the universe guide me

Mauritius didn’t get the old version of me, it received the version that breathwork shaped:

open-hearted, willing, courageous and present.

Becoming My Own Best Company

One of the most surprising gifts of this journey has been realising how deeply I enjoy my own company. For years, being alone felt like something to fix —something that meant I was missing something.

But here, surrounded by couples, families and groups, I feel none of that.

I am alone, not lonely. I am content. I am grounded. I am fulfilled by my own presence.

I choose what I want to do. I go where I want to go. I move at my own pace with no pressure, no expectations and no need to shrink myself. Self-love is no longer an idea, it is a way of living.

Learning to Live in the Moment

Mauritius has softened me and strengthened me all at once.

I find myself:

• talking to strangers with confidence

• saying yes to new experiences

• trusting each step even when I can’t see the full path

• meeting people who lead me to more people

• receiving opportunities I could never have planned

It feels like the island places exactly who I need in front of me at exactly the right time.

Every day unfolds with a sense of magic, the kind you only receive when your heart is open and your energy is aligned.

This journey has shown me what it feels like to be guided.To meet God in the subtle moments.To reconnect with a deeper part of myself that I had forgotten in all the noise.

Finding Home in Myself First

I came here searching for a place to call home. What I found was something even more profound:

Home begins in me

Mauritius is teaching me how to nurture myself, how to trust my path,how to honour the woman I’m becoming,and how to recognise environments that truly hold me.

This island feels like a place where I can root, serve, connect, love,and be loved.

Maybe it will become home.Maybe it will be a chapter on the way. But right now, it is exactly where I’m meant to be.

For the first time in a long time,I feel alive. I feel present.I feel guided.And I feel at home, not just on an island, but in myself.