For years, I didn’t get it. Why would anyone return to the same place again and again when there’s a whole world to explore?
My wanderlust teenager would hard eye roll each time my aunt and uncle headed off to Teneriffe for the winter!
But somewhere along the way, I learned the power of a landmark— somewhere that’s easily recognisable, which is more than just a destination; it’s a reflection point.
India is that for me. I’ve come back here again and again since 2007, each trip, a chance to pause and reflect - What’s changed? How have I grown? What was I worried about this time last year and how did it work out?
It’s held me through some of life’s biggest joys and sorrows:
☀️ The thrill of imagining my own yoga studio and community, to then one day bring that very community out here on retreat!
☀️ As a newlywed, the excitement of a whole new future ahead. Then years later, nursing my shattered heart after divorce. Only to return the following year with a deeper sense of peace and my own self love
☀️ Receiving the devastating news mum was dying back home and feeling I’d never cope with something this big – returning a year later to find it broke me wide open
☀️ Feeling the heavy and complicated grief of saying goodbye to the studio + community - returning a year later with a deep sense of inner freedom and self-trust
☀️ The joy of meeting one of my best friends Katie here, and now this season, mourning her loss yet feeling her infinate presence in my life still. How love and even friendship is boundless.
With a landmark, the place doesn’t really change, but we do.
So even when life feels messy, confusing, glorious or downright unbearable, we can know and remember, there has still been some growth.
It might not always be obvious in the moment, but it becomes clearer when we look back and see how far we’ve come.
Most of us overestimate what we can do in a day, but we wildly underestimate what we can do in a year.
What seemed to be an insurmountable challenge, turned out to be an important bump in the road or course correction – that has hopefully shaped us into something newer, fresher, more loving and real.
Creating Your Landmark
So, where’s your landmark? That place, ritual, or moment in time that allows you to look back and see how far you've come.
Your landmark doesn’t have to be a faraway place. It can be a favourite walk, journalling on your birthday, a family or girls camping trip, or a simple ritual of pausing to reflect.
The magic isn’t in the location—it’s in the pause.
It’s in creating the space to recognise the subtle ways you’ve changed, healed, or reclaimed yourself. To honour the inner battles you've faught and won, often unseen by the outer world.
Or even remembering in your stuck-ness, it’s just one chapter of your story, not the whole book. You’ve worked through things before, and you’ll find a way through this and back to yourself once again.
In looking back, you can see how all of it was useful and necessary to get you to where you are now.
Why This Matters
I’ve taught, coached and mentored so many incredible women who felt stuck in their careers, relationships, or lost their sense of purpose – and felt they weren’t moving forward.
Growth can often feel invisible when you’re in the thick of it.
But when you step back, you see it—you see yourself through a wider lens. And that perspective becomes fuel. Fuel to trust yourself, to move forward, to become who you are meant to be next.
If you’re feeling lost, uncertain, or just a little stuck, maybe it’s time to revisit your landmark—or create a new one.
Look back, take in how far you’ve come, and know you're becoming someone new, again and again.
You’re doing so great my love. You know how I know? Because you read all the way to the end of this! And that tells me you’re all in - looking for waymarkers, guides and signs you’re on the right track.
And I’m really happy to be that for you. So I’ll keep sending you these love notes and hope it brings you the clarity and courage you need to keep going.
Hop along for the ride and let’s do this together.
Sending all love to you,
Deborah xxx