My name is Monica Sofia Perez, and I am 41 years old. I am a mother, a biologist, Dive Master, and Yoga Master Teacher and Yoga therapist. I was born in Honduras and moved to Switzerland with my family in 2017. I’ve always been passionate about nature and conservation. I love the sea, I love music, I love writing poetry and essays, and I love movement.
I was abandoned at birth and never met my biological parents. I was adopted as a baby and raised mainly by my grandfather and my nanny. My relationship with my adoptive mother was complex and mostly painful. During my teenage years, I often felt anxious, suicidal, and out of place, but I masked these feelings by overachieving in school and sports. I was an honour roll student and captain of the volleyball and basketball teams. I thought my achievements would help me win the love of my adoptive mother.
As a young woman, I pursued a career in biology, working as a laboratory instructor and museum curator. I moved to the Bay Islands of Honduras and worked as a research station co-director, environmental educator, and served as governmental liaison between NGOs, schools, and municipal government. I was immersed in field research, studying endemic reptiles in mangrove habitats, monitoring sea turtles, and patrolling beaches, organising beach cleanup campaigns, as well as conducting underwater assessments of coral reefs. Alongside my scientific pursuits, I volunteered for pet rescue organizations and veterinary clinics as a surgery assistant.
Despite my impressive résumé, I was silently struggling with anxiety, loneliness, and debilitating feelings of emptiness. I numbed my emotions with parties, alcohol, and short-term relationships, masking the pain beneath a façade of success and excess. Despite the chaos around me, I found a long-term partner and gained some stability in my life.
Then motherhood happened, and it flipped my life in a 180° angle forever. For the first time in my life, I had to confront my own emotions and traumas. I had to navigate the early stages of motherhood alone, without the wisdom and guidance of a loving mother or grandmother. It was also a moment where all the unresolved fears surfaced. I could now verbalise the pain that abandonment and rejection had caused in my life. My fear was palpable. Motherhood was also the beginning of a journey that would bring me into a path of healing, transformation, and self-discovery. Each of my children began to teach me valuable lessons and gave me the opportunity to rediscover life through their eyes filled with innocence, curiosity, and joy.
In 2017, we left the Caribbean and moved to Switzerland, searching for a safe environment for my children to grow. Subconsciously, I was running away from my past, from the people that had hurt me, and looking for a place where I could find a fresh start. My emotional ghosts followed me to my “new life” and I started using food to find comfort and to mask my insecurities.
Just before the pandemic, I had my first emotional breakdown. I felt like I was not capable of looking after my children anymore. I went to a holistic clinic, and the doctor rightfully suggested many lifestyle changes: healthy eating habits, healthy sleeping patterns, and yoga. I took his recommendations to heart and enrolled myself in the local gym. Luckily, they had yoga lessons to which I signed up immediately and then…2020, the pandemic arrived, and everything stopped.
During the lockdown, I used the time for introspection and started questioning all my past behaviours. As we navigated a world submerged in uncertainty, I started to recover clarity. I realized I had been fulfilling roles my entire life without knowing myself truly. I had been a daughter, a granddaughter, a student, a professional, a friend, a lover, a wife, and a mother. I had used these roles to define myself, to hide, and to seek validation and appreciation.
I started dieting and hiking frantically, hoping to discover myself. In one year, I lost over 35kg. Externally, I had transformed, but internally, I was still struggling. Despite my new physical appearance, I felt vulnerable, lost, and my anxiety levels were at their highest. I had my second emotional breakdown. I couldn’t recognise myself anymore; I was standing before a stranger in the mirror.
It was during this time that yoga became my lifeline. As life came back to its rhythm, I was able to be part of my yoga gym lessons again. The yoga instructor saw through my struggles, and she began to guide me gently to process my emotions. She had such a profound effect in my life, that I secretly enrolled in a Yoga teacher training course. I informed my husband a week before my lessons started, and to my surprise, he was very supportive and helped me make space for my training.
Completing my first training as a Master Yoga Teacher in 2022 was a turning point. My teacher saw the potential in me and invited me to join the Yoga Therapy course, recognizing that my life experiences had uniquely prepared me to guide others with compassion, tolerance, and love. In 2025, I became a Yoga Therapist, and I am now ready to serve, to love, and to give from a place of authenticity, empathy, and gratitude.
I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others see that overachieving doesn’t necessarily mean success. True success comes from within, and it’s okay to slow down, look inward, and prioritize your well-being. I’ve endured internal pain and sorrow in absolute loneliness, and I know how exhausting it is to wear masks to make others comfortable. I understand what abandonment feels like and how much it will impact every area of your life.
I wish that my honest story can help someone feel less alone, less ashamed, and less guilty, and mostly that it invites them to ask for help promptly. Yoga has given me a space for growth, discovery, and self-realization. I found the strength and clarity to understand and accept my life with all its waves and tides. It has given me the opportunity to understand the joy of being alive.
