The Duchess of Sussex says of her girlfriends in California: “We went from just connecting through our kids to having girls’ night out or doing Pilates together”

Meghan Markle is connecting with her community — sometimes with just a simple fist bump.

Since stepping back from their roles as working royals in 2020, Meghan and Prince Harry have settled into life in Montecito, California, with their son, Prince Archie and daughter Princess Lilibet. Balancing life as a public figure while embracing a more private lifestyle has been part of Meghan’s journey. But now, she says, she truly feels at home.

“I have a couple of girlfriends up here — these are stay-at-home moms and working women with normal jobs, not in the public eye,” the Duchess of Sussex, 43, explains in PEOPLE’s exclusive interview. “We went from just connecting through our kids to having girls’ nights out or doing Pilates together.”

Whether attending with a group or solo, Meghan is just another person attending a fitness class.

“I go to group classes that sometimes have 40 to 50 people in them and just walk in like, ‘Hi!’ ” Meghan says. “Of course, at the beginning, that felt like a lot. By the way, I think anybody walking into a yoga class with 50 people when you’re one of the last people that walk in and everyone looks up, it’s going to feel a little uncomfortable!”

Meghan Markle covers an exclusive new issue of PEOPLE.

She continues, “The other day in class, I was there by myself — sometimes I go with girlfriends, but I went by myself — and in the middle of the class they said, ‘Great, tell the person on your mat next to you that they’re doing a great job, give them a fist pump.’ And I looked over and there was someone over there, and I was like [miming a fist bump], ‘Well done!’ and then I looked to the other side and there was someone else and I went, ‘Nicely done! Come on, guys!’ “

“I mean, that’s part of how you connect. I love it. It’s the best,” she says. “I had missed it. It’s awesome.”

In turn, Meghan says, the community in Montecito has similarly embraced her family.

“Once you know us, I think you want us to have the same normalcy as parents and for our children as they do, despite however unique our situation is,” she reflects.

One confidante recalls how they first connected when Archie and her daughter became friends at school. Meghan reached out with a voicemail inviting her to a playdate.

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and her late dog, guy, in Montecito, California, in June 2024.Jake Rosenberg/Courtesy Netflix

“You can see that as a unit,” the friend tells PEOPLE of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s family. “They’re all very connected.”

After her son’s recent surgery, the friend recalls, Meghan sent a bouquet of balloons and a stuffed octopus from Archie and Lili, with a handwritten note that said, “We thought you could use a hug with eight arms.”

And when Meghan was invited to her low-key birthday party at home, she showed up despite not knowing anyone else and chatted with the other women about “mom stuff and life,” says the pal. “It was just fun and natural. She was very comfortable just chilling.

Meghan Markle on the set of ‘With Love, Meghan’ in Montecito, California, in June 2024.Jake Rosenberg/Courtesy Netflix

In PEOPLE’s new exclusive interview with the Duchess of Sussex, she gets candid about every part of her life, from family time with Prince Harry and the kids to her new ventures: a Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, and her lifestyle brand, As ever.

“I appreciate everyone who gave me the grace to make mistakes and figure it out and also to be forgiving with myself through that,” she said of building her brand over the last few years. “It’s a learning curve.”