Editor’s Preface

Spirit History © Natalie Foo Mei-Yi (Singapore)

Issue 15 ushers in another new year. In the Chinese zodiac, 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, signalling action. In taking action, mindful action is the best kind of action. With mindfulness, we can take careful and compassionate action without harming or hurting others in the process.

The forest continues to guide me in my journey of growth, healing and becoming. Last November, I attended a five-day ANFT Forest Therapy immersion on Ko Phra Thong. In those five days, along with my two trainers and twenty other ANFT Forest Therapy guides, I surrendered to the teachings of the forest, reconnecting with my heart centre to find my way back home to wholeness. The forest spoke to me in many ways, sometimes through the support of a casuarina tree or in the quiet company of a garden lizard. The land offered me hospitality, showing up as dok tua flowers for tea, the local dog lying down for affection, a hammock for rest, or in the form of a humble wooden hut at the top of a tsunami hazard zone hill.

My practice in forest bathing has taught me to slow down. Slowing down in order to listen more closely to what the natural world has to say. Slowing down in order to remember my kinships with the more-than-human world. Slowing down in order to be present and fully alive in the here and now.

Here and now, let us embrace new beginnings.

Dear reader, it is my hope that Issue 15 will inspire you in new ways to do your part for our earth. It is my wish that the poems and stories in this issue will speak to you and stay with you, that the words and images from our wonderful contributors will germinate in your hearts and sprout into beautiful saplings, changing the world one mindful breath at a time, one mindful action at a time. And so it is.

Esther Vincent Xueming

The Tiger Moth Review