Firstly, Happy Chinese New Year 2026! I’m looking forward to celebrating the year of the Fire Horse this Saturday with some qigongers in Brighton. We’ll be getting together at a colourful, inclusive and accessible venue near Brighton Station for a mindful tea meditation ritual to mark the year of the Fire Horse and the start of spring.
We’ve already started with discussions around what the year of the Fire Horse means on our Whatsapp group. I’ve seen talks about the year meaning an acceleration of communications and busy-ness. Hence, even more need to slow down and find time for mindfulness. The horse is associated with active, yang energy, as is fire – so it’s easy to see why there are warnings about the need to keep ourselves in balance this year so as not to burn out.
National Geographic magazine writes about the horse in Chinese astrology as a symbol of forward movement, independence, and endurance. There’s also a note about impulsiveness this year in the article.
Fire in Traditional Chinese Medicine and in seasonal qigong (Weds online) is the energy of summer, the heart, connection, expansiveness and joy, when in balance. Qigong helps keep this in balance. In particular, we practise heart balancing qigong from early May to July – an important time to regulate this year’s energies most likely.
I look forward to more discussions and reading about the year in more detail. Personally, I am making the time for extra tea meditation, qigong and calm walks in nature this year to balance all the yang and keep the yin strong.
I also look forward to feeding my heart with my music practise, as well as welcoming the positive connection and balanced joy fire can bring – in my community and the wider world, through qigong groups and tea meditation groups. I hope to see you there.
With Metta, Claudia
