An invitation to return to deep, inner peace, untouched and untainted by sorrow

Shantih Om Eco Retreats was founded with the aims of offering forest bathing and yin yoga retreats to people from around the world.

Our ethos is: BREATHE. REST. LISTEN.

BREATHE

Our retreats invite you to slow down and return to the breath and body. Awareness of the breath or anapanasati, is our approach. In slowing down and returning to mindful breathing, we learn to live in the present moment.

REST

Our retreats offer you a safe space to rest and just be. Daily living is filled with overstimulation, lots of doing, with little time for stillness and rest. On our retreats, we create time and space for restful being. Whether it is through our forest bathing walks, meditation or yin yoga, you will be able to rest and recharge your energies in a supportive environment.

LISTEN

What is your heart saying? In silence and stillness, the heart’s voice becomes louder and clearer. Our retreats will attune you to listen more deeply to your own body and inner wisdom, to listen to nature’s messages and your heart’s call. Through yin yoga and forest bathing, you will be guided to hear the messages of spirit and return to your true nature of wholeness and peace.

Shantih means peace. Om is the sacred sound of the universe, a primal energetic sound. Eco comes from the Greek oikos, meaning home.

Together, our name reflects our mission to make conscious choices to walk, live and breathe on this earth with equanimity and peace.

Rather than running away from this world, we remain rooted and grounded in the here and now in our bodies and earth, at home and whole.

It is our belief that we can all return to a state of deep, inner peace, always alive and alight, untouched and untainted by sorrow.

Om Shantih Om.

Stone Buddha statue with a peaceful face and decorative headdress, partially obscured by large green leaves, situated on a stone platform in a dense, tropical garden with dry and green leaves, trees, and purple flowers in the background.

Taken at Wat Pha Lad, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Namaste.

I’m Esther Vincent from Singapore. I have Sri Lankan and Chinese roots, as well as Levant and Estonian ancestry.

I received my 50h Yin Yoga Teacher Training on the beautiful island of Lombok, Indonesia under Dea Putri. Those seven days of learning taught me so much about letting go of control, and listening to my body. The Yamas and Niyamas of yoga served as a guide and reminder to live ethically in community, and as personal discipline for my own inner, spiritual growth. As a Yin Yoga practitioner, I am committed to bringing my practice of acceptance, slowness and ease off my mat into my everyday life. As a Yin Yoga teacher, I teach with patience, compassion and non-judgement.

I graduated from the Kingfisher cohort (2024) as an ANFT Forest Therapy Guide under the training and mentorship of Youmin Yap (Singapore) and Jackie Kuang (Arizona, USA). As an ANFT Forest Therapy Guide, I work in partnership with the forest to guide participants on slow walks filled with presence and attention. My practice involves relating to the more-than-human world in an embodied, relational, heart-centred way.

I received my Usui Reiki I, II and Master attunements in 2019 from Lisa Powers, and have been practicing reiki healing and meditation ever since. I am also certified to work with crystals during my reiki sessions.

My formal meditation practice began in 2022 under MC Brigitte Schrottenbacher on a Vipassana temple retreat at Wat Prayong Gittivanaram (Bangkok, Thailand). There, I learnt Vipassana and metta meditation, and received dharma teachings. In 2023, I attended a yoga and meditation retreat with Lokta Joel at Siem Reap, Cambodia in Hariharalaya, where I brought back a yoga sequence that I adapted and still practice daily today. In between, I continued my practice of going for retreats in Luang Prabang, Laos and at the Bali Silent Retreat. In 2025, I took my first S. N. Goenka 10-day Vipassana meditation course in Bangli, Bali, Indonesia, where I practiced anapanasati and Vipassana meditation in a more disciplined and structured way.

In learning from different teachers at different points in my life, I have been able to create a personal practice that meets my needs and serves my highest good.

After seven years of personal practice or sadhana, I am feeling ready to bring these gifts to the world through Shantih Om Eco Retreats to anyone seeking peace and wholeness within.

A woman practicing yoga outdoors, standing in tree pose with one foot pressed against the inner thigh of her other leg, hands in prayer position, next to a large tree with green leaves.

Photo credit: Ethan L

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