Several years ago I hosted a tour to Tuscany called Harvest Italia. Six people joined me to explore the Tuscany countryside during the autumn harvest season. One of the highlights was picking olives on a majestic hillside at the home of my good friends, the Falcioni’s, whose property has an olive grove of 600 trees and views from the 15th century. The exciting part was the following day we took our bags of collected olives to the press to see them turned into oil. The oil was bottled by the Falcioni’s and each of us took home oil from the fruits of our labors. (Fresh and delicious doesn’t begin to describe how fabulous the oil was…)
Our small group adventured together on activities I handpicked, and everyone also had ample time to meander on their own when we were visiting small villages and towns. We met so many amazing and generous people along the way who insisted on showing us places that were not on the initial itinerary. I’d ask the group if they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and if they said yes, there we'd go.
My goal was to provide a small group of people an authentic way to experience Italy beyond the superficial — to enjoy the beauty, savor the food, wine and history and colors of the landscape, and of course create opportunities to connect with the locals.
Yoga practice is a lot the same way. Sometimes you find yourself in a new pose or one you’ve been practicing for years, and all of sudden there’s a shift and you’ve made a new discovery about yourself.
It is our hope with the Tuscany yoga retreat and sightseeing trip, September 28 - October 5, 2022, that the morning yoga and evening meditation and restorative class offerings will add an extra layer of mindfulness as we make new discoveries.
Check out the Spirit of Italy Tours website for details and contact me to register, vicky@spiritofitalytours.com, 408-318-1980 (mobile).
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