We are excited to announce our first multi-day retreat in Tuscany! This May, join Unlock Italy’s Lauren & Rachel Zitin on the coast of Tuscany in a haven of tranquility as you rediscover your creativity and somatic awareness with daily yoga practice and creative workshops.
When
This coming May 24-May 28, 2023 (5 days, 4 nights)
Special weekend edition also available: May 26th-28th.
Includes
- Daily yoga and meditation practice led by Rachel, using your body and it’s natural intelligence to somatically connect with your creativity
- Daily creative writing workshops with Lauren
- Daily journaling exercises with Lauren and Rachel to help focus on your creative goals and get back in touch with your creative side
- 2 delicious plant based meals per day
- Understanding Italian wine: We’ll talk soil, terroir, biodynamic wine, different wine regions in Italy and food pairing!
- Tuscan hikes and time to reconnect with nature
- Nightly themed group circles for community building and connection
Location
Tuscan Coast: We chose this location with a specific purpose in mind – to share one of the most beautiful and non-touristic parts of Italy with you. Tuscany is widely known for places like Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance or the medieval mountain towns like Siena or San Gimignano and the rolling hills of Chianti Classico wine country.
But the coast of Tuscany boasts historic destinations of its own like Pisa & Livorno, a wild and rocky coastline dotted with castles and fortresses, and some of the most dynamic and exciting new initiatives in Italian wine – it’s where the term “Super Tuscan” originated, after all! On our five days together, we’ll be going inward to get in touch with our bodies and our creativity but we’ll also be sharing some of the best food & wine experiences in this beautiful corner of Italy.
Casolare Alberelli
Casolare Alberelli is a converted 17th century monastery rich in history. Chosen for its advantageous location and healing energy, locals still talk about the purifying properties of Alberelli’s salt infused air 4 centuries later!
Planted between rolling Tuscan hills and the Tyrrhenian sea, the property spans across 42 hectares of the Monti Livornesi (a government protected Nature Reserve). It’s also a family run small farm run by Sara, Nicola, their two children and parents plus their dog Prugna! They are a home that encourages mutual respect between travllers, neighbours and the surrounding environment.
They cherish their shared responsibility to protect the earth that nourishes our bodies and minds. Their facilities are constructed and maintained to coexist in harmony with nature. Through mindful consumption of resources and locally sourcing and growing their food, they teach by example that a sustainable lifestyle cna be abundant and beautiful.
Rooms
Alberelli consists of 5 distinct lodgings. All our rooms are meticulously decorated with love, celebrating comfort and rustic simplicity. Each is uniquely furnished in the classic Tuscan style with splashes of modernity and defining artisan touches. Every lodging has access to a private garden equipped with tables, chairs, deckchairs and benches as well hammocks in some gardens.
The Pavillion Studio
Immersed within the forest just a few steps from the farmhouse, the pinewood yoga studio is lined with window walls, extending your spirit across the panoramic view of the woods, sea and sky.
The Kitchen
For brunches and dinners onsite, Casolare Alberelli offers a vegetarian menu prepared with seasonal, organic and mostly locally sourced products, cooked and seasoned with their very own extra virgin olive oil!
Who we are
Lauren Mouat: Lauren is an author, teacher, editor and tour guide based in Livorno, Tuscany. In over a decade in Italy, she has pursued parallel careers: one in tourism as a private guide and trip planner, the other in writing. In addition to publishing travel related pieces in newspapers and magazines in Italy, she is the author of the short story collection Intermezzo, published by Ali Ribelli Edizioni. Published in parallel text, both Italian and English speakers can both enjoy the book.
Navigating the “intermezzo” or the liminal space between cultures, language, and identity are one of the subjects she returns to again and again in her writing. It is also one of the aims of her work as founder and editor in chief of the Open Doors Review Literary Magazine. This online and print magazine publishes short stories, poems, essays and visual art in English and Italian with selected guest judges appearing in each issue as well as interviews with local creatives.
Lauren also works as a professor of Travel Writing, teaching American students in Florence how to navigate the essentials of storytelling, hone their craft and how to find their story (as well as market it) within the world of travel journalism.
She is a tour guide specialized in Florence and Tuscan art and history as well as the co-founder of Unlock Italy: A guided tour and travel planning business. In 2021, she and her partner launched Uncork Italy, a weekly wine newsletter and video series all about Tuscan wine.
Her aim is to create a space for writers and creatives to connect to each other and to their craft.
Rachel Zitin: Rachel is an American retreat leader, yoga instructor, and somatic coach based in Rome. She has been practicing yoga for over a decade, following and learning from different physical yoga styles (Bikram, Hatha, Yin and Vinyasa). She did her 200hr YTT in Bali in 2018, where she was able to deepen her meditation practice and connect to the more subtle aspects of yoga. In 2022, she completed a 100hr yin yoga training, with a focus on myofascial release. Through yoga, she has reconnected to her own joy and exuberance, an experience that continues to inspire her to teach others. Her background as a professional tour guide in Rome ties in perfectly with her teaching style. Rachel has worked extensively with international luxury clients and has a wide range of experience in the tourism industry, most recently focused on leading wellness retreats in Italy.
She writes and reflects extensively on the long-standing connection between Italy and the global wellness movement.
Her objective is to truly nourish others, finding a combination of movement, meditation and body-oriented coaching to allow them to find a space where they can flow, trust themselves and follow their own inner guidance.
Pricing:
Please inquire for details! Write infounlockitaly@gmail.com for more information and pricing!
