Vintage yoga was born not only out of a love for yoga and a love for wine, but out of a love for living the best life possible. If you’ve travelled a fair amount and even tasted some special wines around the world, you’ll know that even the best things in life go unappreciated, even on the subtlest level. That’s why we’ve added yoga and mindfulness. These practices, while in and of themselves have the power to leave us feeling deeply relaxed, balanced and connected to ourselves and the world around us, there are lasting effects that we can carry into the rest of our experience that go beyond the practice on the mat. Developing an off the mat mindfulness practice means we have the capacity to experience the joys that life has to offer with an intensity we never knew possible, almost like experiencing it for the first time, every time.
We’ve crafted a week that brings into perfect balance our most indulgent selves with our most aware selves. Eremito is the ideal place for those who realise that peace and quiet are essential ingredients to find inner peace, while at the same time, enjoying the company of the other retreatants who also understand that a good life is a mindful one. Join us for a week of pure bliss as we merge the best things in life.
Included:
Accommodation in a unique luxurious hermitage-come-design-hotel imagined by an ex-fashion designer buried deep in the Umbrian hills. Includes a state of the art solar heating system, an open crackling fire, and a medieval spa featuring an atmospheric thermal plunge pool and a stone steam room.
All meals on-site provided including four-course lunch and dinner. It’s a set menu of simple but wholesome vegetarian dishes inspired by traditional monastic recipes. More decadent meals will be enjoyed outside the hermitage at the various wineries and restaurants. Breakfast is of course also included
All wine tastings on site
All yoga and mindfulness classes & instruction
Visits to leading wine producers in the area
€419 per person per night
Yoga and Mindfulness Program
The Program:
Whether you’re a beginner, or are an experienced long time practitioner, this is where you’ll experience yoga at its most impactful and leave with sustainable tools to integrate the practice into your life after the retreat.
The yoga and mindfulness program is structured to achieve purification of the body and mind at the deepest level. This means less anxiety, better sleep, a stronger body and an overall feeling of profound balance. The daily mindfulness sessions are based on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s famous stress reduction program where you’ll be given simple tools to learn how to train the mind to focus its attention in ways that allow the realisation that the present moment is the only moment where happiness exists. This training is accessible and beneficial for anyone, no matter the experience. You can do as little or much yoga as you please with the each day starting with a 20 minute guided mindfulness session.
Some days have a little bit more of a yoga focus with two sessions a day, some just one.
Cherryl Duncan:
Cherryl Duncan has more than 15 years experience in yoga, and has established her own, successful Yoga method, dharmaKaya® yoga. The physical practice can be described as slow, focussed and challenging. Suitable for both beginners and advanced practitioners in that it is slow enough for beginners, intense enough for the more experienced. By integrating the physical practice together with philosophical elements, the student is trained in the ability to more effectively observe their own bodies, thoughts and feelings, which leads to a greater understanding, acceptance and ultimately love of their own life and their place in relationship; relationship to Self, others and the environment.
Cherryl is ready to take you on a journey into yoga and mindfulness both on and off the mat.
The Wine Program
The wine program – overall focus
The wine program will be both an introduction to wine tasting in general, as well as an exploration of Italian wines. For people interested in wine, but who have never approached it formally, the program will begin with some wine skills that will arm you well for future nights.
In terms of Italy, it could not be a more exciting time to be visiting Italy and tasting Italian wine.
In the last 10 years there has been a revival in native Italian varietals, which have a real sense of place. The focus of the program will be Italian wines, and wines of the exciting Umbrian area. For those interested going into more depth, there will be lots of opportunity. For those who want to just taste and enjoy, this is perfect.
The wine program – details
The wine program will be both on site, and on the vineyard. On site, each day we will taste, and discuss a particular region of Italy, starting in the North with Piemonte, moving to the sublime wines of Alto Adige, then to the gorgeous wines of Veneto, followed by Tuscany, and finishing with Sicily.
There will be 3 excursions, including to the nearby town Orvieto, home of famous white wines, which will include a lunch at a historic winery. The second and third trips will focus more on red and dessert wines, and will be a bit further afield. All trips are voluntary, but we seriously recommend Orvieto and the lunch!
Mark Weldon:
Mark worked at McKinsey, ran the New Zealand Stock Exchange for a decade, did a bunch of public policy work, until it finally all got to him, and, after years leading wine programs at his various firms, he purchased 4 vineyards in the premium Pinot Noir region of New Zealand, Central Otago. Making beautiful, restrained wines, his Terra Sancta winery was named one of the top 100 wineries in the world in 2015. As well as wine, he also owns New Zealand’s top Olive Oil producer – so is also very interested in the famed Umbrian Olive Oils we shall also taste.