‘Divino Amore’ Radical Self Love Retreat
with Michelle Taffe – The Global Yogi

Is Italy your happy place? Or do you think it just might be? Italy is a country that opens your heart each and every time you visit, and that happens every more quickly in Southern Italy, which is a combination of stunning nature, relaxed, open hearted people, delicious food, gorgeous beaches and oh – one particularly amazing yoga retreat in the heel of the Italian boot in Salento.

Apricots in abundance at Yoga in Salento’s orchard!

Yoga in Salento in an amazing yoga retreat and an ‘agriturismo’ – that means a kind of farmstay in Italian. They have an incredible veggie garden on site, plus an orchard of fruit trees, not to mention a luscious bed of herbs which season all of the delicious food on offer here. Did I mention the food? Much of the vegetarian and vegan food here is sourced from their own gardens, and it’s some of the best food I have ever tasted at any yoga retreat (and I have been to a lot of those!). Dishes here range from Italian mediterranean style, to Arab influenced – humus and delightful dips and chick pea salads, to Marrocan as well as Asian influences like vegetarian sushi.

The yoga shalas here are both beautiful and light, one is a stand alone big shala outside, and another is within the main (stone) building and graced with aesthetically and soulfully pleasing archers and vaults. Accommodation is comfortable – in rooms with shared or ensuite bathrooms, and outside of your window you might just find a peach tree!

There is a big swimming sized pool here, which is handing in the hot summer months, and around the pool is a lovely grassy area with hammocks and deck chairs, ideal to relax and chill out after a strong morning yoga practice.

Have I spiked your interest? Are you ready to enjoy the fruits of Southern Italy while going inwards through yoga and meditation and learning to amplify your Self-Love for a more juicier experience of life?

Then do join us in Italy in June 2020 for this ‘Divino Amore’ Radical Self Love Retreat at the beautiful Yoga in Salento, in Southern Italy.

Why Radical Self Love?
Self-love is the heart of a healthy life.

If you don’t love and care for yourself, you are not able to love and care for others.

In order to give to others we need first to fill our own cups with self-love and self-care.

There are lots of reasons why we may not be as loving towards ourselves as we could be, usually because we learnt our models of loving ourselves through our parents and caregivers who most likely had their own difficulties with loving themselves. In order to love ourselves fully we need to develop an ongoing loving relationship with ourselves.

That means:
We let go of self judgement,
We fully accept ourselves
We honour ourselves and where we are on life’s journey,
We forgive ourselves quickly and easily for our mistakes,
We develop a relationship with our inner child,
We listen to our hearts,
We follow our intuition and
We develop loving and healthy relationships with others.
We will be diving into all of these themes during this retreat in our Self Love workshop sessions. Tools we will use include: group sharing (nobody is ever obliged to share), journalling, narrative therapy (re-framing our stories), eye gazing meditations, and guided meditations.

We will be investigating obstacles to self love such as:

People pleasing
Not going after your dreams (why? – staying safe and not being too ‘big’)
Childhood patterns of relating based on family relating systems and patterns
Fear and anxiety
Self worth and where it comes from (Hint: it’s inherent – we can’t get it from outside us).

Yoga and Meditation Practices
The yoga offered on this retreat will be Ashtanga Vinyasa style yoga suitable for those who already have a regular yoga practice, whether it’s Ashtanga of Hatha or another style.

We will be investigating all the different postures from the perspective of self love and self care, with the aim that you can come away from the retreat with a yoga practice for yourself that you can do at home.

Our meditations will be focused on staying present with the breath and becoming mindful of the bodily sensations as they arise and fall away, thus bringing us into harmony with the present moment.

There will also be daily guided meditations on self-love relating to the theme of each day.

We will be praticising Insight Meditation each morning (from the Buddhist Vipassana tradition). Each morning we will build on our meditation practice from the previous day. Some sessions will be guided breathing mediations, and others will be fully guided meditation practice.

In the afternoons we will be doing a yin based or restorative yoga practice.

Yoga in Salento
The small Yoga Shala in the main building at Yoga in Salento
Why Italy?
You can do yoga and meditation anywhere, so why would you come here to do it?

As I mentioned above, Italy is a special country for me, and I believe it’s a place where the people are naturally heart centred. There is a joy for life a living the ‘bella vita’ which is contagious here. If you are needing a boost in joy and pleasure in your life, Italy is the perfect place. There is a reason why Elizabeth Gilbert made Italy her first stop on her ‘Eat Pray Love’ world tour. Italian people do know how to enjoy life, take pleasure in food, good company and good times, and live in the moment.

I believe each country has a particular gift to offer the world (just like each person has a gift to offer) and I think the gift of Italy is to enjoy. So this is why it’s the perfect place to come for a yoga retreat around the theme of Self Love. Because if you can’t enjoy yourself – and appreciate your own body, mind and spirit, then it’s hard to enjoy anything else. Italy helps us to keep our focus on the important things – good company, good food, sharing our love, and keeping active and fit in the process.

Sample Daily Schedule

• 7 – 8am: Sitting Meditation
• 8 – 10am: Yoga Practice
• 10 am: Brunch
• 11 – 1:30pm: Self Love Workshop – Journalling / Group Work / Inner Alchemy
• 1:30 – 5pm: Free time / Explore Zollino / Healing / Massage Sessions at the on site Spa
• 5:00 – 6:00pm: Restorative or Yin Yoga
• 7 pm: Dinner
• 8 – 8:30: Evening Program (Meditation / Piano / Kirtan (Mantra)

One one afternoon during this retreat we will be going on an excursion to the town of Lecce for some coffee and shopping and to a nearby beach for a swim and to explore Southern Italian beach culture. ?