September 18th to 22nd 2025
Back to the Roots
A Transformative
Journey to Sicily
Food Alchemy - Yoga - Regeneration - Bonding
In a world that glorifies business, consumption, and speed,
what if the greatest act of rebellion is to rest, reconnect, and embrace simplicity?
This is your invitation to step away from the noise of modern life to embrace sacred laziness and the principle of “less is more,” cultivating a sense of active rest that nourishes the body and mind. Through the lens of cycle awareness, breath awareness and an attunement to body rhythms, we’ll explore the profound relationship between the body, nature, and food.
Carving out time to practice yoga, eat and cook becomes a moment of embodied rebellion against the fast-paced, disconnected norms of modern life. It’s an opportunity to align actions with values, mind with our heart, and step into our organic energy as a modern-day Alchemist—a figure of transformation who takes raw materials (whether food, emotions, or challenges) and transmutes them into nourishment, healing, vision and creation.
Aligned with the Fall Equinox, a time of reflection, gratitude, and balance, this retreat celebrates the harvest—the culmination of growth and the preparation for rest.
Five immersive days, from September 18th to 22nd—culminating in the Fall Equinox, a time of harvest and balance—we will journey back to the essential, rediscovering the pleasure of food, the rhythm of our bodies and the profound connection we share with nature, each other, and ourselves.
This Retreat is for You If...
You seek to reconnect with your body and its innate wisdom.
You long to rediscover food as a source of nourishment, joy, and connection.
You crave a deeper connection to nature and the rhythms of life.
You want to embrace sacred laziness, slowing down to rest and regenerate.
You value community and the shared experience of nourishment through meaningful connection.
"No experience in yoga or cooking is necessary to join this “retreat”. Whether you’re a seasoned yogi, a beginner cook, or simply someone longing to step away from the rush of modern life, all you need is an open heart and a desire to slow down, reconnect, and rediscover the true essence of being human."
Come harvest the wisdom of the Fall Equinox, explore the alchemy of food and self, and return to the roots of simplicity, presence, and regeneration.
What Makes This Gathering Unique?
At the heart of this retreat is the unique blending of Food Alchemy and yoga as core practices, woven together with a particular focus on the four elements and five senses to explore the profound interconnection between body, breath, food, and nature.
Food Alchemy is not a passive experience. It’s an invitation to actively engage with food, transforming the act of eating and cooking into a sacred practice. You will work in a basic outdoor kitchen, collaborating with the four elements to connect with the core essence of life and cooking:
Earth: Root yourself in the rhythms of nature by embracing the harvest’s bounty—seasonal, local ingredients that nourish both body and soul.
Water: Let intuition guide you as you flow through the process. In the kitchen, water binds ingredients and purifies, while in life, it teaches us to adapt, nourish, and flow with the cycles of change.
Fire: Ignite your inner spark with the transformative power of heat, turning raw materials into nourishment and creative expression.
Air: The invisible force that fuels every breath, air also plays a vital role in the kitchen—enabling every fermentation. It reminds us of the unseen connections that sustain us and the power of presence in every moment.
Our journey will also awaken the five senses as gateways to deeper connection:
Touch: Feel the textures of ingredients and the grounding sensations of your body.
Taste: Savor the intricate balance of flavours and their emotional resonance.
Smell: Reawaken your intuition through the aromas of fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Sight: Appreciate the beauty of nature and the artful presentation of food.
Hearing: Tune into the sounds of cooking, nature, breathing and shared laughter.
We will also explore the five tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—as pathways to awaken the senses, discover balance, and deepen our understanding of food’s role in both nourishment and pleasure.
Through the interplay of the four elements, the five senses and the 5 tastes this retreat offers a profound reconnection with the self and the natural world.
Daily Yoga Practice.
Yoga is woven into the fabric of this retreat, offering two daily sessions as integral touchpoints to ground, align, and explore the connection between mind, body, and spirit.
The yoga practice will embrace slowness: the absence of haste, the key of spacemaking. Slowness will allow us to find the balance of our biological rhythms and sense the relationship with our spiritual Self, activating a process of harmonization with the environment, the others, and creation. Morning practices will energize and attune you to the day, while evening sessions will center on relaxation, reflection, and integration.
Yogic breathing will be a fundamental part of our practice, as the breath is the connecting agent between body, mind and spirit. A synergy of these three elements together with the dynamic element of the breath in a complex unit brings us to the development of consciousness and wholeness, feeling breath like cosmic music, melting, mutating and reforming in each breath.
Meet the Crew
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Giulia is a food alchemist and somatic coach passionate about helping women reconnect with their bodies, food, and nature. She sees cooking as an act of alchemy—transforming raw, natural ingredients into nourishment for both body and soul, while blending inner wisdom with the cycles of the natural world.Her journey has been one of profound transformation—from navigating high-pressure kitchen environments and cyclical burnouts to breaking free from the relentless cycle of endless productivity and embracing the power of sacred laziness. Giulia now guides others to embrace slowness and simplicity as radical acts of rebellion , supporting them in reconnecting with their organic energy and discovering wholeness through the alchemy of food, somatic practices, and nature."
Link Personal Webpage Giulia
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Design DirectorIt all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.Gaia met Yoga in 2004, attending Milano Kriya Yoga Academy, based on Van Lysbeth's approach, where she explored meditation, asanas and breathing techniques. She trained at the Hamsa Free School of Hatha Yoga, discovering the integration between movement and breath and the elements of subtle physiology and the chakra system.
In her personal journey she dedicates herself to dancing, singing, learning from nature and animals, including humans, and cooking in communion. She practices Body Mind Centering ® and the magic of embodied anatomy.
Gaia’s exploration now focuses on the knowledge of the organic energy present in each of us, through a practice that involves body, breath, touch, images and sounds.
She firmly believes that yoga has a universal value, as an opportunity to contact the most authentic and profound part of oneself.
The location
Testa Dell’Acqua (Noto)
Location: https://bityl.co/QzOl
E-mail: meraki.testadellacqua@gmail.com
