I arrived in the Italian town of Bibbiena feeling dazed. I had just spent four hours on a bus with a group of complete strangers, winding around Tuscany’s sprawling vineyards and forests to get to this ancient town. We were there for yoga training, but after an hour waiting in the summer heat for someone to collect us, we began to joke (whilst surreptitiously checking the availability at local hotels) that it might be a scam. When our teacher finally turned up, he said he had gone for a coffee and lost track of the time – by the end of the trip, we had all embraced his laid-back pace of life. At sunrise, we practised yoga on a deck overlooking the lush valleys of the Casentino National Park. Bundled up in jumpers and hats, we watched the light spread across the deck, often staying behind after class to bask in the morning sun. Lunches consisted of sun-ripened tomatoes and cheese and were followed by a swim in the nearby springs. At the weekend, we went for hikes in the shade of the ancient oak trees.