Open a paper or look at a news website and chances are there will be another story about the unstoppable rise of AI (artificial intelligence) and the Frankenstein-style dilemmas associated with its current state of development. Unsurprisingly, AI has also infiltrated the wellness sphere, with apps and chatbot platforms monitoring and analysing our physical and mental health. However, as the Western world hurtles forward on a fast track to the future, increasingly hooked on technology, there’s an evolving counter-culture — a turning back to age-old, intuition-led wellbeing philosophies from the East, from sound healing to forest bathing, chakra cleansing to crystal therapy. This craving for a more spiritual way of living and healing hints at a realisation that the race for material success doesn’t necessarily bring happiness and fulfilment. Thankfully Eastern wisdom and wellbeing practises are now within easy reach, as a corner of India has recently sprung up in Italy. Datu Wellness, launched in autumn 2023, is a


From left: The rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy; a yoga session at a Datu Wellness retreat in Laticastelli


curated series of ayurvedic retreats in Laticastelli, a medieval hilltop village turned hotel, founded by Constantin Bjerke. Derived from the Sanskrit words ‘ayur’, meaning life, and ‘veda’ (knowledge or science), ayurveda is a nature-based Indian medical system focused on mind, body and spirit that’s been around for over 5,000 years. “What you get here is ancient wisdom,” Bjerke explains. Bjerke’s own journey, from media producer to


holistic wellbeing guru, took him to India and back — and then back again to bring a group of


ayurvedic doctors and therapists to Tuscany. It’s not the only place in Europe offering ayurveda, but Datu’s one-week retreats offer an in-depth experience in dreamy Tuscan surroundings, set in over 740 acres of ancient olive and oak woods. Days are filled with consultations with the


doctors, yoga sessions, pranayama (breathwork) and meditation. There are sun salutations by the pool gazing out over poplar-fringed hills, and yoga nidra (yogic sleep meditation) wrapped in blankets in the piano room, with its ancient beams and windows framed by floating white curtains. Sound healing lying on mats beneath the trees in the garden slows the mind and encourages the body to enter a dreamlike state, while the 12th-century, candlelit wine cellar is the setting for Om chanting, believed to purify the environment around you and create positive energy. All the while, haunting Indian music floats through the grounds of the medieval village, transporting you to a faraway exotic land. For guests — clad in white pyjamas and poncho


— each day starts at sunrise with Agnihotra, the traditional Hindu fire ceremony where cow dung and ghee are burnt in a copper pot and Sanskrit mantras chanted to dispel negative energy. At daybreak and sunset, guests are given an individually prescribed pungent ayurvedic herb concoction. The day ends with a Satsang (yogic instruction)


in front of a roaring fire, with talks on nutrition and philosophy. Dr Ramadas, of Vaidyagrama, an ayurveda hospital in Tamil Nadu, India, discusses digestive fire and the tenets of the ayurvedic diet,


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – SPA & WELLNESS COLLECTION 13


IMAGES: GETTY; MARCO DIANI


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