September 12 - 19, 2027
A women-only ‘week away’ in Puglia designed to nourish and rejuvenate midlife movers through the practice of Pilates and learning the Italian art of being present.
Shannon Barbaro is the founder of Pilates Lab Ventura and the creator of The LAB Method™, a science-backed approach to Pilates that integrates biomechanics, breath, and biohacking to support strength, alignment, and nervous system regulation.
With over 20 years of personal practice and more than a decade of teaching experience, her work is rooted in her own journey from competitive figure skating and a fast-paced career in tech to rehabilitating injury through Pilates—an experience that shaped her commitment to evidence-based movement and functional wellness.
She has completed two comprehensive 500-hour Pilates certifications and is a Balanced Body comprehensively certified Pilates instructor. She is also a NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), holds a gut and hormone nutrition certification through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and has completed Reiki I and II training.
Through her in-studio work and the Online LAB, Shannon helps clients build strength, restore alignment, and reconnect to their bodies for long-term health and longevity.
Kimmy B is a sound practitioner, mindfulness guide, and Reiki Master Teacher known for creating immersive experiences that invite deep rest and reconnection.
With years of experience guiding groups and individuals, her approach is grounded—helping people slow down, soften, and return to themselves in a meaningful way.
Her sessions weave together mindful awareness, guided meditation, and crystal singing bowls to create a multi-sensory experience that supports relaxation, clarity, and a full-body sense of reset. Her work allows the body to settle naturally, often leaving participants feeling deeply restored. Participants often leave feeling more at ease, clear in their mind, and reconnected to themselves.
Kimmy is known for her steady, calming presence and her ability to create spaces that feel welcoming and calm.
Like stepping back in time, the landscape of southern Italy is an invitation to observe a more connected world, where homemade pasta is a daily ritual, health is cultivated through traditional practices, and wealth is measured by the hours spent with friends around the table or the stern of a sailboat.
Join Shannon Barbaro and Kimmy Braget for this flagship wellness retreat based in a quiet masseria, a southern Italian villa, surrounded by natural abundance and nestled between the olive groves. Here you'll connect to the rhythms of Puglia, relax with friends, stroll through the citrus fields, and embrace a lifestyle where the heart of Italy still thrives, largely undiscovered by travelers outside of Europe.
Each day will begin with Pilates led by Shannon, followed by activities that embrace a Pugliese approach to nourishing and strengthening the body. In the evenings you'll allow be soothed by the calming resonance of healing frequencies, led by Kimmy B in her signature style. Throughout the week you'll take time to give back to yourself, enjoy Puglian delicacies, connect with local artisans, swim in turquoise waters, and learn traditional recipes paired with rustic wines. You'll find time to unwind and reflect, and gain perspectives that not only teach you to slow down, but to appreciate each moment as the Italians do. With Shannon, Kimmy, and your local guides by your side, this week offers a true reset in a world of quick-fixes and trends. Here in Puglia, return to first principles and build habits that stand the test of time.
Arriving at your peaceful masseria, a historic farm dating back to the 1700s, you will have time to rest, explore the property, and relax by the pool with an Aperol Spritz before our first evening together. Shannon, Kimmy, and your local co-hosts will welcome you and help you settle in to your home away from home.
Around 5:00 pm, we will gather for an aperitivo and an introduction to Alithea's style of slow travel, and the Wellness Wagon approach to nourishing the mind, body, and spirit. This evening, our first shared dinner unfolds here at the masseria, all’italiana: a generous, multi-course meal prepared with the freshest ingredients of the region. Enjoy your first taste of Puglia’s cuisine with candlelit conversation and good company, as the women you’ll be moving, meditating, and sharing the week with come into gentle focus.
•Dinner together.
Our first full day begins with Pilates lead by Shannon, whose innovative LAB method combines aspects of breathwork, biohacking, and strength-training to return awareness to the body using science-backed techniques. Begin the day with mindful movement adapted just for you, and after breakfast we will set out by bicycl into the landscapes of Salento.
Together with our local cycling guide Marco, we will follow a route that winds through ancient olive groves and on toward the coast, passing through villages that still bear the marks of the region’s diverse history. With a few stops along the way for coffee in Puglian villages, we will reach Otranto around midday, where you will have time to stroll through the town center, browse the local shops, and enjoy freetime for lunch by the sea. In the afternoon, we will make our way back to the masseria, where there will be time to rest before gathering again for dinner, sharing memories of the day and looking ahead to all that is still to come.
•Biking: ~ 4 hours
•Lunch at leisure.
•Dinner together.
After an energizing Pilates class with Shannon and a nourishing breakfast withfresh fruits, our morning will be devoted to the traditions and flavors of Puglia. We will make our way to Cutrofiano, a town whose history and identity are deeply rooted in the ancient practice of clay-making. Here, we will be welcomed by the De Donatis family, heirs to a lineage of sculptors that stretches back to the 1650s. We will spend the morning in their boutique family workshop, where you will have the opportunity to try your hand at throwing pottery on the wheel and to experience a craft that has been passed down through generations.
Following the workshop, we will walk to a nearby winery for lunch, where you will be introduced to some of Puglia’s signature wines, made from primitivo and negroamaro grapes, and paired with thoughtfully prepared seasonal dishes. After taking our time to enjoy lunch and explore the property’s underground wine cathedral, we will head back together to the masseria. The evening remains open, an invitation to choose between the familiar comfort of the villa for dinner, or to venture to the unknown tables of a nearby town.
•Lunch together.
•Dinner at leisure.
Shannon will open the morning with an invitation to inhabit the body more consciously, providing Pilates guidance that is mindful and attuned to each individual's needs. The morning continues with a leisurely hike along the Adriatic coast. Passing through limestone cliffs and serene viewpoints overlooking the sea, we will see where the ancient pajare still stand — traditional dry-stone structures unique to Salento, testaments to the region's rich relationship to the land and harvest. We will finish our hike at a striking coastal canyon, where you will have time for lunch, a refreshing swim, or to continue exploring the surrounding area on foot. In the late afternoon, we return to the masseria for a private cooking class with our chef. Here, the shaping of orecchiette and maccheroncini pasta, local staples in the region, become tactile reminders that real nourishment is an act of participation in cultural traditions. The day closes with shared dinner and music, enriched by the knowledge that we created our meal together by hand.
•Hiking: ~ 2 hours
•Lunch at leisure.
•Dinner together.
After breakfast and coffee, a thoughtful Pilates class with Shannon offers time to move with greater ease, while time by the pool or in the spa invites quiet rest.After starting our morning with intention and grace, wewill make our way to Lecce, a city of remarkable baroque architecture and layered history, where traces of the ancient world remain woven into the fabric of everyday life. During a guided walk, we will move beyond the city’s best-known landmarks, including the ancient amphitheatre and the richly carved façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce, discovering Lecce’s quieter corners and hidden details. Along the way, there will also be suggestions for distinctive local shops and places that offer a more intimate sense of the city’s character. Afterward, there will be time to enjoy Lecce at leisure, with the rest of the afternoon free for shopping and a stroll through the city, before an aperitivo at sunset and a free dinner in town.
•Walking: ~ 2 hours
•Lunch at leisure.
•Dinner at leisure.
Today after Pilates with Shannon and breakfast together, we embark by sailboat upon the Ionian Sea, where the wind becomes both guide and teacher. Gliding past the coastline, lighthouse, and the historic city of Gallipoli, the sails reveal the landscape from a perspective of surrender and flow. Swimming in clear waters and savoring Pugliese snacks aboard will reinforce this underlying lesson: joy often arises when we allow ourselves to be carried. We will return to the port around lunchtime, when there will be time for independent lunch in Gallipoli and the chance to explore at leisure. From the Greek Kale Polis, meaning “beautiful city,” this seaside fortress town is best discovered slowly, walking through its narrow streets and along the old walls overlooking the water. Later in the day, we will return to the masseria, where the evening remains open—whether for a quiet night of rest or the chance to discover another nearby town.
•Sailing: ~ 3 hours
•Lunch at leisure.
•Dinner at leisure.
After Shannon leads us in rejuvenating Pilates and we breakfast together, we’ll hop back on the bicycles and head to a nearby farm, where you will learn to make mozzarella and other traditional cheeses by hand. We’ll enjoy lunch here together, surrounded by nature and the animals whose milk gave form to these fresh cheeses. Today’s journey also includes a visit to a historic frantoio, where olive oil was pressed to give light to entire cities, and a local farmer, Gaetano, will share the UNESCO endangered language of Griko, which acts as a fragile bridge to the region’s ancient Greek roots.
In the afternoon we return to the masseria for a celebratory four-course dinner. Beneath the Pugliese sky and the arches of the villa, our final meal together becomes a closing reflection: on the week’s discoveries, the bonds formed, and the subtle shifts in perception that occur when we travel with intention and purpose.
•Biking: ~ 3.5 hours
•Lunch together.
•Dinner together.
Our retreat draws to its gentle close with an optional last movement session with Shannon. As you depart, your guides will be there to ease the transition and help you on your next leg of the journey. The memories and friendships you’ve cultivated throughout this week will not be left behind in Italy, but will be woven into your daily life, encouraging a disposition of openness, relationality, abundance, and appreciation for life’s simple joys.
What has been awakened within, always travels with you.
For those seeking to disconnect from work, technology, or the constant noise of modern life, this week in Italy will provide an opportunity to embrace the daily rhythms of Puglia. Grounded in the practice of LAB Pilates, singing crystals, and the dolce vita, the goal of this retreat is not just to get away, but to strengthen both body and soul, to let exterior voices grow quiet, and to return home stronger and more present to yourself and to those you love.
Inspired by Joseph Pilates' vision that 'everyone is the architect of their own happiness', daily matwork with Shannon will introduce mind-body connection while immersive sensory journeys with Kimmy and daily activities will encourage the Italian art of living in the moment.
Just as Pilates trains your body to make intelligent movements that support your body all day, every day, travel encourages a perspective of awareness, of stepping into the new and beautiful in order to rediscover the new and beautiful within yourself. From this perspective, the goal of practicing Pilates in Puglia is to strengthen this connectedness to yourself and to the incredible world around you.
Throughout the week you'll stay in a masseria, a working Italian farm converted into a beautiful hotel. Surrounded by olive groves and equipped with its own restaurant, spa, and pool, your masseria operates like a traditional Italian family, welcoming guests as if they were returning home. The antidote to large, impersonal hotels in cities, every room in the masseria is slightly different, has its own story and expresses the hospitality of authentic Italy.
For further questions don't hesitate to reach out to us directly.
This is an active trip with physical activities planned each day. In addition to the morning Pilates practice, you will spend considerable time walking, hiking, and cycling throughout the week. However, this trip is for every body, and if certain activities seem daunting, the masseria's pool, spa, and olive groves will provide a superb setting to relax and enjoy the beautiful landscape of southern Italy should you decide to opt out of certain activities.
The masseria is about one hour by car from Brindisi (BDS), the closest airport. A month before your trip begins, we will request your flight arrival details and will organize two free shuttles which will be at the airport on the day of arrival. If you plan to arrive earlier, please let us know and we will coordinate a transfer service from Brindisi to the masseria.
There is much more to see in Puglia, and spending a little extra time in the masseria is a great way to settle into the rhythms of southern Italy. If you wish to extend your stay before or after the trip dates, let us know and we’ll help coordinate the additional nights.
Brindisi is the closest airport to our masseria. ITA Airways has excellent flights from O’Hare, connecting through Rome to Brindisi. Swiss Airlines also offers various flights connecting through Zurich to Brindisi. Remember that transatlantic flights from the U.S. are overnight, so you'll need to depart at least one day before intended arrival. We recommend booking flights 3-5 months prior to departure.
Yes! We are happy to accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and other dietary needs. One month before the start of the trip, we will send out a request for any allergies or dietary restrictions, and we will plan accordingly with the chefs to ensure safe and enjoyable dining.
Absolutely. When you go to book, select 'Single Occupancy Traveler' and we'll make sure you have your own room.
We’ll send a more comprehensive packing list prior to departure, but in general, bring enough clothes for the week, including active wear and casual wear. We advise good closed-toed shoes or athletic sandals for biking and trekking, a swimsuit, a sweater or jacket, and comfortable, enjoyable outfits for excursions and meals.
The Masseria and many cafes are equipped with WiFi. Italy uses a Type C charging port. Keeping your phone on airplane mode and using only WiFi will ensure no charges for data roaming. If you wish to purchase data, check with your carrier to see what international plans are offered. Alternatively, an Italian SIM card through Vodofone may be purchased in the airport, or e-SIMs may be purchased on apps such as Airalo. To use an international SIM card, your phone must be “unlocked” by your provider, which you can find in your settings.
Yes. Starting in late 2026, U.S. citizens will be required to obtain an ETIAS travel authorization before entering Europe.
ETIAS is a simple online application, with responses typically issued within 96 hours. Once approved, it is electronically linked to your passport.
ETIAS is not yet in operation, but it is expected to be introduced soon. We kindly ask travelers to check whether ETIAS is required for their travel dates and to complete the application if necessary.
To apply, please visit: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias
