By Camilla Sarra. Cover image Casa Corliano courtesy
Three days outside Florence to step away from screens, slow down and spend more time in the real world before university starts again. From September 11 to 13, Slow September brings a women-only retreat to Casa Corliano, turning the Tuscan countryside into a place to reset through nature, movement, food and time spent together.
Why September Is the Perfect Time to Go Offline
There is something slightly ironic about coming back from summer already needing a break. September arrives with the promise of a fresh start, then very quickly becomes lectures, deadlines, group chats, emails, calendars and a laptop open next to a phone that never really stops asking for attention. Even downtime has become screen time: a few empty minutes are enough to start scrolling almost automatically.
Which is why switching off before switching everything back on suddenly makes sense.
A digital detox does not necessarily have to mean disappearing into the woods without Wi-Fi. Its value can be much simpler: interrupting the habit of being constantly available. Not answering immediately. Doing one thing without simultaneously consuming something else.
That is the territory Slow September moves into. Held from September 11 to 13, the Meridiano Collective retreat is conceived for women looking for three days of slower living, new connections and time away from the pace of everyday life. The weekend begins with a desk detox and breathwork session. It is a small detail, yet one that says a lot about the mood of the retreat. It’s a way of recovering attention. Three days in which there is somewhere else to look.
A Digital Detox in the Tuscan Countryside
Casa Corliano, in the countryside around Calenzano, is only thirty minutes from Florence. The house is surrounded by olive trees and open countryside, with outdoor spaces and a swimming pool. More than thirty years ago it began with the restoration of an old ruin and became a family home, shaped by shared Sundays and home cooking; for the past seven years, it has also welcomed guests from around the world.
The landscape matters here because it does more than provide a photogenic backdrop. When most of the day is normally spent shifting between screens, being outside changes what there is to pay attention to. A path through the woods replaces the next tab. Light changes instead of a feed refreshing. There are olive trees, a pool, long tables and enough physical space to stop feeling that every empty moment needs to be filled.
The days move between yoga, walking, cooking and stretches of time outdoors, with a guided walk through the surrounding Tuscan landscape and time set aside simply for the pool. The green becomes part of the detox. You are still connected to the world, just through different things.
Yoga, Homemade Pasta and Long Breakfasts: What Slow September Looks Like
The rest of Slow September follows the same logic. The schedule brings attention back to physical things: breathing, moving, walking, cooking, eating and spending time around other people.
Yoga sessions work with Hatha Yoga, Asana and Pranayama, combining movement with breathwork and allowing participants to practise at their own pace, regardless of experience. It is an approach that feels particularly relevant after hours spent folded over laptops and phones: getting out of your head for a while and noticing the body again. The same thing happens in the kitchen. There is a class devoted to making tagliatelle by hand, starting with flour and eggs and ending around the table. A pizza night, homemade lunches and dinners continue the idea, with seasonal ingredients, local produce and vegetables picked from Casa Corliano’s garden forming part of the menus.
Breakfast is handled by Calamarata, a project sitting at the intersection of food and visual culture. Its founder Giorgia Cappellotto studied Fashion Design at Istituto Marangoni in Milan before working in production and design and later expanding her practice into wellness and food. She develops customised breakfast and brunch experiences.
At Casa Corliano, the most interesting part is not escaping technology forever, nobody realistically wants or needs to do that, but remembering that a day can still be organised around other things. A walk. A meal. Your own breathing. Someone sitting across from you. And before university begins again, perhaps that is enough of a reset: fewer open tabs, more green, and three days in which what is happening in front of you matters more than what is happening on your screen.
