Our Story

Founded in 1998 and the first of its kind, Sunflower Retreats provides weekly yoga retreats and wellness holidays for the mind, body and soul, located in the hilltop village of Casperia in Sabina Italy, one hour from Rome, and since 2014 in the jungle & beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula Costa Rica, on the Pacific coast of Central America.  

Our retreats take you on a journey back to yourself where you find deep healing and connection with yourself and others in beautiful locations in Italy and Costa Rica.

Our international team of yoga and holistic practitioners support you on a journey of self-discovery, wholeness and balance .

We are a eco tourism organisation and like to give back to the community or location we are based-in. A percentage of the cost of each booking goes to local owners of the village houses or accommodation that we use in Casperia and beyond and we work with local people who provide meals and activities for our guests therefore providing income to families through ethical tourism practices. This also includes our Costa Rica Blue zone destination weeks which are all located in community-based locations and villages or protected nature reserves such as the Cabo Blanco; the oldest nature reserve in Costa Rica. This is part of our responsible tourism policy as our guests live within the the local community or protected reserve (not in a privately-owned retreat business ) . This policy helps to sustain the village of Casperia and other locations that we work with by providing income to the local families and businesses, including the craft shops , farmers, activity providers and guides who we work with.

Yoga and wellness including ethical business philosophy to be kind to the Earth in Italy and Costa Rica, since 1998.,

OUR ETHICAL BUSINESS AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PHILOSOPHY

We have been renovating village houses and buildings in Casperia since 1998, creating local employment and working with the community in order to support the village's economy and integrate the concept of responsible ethical tourism.
We are a Ethical tourism organisation'; a percentage of the cost of each booking goes in rental to locally-owned village houses, treatment rooms, restaurants and the local businesses who provide activities for our guests to enjoy. The same is true of our new destinations in Costa Rica, where we support local communities and nature reserves. This is part of our responsible tourism policy, as our guests live within the community, rather than in a privately-owned retreat. This policy helps to sustain our base centre Casperia and other locations that we work with, by providing income to independent local families and businesses, including the shops, farmers, and to the guides we work with.
We continue to encourage employment and economic growth in Casperia and beyond by bringing international guests to our destinations, who contribute to the life of the village or location. Rather than dominating a location, we hope to blend organically into the beauty and harmony of the community. We continue to grow and change in order to make this possible.

OUR SYMBOL: THE SUNFLOWER

The myriad fields of sunflowers blooming every summer around Casperia and the Sabina Hills inspired us to call ourselves Sunflower Retreats back in 1998. The sunflower is one of the strongest symbols of summer - other than the sun itself - growing in gardens and open fields with wild abandon. It is a symbol of community, an international symbol of peace and one of good luck and health . While it appears to be a single bloom, the head of the sunflower is actually composed of a multitude of flowers, surrounded by yellow petals. Each flower focuses on one entity - the sun. It follows the sun's apparent journey across the sky, hanging its head when the sun no longer shines on it. The sunflower not only stands sentinel as a reflection of the sun, but it provides food from its seeds

About Sunflower Retreats

Sunflower Retreats Holidays, established in 1998, was the first yoga holiday centre in Sabina Hills and the first of its kind in Italy.

Over the years we have built a yoga holiday centre in the hilltop village of Casperia to which people from all over the world come to rejuvenate and recharge; one where people can step away from their busy lives for a short time to be themselves and find tranquility, enjoying the real Italy, living among local people.

Sunflower Retreats' base centre is located in some of Italy's most beautiful country landscapes and each of our new locations in Costa Rica are based on the stunning Blue zone Nicoya Peninsula - locations truly immersed-in and surrounded by mother nature's beautiful splendour.