Going all the way to Italy to learn how to breathe sounds a trifle indulgent. But a stay in the therapy centre called The Hill That Breathes, in the central province of Le Marche, proves rather restorative, and not just for the boosted oxygen levels in your bloodstream.

Standing on my yoga mat at the start of the afternoon’s two-hour session, trying to “circulate” my respiration, I feel dizzy. My fellow breathers, five women of various ages, are doing much better than me. One is sighing; one is loudly coughing.

One is swinging her arms around. Slowly, we all lie down on the mats. Gaia, one of the retreat’s founders, puts on a CD. Loud music warbles around the stone-floored room, which is large and light. (In the summer, breath sessions are held outdoors in a giant green teepee.) Gaia and Jane Okondo, an “integrative breath practitioner”, move around us, whispering encouragement.

The idea is to stop breathing shallowly and mechanically and to open up your body and your breath to awaken your senses. “Breathe in. Right down to your belly. Don’t hold your breath,” intones Gaia in my ear. “Be guided by your body. Then suddenly breathe out. Like you’re dropping heavy shopping. Now, right away, breathe in. Circulate your breathing.” I think she gives me a bit of back massage. I think she wraps me in a blanket. I’m not sure because I seem to have dropped off.

When I wake up a few minutes later, everyone is yelling their heads off and Gaia is encouraging me to “love life”. It’s a bit disconcerting. This is the Wake Up and Love Life Week, and after a while, I get into it. Everyone stands up and starts breathing at the same time and the same rate. I feel as if I’ve run up a hill, standing still. Outside the sun is shining on the lush woodlands surrounding the former farmhouse and I feel calm, relaxed and good about myself.

We change and repair to the dining room for large portions of delicious vegetarian food cooked by the in-house Italian chef. A week-long stay at the Hill is big on eating. Everyone is on full board, enjoying vegetarian menus that include risotto with wine, pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, home-baked bread, bean salads and apple pie.

Holistic holidays, as the Hill calls them, are organised into a programme of reasonably priced themed weeks. The therapies have two, two-hour daily sessions. Alongside these you can have massages, swim, or go for long walks in the countryside. The weeks range from a Yogalicious Week, a Wake Up and Love Life Week (which involves breath work and the Ancient Chinese physical exercise of xi gong) to the F*** It week. This addition to the therapy canon involves delivering the aforementioned profanity to everyday stresses of modern-day living, doing lots of xi gong and chowing down on lovely veggie food. As John Parking, the other founder of the Hill, puts it: “We’ll talk and swim and meditate and snooze in the sun in the knowledge that nothing really matters.”

The Hill That Breathes (La Collina Che Respira), Localita Girfalco, Urbino - www.thehillthatbreathes.com

In brief

USP It’s the only holiday I know where the main focus is quite simply on breathing – except that is when bonding over good food.

AMBIENCE The rooms are simple and most are shared with three people. In the summer, treatments take place in one of five outdoor teepees. In cooler weather, treatments such as a full-body massage take place in your room. There is an outdoor swimming pool in the midst of woodland.

EXPERIENCE Demanding but, if you lose your inhibitions and get into it, very good. The therapies have two, two-hour daily sessions – one of these is the Ancient Chinese physical exercise of xi gong. Alongside these you can have massages, swim, or go for long walks in the countryside.

FOOD Delicious, fresh vegetarian menus that include risotto with wine, pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, home-baked bread, bean salads and apple pie.

IN CROWD It is 70 per cent female, a great many of whom had done a variety of treatments before and were into the holistic scene.

WALLET WATCH Seven nights cost from £495 to £595 depending on the teaching required. It includes accommodation, meals, all classes and one massage. There is a pay bar system. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) fly to Ancona and the taxi transfer from the airport to the spa is £40 each way. Full-body massages, Ayurvedic massage and reiki are on offer, different treatments for different weeks, all £18.50 for an hour.

NEED TO KNOW For further information on The Hill That Breathes contact Wellbeing Escapes (0845 6026202; www.wellbeingescapes.co.uk)

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