I fasted

Take a look with us at the experiences from our sanctuary of darkness, where every participant walks their own unique path. Today we bring you an interview straight from the place where time stands still and thoughts take on a whole new dimension. Our participant describes how his first dark retreat went, what challenges he faced and what feelings he is taking home with him. Read his authentic account and find out what darkness therapy could bring to your life.

A Christmas present and the first step into the unknown

I’d talked a lot at home about dark retreats, so I was hugely pleased when I finally got one as a Christmas present. I’d been thinking about it for quite a long time, but this was my first time in the dark, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. My departure was accompanied by stress and great anticipation in roughly equal measure. Whenever you try something for the first time, you feel a slight uncertainty. I see a huge advantage in the fact that you switch the lights off yourself. Nobody tells you that the lights go out at seven in the evening. You give yourself an extra ten or twenty minutes to breathe and think it over, feel your way around all the rooms, and then you press the switch yourself. When you go into it fully, one hundred per cent voluntarily, it brings a much better feeling.

Losing track of time and the path to calm

At the start the stress perhaps made things a little worse, because while sleeping I fell into complete time disorientation. I had no idea what day it was and I knew nothing. It all came together only when you came in for the first time and told me it was Thursday. Suddenly I worked out roughly how long I’d been sleeping and what I’d been doing. At that moment the stress fell away from me completely. Within the first half to three-quarters of a day I felt absolute peace of mind. To this day I can’t even remember off the top of my head when I last had such complete peace. I usually associate it only with happy situations in life, but here it came of its own accord. I feel that now I can make any decision and it will be fully rational.

Combining darkness and fasting

I normally fast for one or two days. I hadn’t done three days for a very long time. But when this opportunity came up, I told myself I’d combine the two straight away. I felt that if I was in the dark without food, it would cleanse me even more. Instead of the body suffering, over those two or three days it starts to repair and fix itself. It’s enormously beneficial for the organism.

Why try it for yourself

Although the experience can’t be passed on, my message to anyone who’s thinking about it is: definitely give it a try. The realisation that you don’t need to be afraid of the dark comes within moments. Darkness therapy is a superb experience for life that really suits everyone. My best review is that in the future I’ll certainly be glad to come back here at least once more, because I liked it very much.