Hi Tom and Lenka,
“The dark retreat was a big test of my mind. But in the end it brought me something I didn’t expect – freedom,” says Pavel, describing his experience.
I’d like to thank you, belatedly, for a great dark retreat. I approached it with a lot of respect. Even though I was going into seclusion for “only” three days, it was clear to me that it would be a test for my brain and my mind. All the more reason I want to share my experience, which I consider extraordinary.
Before the darkness therapy I had been a tobacco user for many years – I chewed it for about 19 years. Three years ago I decided to stop, but it turned out not to be easy at all. As a crutch I chose nicotine gum, which was really just out of the frying pan and into the fire. They say nicotine addiction is comparable to heroin addiction.
The turning point came on my second day in the dark. Just to be safe, I had brought a supply of nicotine gum into the darkness so I wouldn’t risk unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. But on the second day, in the silence and the unknown, it suddenly hit me how absurd it was. Why am I actually still chewing nicotine?
From that moment on I haven’t touched it. Well, actually once – when I was throwing out the rest of my supply at home and it turned my stomach.
I’m not saying that everyone who goes on a dark retreat will automatically get rid of an addiction. I just want to share my personal experience: for me, it helped me break free of a heavy nicotine addiction. I don’t understand how it happened there in the dark, but it’s amazing.
Darkness therapy is definitely not over for me, and I’m already really looking forward to my next retreat.
Bye, Pavel
