Category: Darkness therapy

From every dark retreat you did with us in 2022, we set aside 100 CZK and sent it to children in Uganda for their education through Archdiocesan Caritas Prague. You helped us raise so much that there was even enough left over for new bikes for both children. The bikes will help them get to school, to the shops or to fetch water more quickly.

On behalf of Lennet and Nassan, we thank all of you who came for a retreat, and we are carrying on sending money in 2023 too, because we believe people are on this Earth to help one another.

You can get involved yourself too – let the list of projects we support be your inspiration.

Sleep debt has become a common problem for many people in the modern world. People tend to work longer hours, spend more time on social media or watch television, and all of this disrupts their sleep. This lack of sleep leads to a growing sleep debt, which results in tiredness and lower performance during the day. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem: a dark retreat.

Paying off your sleep debt

A dark retreat is becoming an increasingly popular way of treating sleep debt. As the name suggests, this method involves staying in complete darkness for a certain period of time. During a dark retreat, the body produces the hormone melatonin, which helps you fall asleep and regulates sleep. Melatonin is only produced in a dark environment, which is why a dark retreat is a great way to stimulate melatonin production and so regulate your sleep.

What is a dark retreat?

A dark retreat is a method that involves spending anything from a few hours to several weeks in complete darkness. In the past this method was used as part of religious rituals, but recently it has become increasingly popular as a way of dealing with sleep problems.

A dark retreat is suitable for anyone who suffers from sleep debt, and if you want to try a dark retreat, a week is the ideal length. If you are not sure about your state of health, you should talk to your doctor first. If your health is fine, you can go ahead with a dark retreat.

Where to go for a dark retreat?

There are various ways to try a dark retreat. The simplest is just to switch off all the lights in the room where you sleep, or to use special glasses that block blue light, which is known to disrupt melatonin production. If you want to try a dark retreat more intensively, you can visit our dedicated facility near Kutná Hora, which has special cabins in an orchard designed solely for dark retreats. These cabins are built to be as isolated as possible from outside light and noise.

An alternative dark retreat

If you feel uncomfortable at the thought of a dark retreat with us, don’t be afraid to look for other ways to deal with your sleep debt. It is always good to explore different options and find the one that suits you best.

However, if you decide to try a dark retreat at home, here are a few tips:

1. Start gradually. You don’t have to spend the whole night in the dark. You can start with a short time in the dark, say 30 minutes, and gradually increase it.
2. Make sure you have everything you need. Before going into the dark room, get everything you need ready, such as food, drink and so on. If you need something during your stay, it will be easier for you.
3. Reduce noise. If possible, muffle the sounds around you so they don’t disturb you during your time in the dark. If you have trouble sleeping, you can use headphones with white noise to help you fall asleep more easily.
4. Have a plan. Think about what you want to do during your time in the dark so that you don’t get tired or bored. You can have a book ready, listen to music, meditate or do other relaxing activities.
5. Avoid blue light. Blue light can disrupt melatonin production, so try to avoid it for at least an hour before bed. If you use a mobile phone or computer, you can use special apps that reduce the amount of blue light.

If you try a dark retreat at home, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for you.

If you come to us for a dark retreat, we will be delighted and will “look after you like one of our own” 🙂

Dear friends, we are aware of the difficult financial situation most households are in. Inflation over the last 2 years has shot up to almost 40%, and the running costs of our dark retreat centre have gone up too.

Electricity has gone up by 200% and water by 30%. Even so, we still manage to get 70% of our electricity from our own solar power plant.

So we have decided to meet you halfway, and we will not raise the price of dark retreats for the whole of 2023. The next adjustment could come at the earliest for dates in 2024, as the cap on electricity prices, which also helps us keep our electricity costs down, will then come to an end.

At the end of 2023 we will review our costs, and if we were to adjust the price for 2024, we will let you know at least a month in advance.

A dark retreat in instalments

It is still possible to pay half of your dark retreat in instalments, from as little as 500 CZK a month.

We firmly believe that this step will make dark retreats truly accessible to everyone.

See you in the dark 🙂

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Burnout is a state that can set in when someone is exposed to stress and pressure over a long period. Its symptoms include fatigue, irritability, insomnia and a reduced ability to concentrate. One unusual way of dealing with it is a dark retreat.

Darkness therapy

A dark retreat is a therapeutic method in which a person spends a certain amount of time in a dark room where they cannot see. It can help people overcome stress and anxiety and improve their overall wellbeing.

During a dark retreat, the body releases hormones that lower stress levels. One of them is melatonin, a hormone the body releases when it is dark. Melatonin helps to calm the mind and improve sleep. Because there is nothing to see in the dark, brain activity slows down, which helps to reduce anxiety and stress.

Calming the body and mind

A dark retreat also helps people become more aware of their body and their thoughts. It can help release blockages that hinder the natural flow of energy and improve overall wellbeing.

There are various kinds of therapy that involve spending time in the dark, including meditation. These therapies can be very effective in tackling burnout.

However, as with any therapeutic method, it is important to remember that a dark retreat is not for everyone. If you have any health issues, such as claustrophobia, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, talk to your doctor, who can help you assess whether a dark retreat is suitable for you.

How to ease stress during a dark retreat

If you want to relax and quieten your thoughts, you can try the following:

1. Deep breathing: Focus on your breathing and try to breathe slowly and deeply. This can help release tension in the body and calm the mind.
2. Meditation: If you have experience with meditation, you can practise it in the dark as well. Try to focus on your breath and on the sense of calm and peace in your body.
3. Relaxation exercises: There are many different relaxation exercises that can help release tension in the body and calm the mind. For example, you can learn progressive muscle relaxation, which involves gradually relaxing one muscle group after another.
4. Music: Some people also find music very soothing and helpful for calming the mind. Try putting together a playlist of calm music that relaxes you in advance, but bring a player that gives off no light.

A dark retreat can be a great opportunity to make time for yourself and quieten your thoughts. If you feel overloaded and tired, it is certainly worth a try.

Either way, a dark retreat can be an effective therapy for people who need to rest and restore both body and mind.

These are very turbulent times. In Europe, just beyond NATO’s border, a war is raging. Stock markets are falling by as much as 50%. Inflation is approaching 15%. The price of electricity, gas and diesel is doubling.

These rising costs and the uncertainty give rise to feelings of futility and frustration, which make people stop and think and look for a way to ground themselves.

A dark retreat helps you ground yourself in the present

A week in the dark is an ideal time for participants to reflect on their lives, their past and their future. It is an ideal time to rest and to think calmly, without interruption.

We understand that a dark retreat can be expensive for some people, so we have decided to help you, our participants, even more by offering a temporary discount of 30%.

30% off a dark retreat

So for every participant who books a date by the end of May 2022 and uses the discount code MAY2022, the final price of the dark retreat will be just 8,400 CZK.

The discount code does not apply to gift vouchers or instalment plans.

Dark retreats for 2022 and 2023

You can book a dark retreat date for the rest of 2022 and for the whole of 2023. The price will be honoured for you, even though it is very likely that the standard price will go up for 2023.

Anyone who books a dark retreat in May and puts the code MAY2022 in the notes will pay 8,400 CZK instead of the standard price of 12,000 CZK.

We firmly believe that this way we are helping those in need, and we look forward to seeing you in the dark.

The next available dark retreat dates

Next available dates

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Hi Lenka and Tom,
I’m only writing my feedback two months after my dark retreat – I didn’t get round to it sooner. But maybe it will be an interesting view from a bit more distance. The idea that I wanted to do a dark retreat came to me out of the blue in December. I was feeling some frustration, tiredness, pressure, and this thought just appeared, and I knew I needed it soon. Of course, Lenka and Tomáš’s place was booked up for ages, but I signed up as a standby for February and I knew it would work out. And it did.

The dark retreat transformed me

I don’t want this to sound like a cliché, but the dark retreat literally transformed me. I don’t want to promise that to anyone else either, because everyone’s experience is different. I think I’m more of an introvert, and in general I recharge in life by needing to be alone. I believe that for sociable types the darkness is an even bigger challenge. So I felt good there, and for the first few days I kept thinking it wasn’t really such a big deal.

I had no expectations and just lazed about, exercised, meditated. And through that slow flow of time and getting closer to my body, in the second half of the retreat I was blessed – I experienced something incredible. It’s hard to describe, but since then I believe that everything is just as it should be. That I should accept the present and not fight it. Everything comes at the right time.

I’ve read it so many times; my brain has seen sentences like “live in the present” over and over. But in the dark I lived it. It’s not something you can grasp with your mind – it was more like an experience of the soul, something you can’t explain in any way, you just feel it. I felt that the world was there for me, that I was accepted, welcome, loved.

So am I happy all the time since the dark? 🙂

Of course not 😀

Crises and frustration still come. But it feels as if I have some kind of anchor. When I close my eyes, I picture myself there, sitting on the meditation cushion where all of this happened. And I know it’s real and that the protective spirit is still with me. And I can handle situations better. In general I’m more on top of things, too.
What helped me go deep inside myself? I had a small drum and a flute with me. Sound vibrations help a lot. Then aroma sprays (I had 7 of them, one for each chakra, and I gradually relaxed). And I came up with a way of keeping a diary in the dark, and I’m incredibly grateful for that, because although your thoughts are clear in the dark, I’m really glad now that I can read them again and it takes me back there.
Thank you for the opportunity!

Kristýna