Category: Darkness therapy

The employers of some of our dark retreat participants see these stays as an excellent way to recover and offer their employees a contribution towards them. You often ask us how to arrange such a contribution, so we have found 2 ways of doing it for you.

An invoice for the dark retreat sent directly to your employer

Choose this option if your employer will pay for your dark retreat in full and wants to claim it as a business expense. The invoice will be issued in advance and your employer will pay for your stay by bank transfer to our account.

As far as payment is concerned, the arrangement will therefore be between us and your employer.

A receipt for the dark retreat

Choose this option if your employer or trade union contributes towards your dark retreat and does not want to claim the whole amount as an expense, only the amount of the contribution. The receipt will be issued in your name, and your employer, trade union or similar will pay you the contribution without our involvement, usually after the dark retreat.

As far as payment is concerned, the arrangement will therefore be between us and you.

If you have other requirements or questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch; we will do our very best to accommodate you.

Dear friends of dark retreats,

you come to us from different parts of our country and even from abroad. You come at different stages of life, between the ages of 18 and 85, and at different points along life’s path – in other words, some of you have been on a spiritual path for longer and some not for so long.

A dark retreat here and now

A transformation of consciousness is possible through experiencing the present as it is. Without comparing it with the past or mixing in fears about the future or melancholy fantasies. That is why we tell each of you before your dark retreat that breathing is the key to paying attention to your body. When you pay attention to your body, you are living in the present.

Many participants describe a state in which, thanks to breathing and being present, they felt joy and love for no reason at all …. simply from being, from the fact that they exist.

It is not about switching off your thoughts – that isn’t even possible. It is about paying attention to what is here and now. If thoughts or emotions come up and you focus on your breath and your body, those thoughts and emotions can leave again; they can drift through, as if passing like smoke through a chimney or like a single person through a crowd.

Knowledge as an obstacle to presence

Some of you who come have been on a spiritual path for a long time, perhaps searching for happiness, joy and love for several years or even decades. It happens that these are very educated and knowledgeable people, and it is precisely such people who often get caught in the trap of knowledge.

Knowing that something is a certain way is different from living it.

It is similar to food, which tastes more intense in the dark: when your eyes see the food before you taste it, your mind already knows how it should taste, so it is no surprise.

That is why during a dark retreat you can explore yourself and notice thoughts and words such as “I know that”, “I’m familiar with that” or “Yeah, yeah, I’ve read about that”.

It is as if it were enough for our mind to know, so the actual experience never happens – and that is why you may go on suffering.

So what can you do about it?

Nothing 🙂 Breathe and let it be – it will do what it needs to do by itself.

In this way you also develop trust that what is meant to happen is happening, and that it is all right.

We are happy to welcome participants with knowledge and without it, because we believe a dark retreat is for everyone, that everyone receives exactly what they are meant to, and it is an honour for us to be there for it <3

When we built our first dark retreat sanctuary in 2014, we had two keys made. We kept one of them and put the other in a cupboard inside the sanctuary for the dark retreat.

The key to the darkness therapy sanctuary

This system worked well for about two months. If someone wanted to end their stay early, they took the key from the cupboard, unlocked the outer door of the sanctuary from the inside and could walk out.

Several times, though, someone took the key out of the cupboard but simply could not find the keyhole in the dark, and some of them later told us they had even started to think we had deliberately given them the wrong key 🙂

Although only about one in ten people leave a dark retreat early, we did not want to make leaving difficult for anyone in any way, so we gave up locking altogether.

A dark retreat ended simply by opening the door

So the second (eastern) sanctuary no longer even had a recess cut into the door frame for the lock bolt. We built the southern and northern sanctuaries the same way. About twice a year someone asked us whether they could lock themselves in, and once a woman pushed a bed against the door to the inner room so that no uninvited visitor could get in.

Last month, in October 2016, we had 5 requests for locking, and they were so firm that these people would not have come at all otherwise.

We know that the fear of an unlocked door is your own, and that it is only a matter of time before you transform fear into love. But we are not fans of radical solutions, because everything is a process and has its own time, and so an alternative came to us.

A fixed thumb turn keeps your dark retreat free

Together with Mr Zlámal, we ordered 4 lock cylinders with a thumb turn (a fixed knob on the inside), made so that the same key fits all of them and we did not have to keep a set of 4 keys. Mr Zlámal did a great job and within a week we had all 4 cylinders, thumb turns included. Then came measuring for the mortice locks, because choosing the right lock really is a kind of alchemy.

Fortunately, the people at OBI in Kolín know their stuff and gave us really good advice on which locks to choose.

Fitting the thumb turn cylinders

After that, fitting them took just one morning, a Saturday, when one group of guests leaves and the next arrives, so the newcomers already had doors with thumb turn locks.

Using the thumb turn is therefore entirely your choice. If you feel better locked in, you can lock the door when you begin your dark retreat, and we will lock it again after each daily visit.

Even a locked door can be opened very easily from the inside with the thumb turn, so you can leave the sanctuary at any time.

What we tell you regularly still holds true:

“If waves of emotion or thought come, breathing helps. Deep breathing anchors you in the present moment, and the emotions and thoughts can pass through and go on their way. You can always turn on the light in the sanctuary or leave it at any time. But we recommend that you breathe and wait for our visit, when we can talk it through.”

We believe that the option to lock or not to lock will bring you more choice and more freedom.

Thank you for coming to us. We look forward to seeing you in the dark

With love, your guides Lenka and Tomáš

 

Drinking coffee is very widespread these days, and in the Czech Republic people drink 8 cups of coffee per person per week.

A dark retreat and craving coffee

If you are one of those people who drink coffee every day, and several cups a day at that – perhaps 5 or even 10 cups a day – you may be worried whether you can get through a dark retreat without coffee. So you often ask us whether we can provide coffee for you, say 3 times a day. We try to humbly explain to all of you that we do not run a hotel but dark retreats, where our options are limited.

You see, coffee is not like chocolate, which even more people are hooked on: participants can simply bring chocolate with them, but they cannot make coffee themselves during darkness therapy.

Getting to know yourself through a dark retreat

This is one of the intentions participants mention most often. That is why the overwhelming majority of you, even if you drink coffee or even smoke, tell yourselves you can manage a week without your habit. It is great when the inner warrior speaks up and whispers that you can do it. The whole point of a dark retreat is truly to get to know yourself – inside, your inner self – to see your patterns, limitations, desires and addictions. If you crave chocolate and run straight to the fridge, you learn precious little about yourself. But if you wait a while, take a few conscious breaths, feel the emotions and impulses and then consciously decide whether to have some or not, you learn a little more about yourself.

White knuckles during darkness therapy

So, to sum up: we are not saying you shouldn’t drink coffee, smoke or drink alcohol – that is entirely your own business. What we are saying is: indulge your desires and addictions as much as you like 🙂

During a dark retreat you learn a little more about yourself, and overall you will find it much easier to “let the craving pass”. That is the message even heavy smokers report:

“It occurred to me in the sanctuary that I hadn’t smoked for 4 days, but I really didn’t feel like it!”

In the same breath we add that, for your dark retreat to go smoothly, there is no point white-knuckling it over a “craving for something”. So if you cannot bear the craving, please tell us – we will happily pop to the chemist for nicotine gum, to the petrol station for coffee or to the shop for chocolate.

If at all possible, try to work with your desire and craving; if not, we will gladly help and get you whatever you need.

It often happens that a participant comes on a dark retreat believing that they love those close to them completely and unconditionally, yet they feel that love doesn’t flow freely in their relationships, and so they ask questions and search.

I love my wife and children unconditionally

A participant once came, let’s call him Petr, and this is what he said about his wife:

“I love my wife unconditionally, if only she didn’t spend half an hour on the phone with her mum every evening and then another half an hour with her friends.”

About his eldest son it went like this:

“Of course I love my son, I’d give my life for him, if only he didn’t sit at the computer all the time and went running or cycling instead.”

About his youngest daughter Petr declared:

“I love my daughter most of all, the way only dads can, if only she didn’t make a scene every time I won’t buy her an ice cream.”

A mental image of others

Petr is absolutely convinced that he loves his family, and he doesn’t see or notice his “if only”. If we read carefully what Petr says about his family, and treat what comes before the “if only” as not counting, we find that it bothers him that his wife chats away on the phone, that his son lounges about at the computer and that his daughter is a siren reincarnated. That is what Petr’s subconscious perceives. The subconscious is very powerful and steers our life, our emotions and thoughts to a great extent; it sends out energy around us, and other people sense that energy and act accordingly.

Petr actually loves a certain picture of his family; he loves how the people around him ought to be. He doesn’t fully love the real ones, because what they do bothers him, who they are bothers him. And wherever there is something that bothers Petr, there is resistance; resistance creates blocks, and love can’t flow.

A dark retreat is a way out

Well, one of the ways, the one we know works. Because on a dark retreat the participant opens up and accepts, and has enough time to see more of reality. Petr, too, had more time to focus on his feelings during his wife’s phone calls or his son’s gaming. He could allow himself the luxury of doubt and so find within himself patterns of judging and of creating mental images; he could find his resistance and dissolve it.

And that is the first step on the path to true, unconditional love for others and for yourself.

From your questions and from information on the internet, we have noticed that ending a dark retreat with a candle or matches is becoming more and more common.

Ways to end darkness therapy

Every participant can end their dark retreat in their own way, however seems best to them. We just want to tell you that we like everything to be done gently 🙂

Once your eyes have adjusted to the dark, the process in which visual pigment is converted by a chemical reaction into electrical impulses – which our brain can process, and so perceive light – essentially switches off.

Ending a dark retreat during the day, especially in summer, brings an unusual experience with an abrupt transition from darkness to light, because the chemical reaction of the visual pigment is suddenly massive, which can even cause pain.

When ending during the day, it is a good idea to keep your eyes closed for a few minutes and get used to the light gradually; sunglasses also come in handy.

The same abrupt reaction happens even if you are not in direct light but only see a small intense light, for example from the candle or matches mentioned above. Although the image is picked up by only part of the retina, the discomfort of suddenly taking in light is described as just as unpleasant as stepping out into daylight.

Ending a dark retreat at night is gentler on the retina, especially if you leave the dark retreat cabin just before dawn, when the stars are only shining faintly and the sky is gradually filling with light, so your eyes can slowly begin to make out the silhouettes of trees and slowly get used to the colours that are coming.

Whether you end your dark retreat during the day, at night or with a candle, your eyes will adjust within a few minutes; ending at dawn is simply calmer and free of side effects such as pain or stinging.

The dark retreat and motor skills

During a dark retreat, your body gets used to keeping its balance with the help of your muscles rather than your sight. You can try an interesting test. Stand on one leg, and with a bit of practice you’ll find you can stand like that for a very long time, even for hours. Then close your eyes and within a few seconds you’ll fall over 🙂

It takes the body a few minutes to switch from muscle-based balance to balance using sight. Almost all participants say that for a few minutes the world sways as if after a party.

It is only a transitional period and fades within a few minutes, although some people may find it unpleasant, feeling for the rest of the day as if they had been on a boat that morning.

This switch in balance happens not only when leaving the dark retreat cabin, but also when you are sitting or lying down and switch on the light, or even just a candle.

Tips for ending darkness therapy

1. Above all, enjoy the end of your dark retreat calmly and with joy
2. Plan the end of your retreat so that you have at least 2 hours to get your bearings
3. Leave the dark retreat space just before dawn, with no need for dark glasses
4. If your head is spinning, sit on the ground and wait a few minutes until it passes
5. If your head is still swaying a little, hold on to a tree, for example

We keep our fingers crossed for all participants and wish you beautiful moments as you end your dark retreat.

If you would like to learn how darkness therapy works, or find out about the effects of a pyramid, you might be interested in this seminar organised by our friends.

Darkness therapy in a pyramid

From 12 to 14 August 2016 there will be a residential weekend seminar on the effects of darkness therapy in a pyramid setting, i.e. in a pyramid house with a 12x12m base. The seminar will also cover how a pyramid works, how it can be used in everyday life, how to make your own smaller pyramid for use at home, and 3 healing sessions in the central part of the pyramid. More information at http://www.relaxacevpyramide.cz/cs/kontakt

We will most likely be able to come to the seminar as well, so you will be able to talk to us there too.

We are getting more and more requests to cooperate on anonymous surveys of participants.

Since some statistics or other have been appearing on the internet, you have been emailing us to ask whether we take part in surveys about dark retreats.

Our answer is simple …. NO!

We don’t take part, we never have, and we never will, so you have no need to worry about your data. We keep your dates and details confidential and never pass them on to anyone, not even anonymously. Darkness therapy is very much in vogue at the moment, so we too are approached by schools and the media asking for statistics, interviews with participants and so on.

A dark retreat is a private matter

We believe that a dark retreat is for you and your privacy, so it stays purely between you and us. If you have done a dark retreat with us and, on your own initiative, come across some questionnaires or research on the internet and want to take part, that is of course up to you.

We just want to stress that no such initiative has ever come from us, and it never will.

Dear friends of the dark retreat,

construction of the northern sanctuary is in full swing and within 14 days we’ll be putting on the finishing touches.

Since you sent us enough financial contributions in advance, there was even enough for a reversible heat pump, so the northern sanctuary will have air conditioning for the summer. By the way, it was a bit of a challenge to make sure the air conditioning doesn’t give off any light 🙂

A dark retreat at a pleasant temperature

The heat pump has an output of 2 kW for both heating and cooling. The outdoor unit stands on the ground, so no vibrations are transmitted into the sanctuary. It’s also super quiet, at just 46 dB, which is about as loud as a hushed conversation. The indoor unit is set to night mode, so its noise level is only 21 dB, roughly like a quiet garden. The heat loss of the sanctuary is about 0.5 kW, so the pump can easily heat and cool the sanctuary (it’s the least powerful pump you can get on the market).

The heat pump, including professional installation, cost 50,000 CZK, and we’ve calculated that what the heat pump saves on heating in winter will be used up on cooling in summer. This means the daily cost of a dark retreat shouldn’t go up.

The temperature can be set anywhere between 18 and 28 degrees with a remote control specially adapted for blind people, so the buttons have distinct shapes that can be told apart in the dark.

A request for contributions

At the moment only the northern sanctuary has a heat pump with air conditioning, and because it’s so great, we’d love to give all participants cooling in the other sanctuaries this summer too.

The total cost of the heat pumps and the necessary changes to the electrical wiring is 170,000 CZK. We’re able to save 15,000 CZK a month, so air conditioning in the other sanctuaries wouldn’t happen until next year.

If you’re planning to come to us, you can choose in the booking form to help us fund air conditioning for the other sanctuaries too, by sending us your contribution for the dark retreat in advance, either in full or in part.

If you’ve already been with us and you’d like to and are able to contribute by making a donation towards air conditioning, we and all the other participants will be very grateful if you send your donation to account 2000223289/2010 with the reference “dar na tepelnou pohodu” (a gift for thermal comfort).

Thank you, and may the light be with you

Tomáš and Lenča

 

One of the questions we get asked now and then is:

“Do you cleanse the sanctuaries of negative energy after each participant?”

Where does negative energy come from?

According to the terminology of various spiritual courses and esoteric teachings, negative energy is energy that harms us, that causes us something we don’t want.

To prevent this from happening, we have introduced the following procedures after every dark retreat participant:

1. We air the place thoroughly, summer and winter alike
2. We light 7 incense sticks one after another to burn away negative energy and bring in love and harmony
3. We air the place for 7 minutes
4. We place a handmade beeswax candle on the floor at the exact geometric centre for 77 minutes to burn away the last traces of negative energy
5. We air the place for 7 minutes
6. Using water infused with elder bark and lime blossom, we wipe the entire floor with our right hand in clockwise circles for at least 14 minutes
7. On the front door we hang a freshly woven wreath of either elder twigs or spruce branches, depending on the season
8. If the previous participant was of the opposite sex to the one arriving, we place 7 plantain leaves in the toilet for 49 minutes (we have dried ones for winter too)
9. With our hands joined, we walk round the whole sanctuary 7 times clockwise, and our children walk round it 7 times anticlockwise
10. Once every 7 weeks we have arranged for 7 maidens from the local school to come, whose presence in the sanctuaries for 7 minutes (in each one) dissolves the very last traces of negative energy

And now, a little more seriously 🙂

In our view there is no such thing as negative energy, just as there are no negative thoughts or negative emotions. Things are as they are, and as they are, they are perfectly fine. It is always and only the mind that distinguishes between negative (I don’t want it) and positive (I want it) energy.

Just as you don’t catch flu every time you ride a bus, nothing from the previous participant will jump across to you.

Our experience with participants is that those to whom it never occurred that the sanctuary might need cleansing show no sign whatsoever of the previous participants’ energy.

And those who do consider it don’t show any either 😉

We simply believe that everything happens out of love and that the destiny of human beings is joy and happiness.

With love, your dark retreat guides

Tomáš and Lenča