Category: Darkness therapy

You often ask us how we can afford to offer dark retreats in instalments. Some of you are now starting to think about running dark retreats yourselves, and you ask about the financial side, the costs and the income.

The price of a dark retreat

From the very start of our centre near Kutná Hora, the contribution was voluntary, because we believe that providing dark retreats is a service to society, a service to you, the participants, and that this kind of work is in keeping with our mission. Covid in 2021 threw a bit of a spanner into the voluntary price, so we introduced at least instalments from 500 CZK a month.
We carry a huge passion for fulfilling our vision, which can be summed up in the motto:

“We don’t need to help people; people help themselves best”

That is, when they have the right conditions, space and time, and perhaps someone at hand who knows what they are going through and lends a helping hand when it’s needed.

So we thought about how to create the conditions for the widest possible group of people practising dark retreats. We decided on wooden cabins, because of the pleasant environment and, compared with brick-built cabins, the favourable price and speed of construction. Building one cabin takes two people about 4 months.

A breakdown of the costs of a dark retreat

Here we show you the model financial costs of running a darkness therapy centre. The costs are calculated at an occupancy of 45 weeks a year.

Building a dark retreat centre

A dark retreat cabin, including the price of professional labour, costs 800,000 CZK. The lifespan of a cabin is 10 years, and cabin maintenance (painting, repairs to doors, locks and drains) accounts for 500 CZK of the daily costs.  The cabin also needs upkeep: painting once a year, replacing the shower enclosure when someone breaks its door off, or when the door handle comes away in someone’s hand 🙂 We budget maintenance at 5,000 CZK a month per cabin.

The wastewater treatment plant, sewerage and laying the water main cost 200,000 CZK and have a lifespan of 20 years, which is a daily cost of 30 CZK).

Energy

One cabin uses on average 3 MW a year for heating and air conditioning and 3 MW for hot water. Heating therefore accounts for a daily sum of 120 CZK and hot water for 120 CZK. Water and sewerage charges are calculated from the average lifespan of the pump and treatment plant and a volume of 150 litres of water a day, which is 20 CZK a day.

Meals

Providing food for a participant for one day costs on average 300 CZK. For a raw food diet the price rises to about 500 CZK, but in the calculation we’ll use an average of 350 CZK.

Cleaning and hygiene supplies

Cleaning products, toiletries, toilet paper, tissues and the like cost 6,000 CZK a year, which is a daily sum of 25 CZK.

Mattresses, bedding and laundry

In this kind of use a mattress, bedding, pillow and blanket last one to 2 years, so we put the daily cost, including laundry, at 30 CZK,

Running the Léčba tmou website, phone, computer

Web hosting and the domain cost 3,000 CZK a year. The computer is switched on daily for about 2 hours to deal with e-mails and enquiries and to work on the website, so the total cost is 30 CZK.

The time it takes to run a darkness therapy centre

Settling someone into the dark takes about an hour. (weekly)
Coming out of the dark and the farewell conversation, about an hour. (weekly)
Cleaning and changing the bed in one cabin, 2 hours (weekly)
Maintenance of one cabin, 1 hour (weekly)
Daily sharing and conversation, 0.5–1 hour per person.
Sourcing and delivering meals (for all cabins), 2 hours
Administration, e-mails, phone calls, enquiries, managing dates and writing articles like this one, about 2 hours a day.

The total daily workload is therefore on average 8 hours a day. Taking the average wage into account, this comes to 500 CZK per cabin per day.

Total daily cost of running one dark retreat cabin

Cabin – 500 CZK
Heating – 120 CZK
Hot water – 120 CZK
Water – 30 CZK
Meals – 350 CZK
Hygiene  – 25 CZK
Mattress and bedding – 30 CZK
Administration – 50 CZK

Including labour, the total daily cost is therefore about 1,700 CZK, bearing in mind that this is calculated for 4 cabins. If you had only one cabin at your centre, the cost per cabin would be higher (e.g. the treatment plant or water main).

So if the contribution for a dark retreat is around 1,715 CZK per night, all costs are covered.

We stress that efficiency is important here, so the costs of other dark retreat providers may be higher, which is why their prices for a dark retreat can be as much as 2,500 CZK per night.

Dear friends of dark retreats,

a dark retreat has just become free from today, 7 October, to Saturday 10 October.

This retreat is for those of you who don’t want to wait six months for a regular date – you can start your dark retreat today.

You can arrive today (Wednesday) at any time.

You can also arrive tomorrow (Thursday) at any time.

As usual, it would end on Saturday morning.

Darkness therapy right now, by train too

If you don’t have a car, we will pick you up from the train or bus station in Bykáň, Kutná Hora or Čáslav.

A dark retreat for 3 nights, starting today

If you would like to “dive into the dark right now”, book via our contacts. As always, the amount you contribute for the retreat is voluntary.

The first person to book gets the place; we will let anyone on the waiting list know where they stand in the queue.

When you decide to go on a dark retreat (darkness therapy), you often ask yourself: “How long should I go into the dark for?“.

Every dark retreat is different, and every participant feels the need for a dark retreat differently. Even so, it is possible to find common features and patterns. So please take the following descriptions as a summary of our experience rather than anything more.

A one-day dark retreat

Participants often start their dark retreat around lunchtime and finish around lunchtime the next day. So they stay in the dark for 20 – 24 hours. Although this may seem short to some, our experience shows that participants at the very least get a really good night’s sleep. Many people live with a sleep debt: they don’t have darkness at night, and on top of that they sleep too few hours and poorly. One night in the dark also helps participants who have a panic-stricken fear of the dark. In one night they can find out for themselves that darkness is in fact calm and all-embracing.

A three-night dark retreat

Although the hormone melatonin, which helps to sharpen the ability to look inside yourself, only builds up between the second and third night, its level is already high enough. This too is individual, though, as some people have a high level on the first day and others only on the fourth. In short, a three-night dark retreat is good for participants who cannot afford a whole week. After 3 nights of a dark retreat the body is already well rested, and the participant is awake more and can observe the effects of the dark retreat in a waking state too. After 3 nights there is not yet any loss of balance when the dark retreat ends.

A week-long dark retreat

This is the most common length of darkness therapy. We assume this is partly because our bodies are used to 7-day cycles. 7 nights is long enough for the participant to catch up on sleep properly, and increased sleepiness can be noticed for up to 4 days. After four days, reflection on oneself often begins: going through one’s life and re-living situations the participant carries from childhood or adolescence. Some participants also choose a day or several days without food, on water only – a fast. A week-long dark retreat often ends in the morning. Still at daybreak, when the night is slowly handing over to the sun and the world is taking on colour. After the dark retreat ends, a slight loss of balance does appear, as the participant’s body switches from muscular balance to visual balance. This switching process usually takes 15 minutes, in exceptional cases up to an hour.

A two-week dark retreat

If the dark retreat does not end after a week and the participant has planned two weeks, the greatest benefit is that they have more time. Although 99% of participants say they had no expectations, on a 14-day dark retreat they really have nowhere to hurry and don’t force things. So participants describe the benefit of two weeks over one as having more space for themselves.

A seven-week dark retreat

This is the longest retreat anyone has done with us so far, and we can only recommend it if you truly long for a retreat of this length and feel it is meant to be. A dark retreat of 2 months normally ends in the morning before daybreak, and getting used to the light goes almost the same way as after a week.

In conclusion, it is not the case that a week is better than 3 days, or a month better than a week. The length of the retreat is individual and depends on each participant.

Statistically, 98% of participants choose a length of 1 week.

Dear friends of dark retreats,

a dark retreat has just become free from today, 9 September, to Saturday 12 September.

This retreat is for those of you who want to go into the dark “right now” – you can start your dark retreat today.

You can arrive today (Wednesday) by 2:30 pm, or in the evening after 9 pm.

You can also arrive tomorrow (Thursday) by 4 pm, or in the evening after 8 pm.

As usual, it would end on Saturday morning.

Darkness therapy right now, by train too

If you don’t have a car, we will pick you up from the train or bus station in Bykáň or Kutná Hora.

A dark retreat for 3 nights, starting right now

If you would like to “dive into the dark right now”, book via our contacts. As always, the amount you contribute for the retreat is voluntary.

The first person to book gets the place; we will let anyone on the waiting list know where they stand in the queue.

Dear friends of dark retreats,

a dark retreat has just become free from today, 20 July, to Saturday 25 July.

This retreat is for those of you who want to go into the dark “right now” – you really can start your dark retreat today, even late at night.

You can arrive today (Monday), tomorrow (Tuesday) or on Wednesday, even late in the day, and as usual it would end on Saturday morning.

Darkness therapy right now, by train too

If you don’t have a car, we will pick you up from the train or bus station in Bykáň, Kutná Hora or Čáslav – except on Tuesday.

Darkness therapy for 6 days, starting right now

If you would like to “plunge into the dark right now”, book via our contacts. As always, the amount you contribute for the retreat is voluntary.

The first person to book gets the place; we will let anyone on the waiting list know where they stand in the queue.

Dear friends of dark retreats,

a dark retreat has just become free from today, 15 July, to Saturday 18 July.

This retreat is for those of you who want to go into the dark “right now” – you really can start your dark retreat today.

You can arrive today (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday), even late in the day, and as usual it would end on Saturday morning.

Darkness therapy right now, by train too

If you don’t have a car, we will pick you up from the train or bus station in Bykáň, Kutná Hora or Čáslav.

Darkness therapy for 3 nights, starting right now

If you would like to “plunge into the dark right now”, book via our contacts. As always, the amount you contribute for the retreat is voluntary.

The first person to book gets the place; we will let anyone on the waiting list know where they stand in the queue.

Now taken – we are looking forward to seeing Michal.

Dear friends of the dark retreat,

a dark retreat has just become available from today, 29 June, to Wednesday 1 July.

This stay is for those of you who want to go into the dark “right now”.

You can arrive today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday), even late in the evening, and the stay would end on Wednesday at noon.

Darkness therapy at short notice, by train

If you don’t have a car, we will pick you up from the train or bus station in Bykáň or Čáslav.

Short darkness therapy, starting now

If you’d like to “get into the dark right now”, book through our contacts page. The contribution for the stay is voluntary, as always.

The first person to book will get the place.

Here I will refer to the person concerned and her body in the feminine, because the overwhelming majority of people suffering from anorexia are girls and women rather than boys or men.

Anorexia as an illness

Anorexia is an eating disorder in which the person believes that her body does not have the shape she wants. Usually it is about weight: she is not satisfied with her weight and tries to reduce it as much as possible. There are also cases where the wish is to gain weight, but such cases are very, very rare. More often the girl thinks of herself as fat, even though other people see it completely the other way round.

Anorexia is therefore a mental disorder that leads a person not to accept her body and to try to reduce its weight drastically, and sadly this effort often ends in irreversible damage to the body, or even death.

Causes of anorexia nervosa

Although the medical community does not agree on the causes of anorexia nervosa, the causes are evident. Rejection of oneself and one’s body, rooted in childhood, when a girl tries to be different in order to be loved by her parents or to fit in with the other children. This is where programmes, opinions and beliefs form: the girl wishes to be different from who she is, and from that she logically concludes that something is wrong with her body. The mind arrives at this error through its own judgement and then clings to it even against clear and compelling arguments that the body is fine – arguments it literally ignores.

Darkness therapy as a treatment for anorexia

We have already said that anorexia nervosa arises from a conflict between the image in the mind and the actual state. Darkness therapy helps because the participant cannot see her body. By not seeing her body, the opinions and beliefs about how ugly or fat the body is begin to dissolve. For a week, the participant has the chance to experience what it is like not to see her body and to confront herself with her views about it.

Participants’ experiences

For example, in Mr Urbiš’s book on healing with darkness, or when searching online, you will come across many participants who report an improvement, or even recovery from anorexia nervosa, after a single week in the dark. To represent them all, here is Martina’s experience:

“Hi, darkness therapy was my last option for coming to terms with the anorexia I have suffered from since puberty, so for over 10 years. I had the chance to get to know myself by not seeing the image of my body for a week, and I experienced that my body is wonderful just as it is. I only came back from darkness therapy three weeks ago, but I already know that the anorexia is gone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. With love, Martina M.”

P.S. The person concerned has to deal with anorexia herself and must have the desire to heal herself! If a girl’s family signs her up for a dark retreat, the therapy will not work!

 

Friends, the Universe has heard your call and freed up one sanctuary for one participant or a couple for 3 days, i.e. 2 nights.

Arrival would have to be today (Thursday), even in the evening is fine.

You can also come to your dark retreat by train

we’ll pick you up in Kutná Hora or in Čáslav.

A slot this short only comes up a few times a year, so if you’d like to go into the dark for just 3 days, the western sanctuary is available for you.

If you’re interested, please act quickly – the last date like this was taken within 20 minutes of being announced.