When we started running dark retreats in 2013, our intention was to give participants the chance to be alone with themselves in a safe space, where no everyday obligations would disturb them and they would have time purely for themselves.
This time for yourself has a very positive effect: you get to know yourself better, and unwanted programmes and stuck emotions dissolve.
We have watched countless participants forgive their parents, partners and children. We have seen people arrive completely burnt out – top athletes and politicians, teachers, doorkeepers and cleaners alike.
We have seen such people leave after a week in the dark with shining eyes and a renewed appetite for life.
From the very start, interest in dark retreats was so enormous that, beyond our original plans, we built 2 more sanctuaries for dark retreats. One was added each year, so that you could have this amazing experience.
We regularly let participants into the dark over Christmas and New Year’s Eve too, so that every day was used and the cabins did not stand empty.
In the last year we have even been sharing the guiding with friends, so that we could go on holiday with our children while other participants could still go into the dark.
A dark retreat in freedom
All this time we have never had a fixed contribution for a dark retreat; it is up to each of you how much you contribute towards running the cabins. From the start, we have made retreats possible for individuals, couples, visits, arrivals on any day of the week and at different times, to accommodate all of you as much as we could.
We believe that the most valuable things are freedom and love. Freedom, in our view, is what makes us human, and so we have always been against restrictions and rules of any kind.
Lately, however, a dark retreat has started to become more of an attraction than a path to self-knowledge, freedom and love, and that no longer sits right with us.
We don’t believe a dark retreat exists so that someone can wave a certificate in front of their colleagues at work, or go into the dark just to take selfies with a dark retreat sanctuary for “the ‘gram”.
A dark retreat for a week
Participants coming for 2 nights “to try it out” often blocked a whole week for someone who would have loved to take the whole week, but there was nothing free.
So we have decided to let into the dark only those participants who are serious about it. Those who want to undergo a dark retreat for themselves, for their own transformation, for their own self-knowledge.
You can still come alone or as a couple, you can fast, you can bring your own food, or we can provide vegetarian meals for you.
It is just that a dark retreat is now only possible in multiples of 7 nights, from Saturday to Saturday. So you are welcome to come for 7, 14, 21 and up to 49 nights, but always arriving on a Saturday and finishing on a Saturday.
That is why we ask those of you who want a dark retreat as an attraction or a trial, or who don’t feel ready for a week: please give it time and book later.
For a dark retreat you need an inner urge – that is how you will get the most out of the darkness.
