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.
