I like overcoming challenges

With every passing day in our hurried world, more and more people are looking for a way back to themselves. One of the most interesting ways to do that, and to pause for a while, is a dark retreat. Today we bring you the personal experience of a couple who each stayed in their own cabin, so they could explore silence and stillness in complete privacy. For one person it may be a challenge, for another a welcome rest. Read on to find out what it is like when, for a few days, all the stimuli around you disappear and only you and the darkness remain.

A journey towards calm and being alone with myself

What brought me into the dark was the feeling of calm, knowing I would be able to be alone with myself there, with nothing to distract me from just being with myself. My job means I am always somewhere with people, sorting something out, lots of phone calls and emails. And here none of that was happening at all, and that was beautiful. It could be just me and the darkness, and the darkness didn’t bother me in the slightest. It was simply a companion to my being alone with myself.

When I was little I used to have night terrors and would wake up in the dark, so I was a bit worried about how I would cope. So for me this was a kind of preparation for a longer stay. I didn’t want to go straight in for seven days, because I didn’t know how I would handle it. I wanted to be kind to myself and not too strict. My darkness therapy was mainly about rest.

Three days as a good taster, and curiosity

I don’t think three days give you room to heal anything major, but it’s good to try it, at least if someone feels they might not manage the full seven days. Three days are a good taster, showing that it can be done and that you can feel comfortable in there. I’ve been thinking about a retreat for a long time and I was actually looking for a partner to go away somewhere with. I wanted to explore introspection, what it does to me and how I would react.

I was driven by curiosity; I like exploring things, including on myself. You have to try everything to find out whether it’s your path, and I feel this is my path. Darkness helps with self-awareness; you try to sense what is sharpening inside you. The first day I slept, I wasn’t able to make sense of it all, but seven days could be an interesting experience. Although this time we each went separately, to have time for ourselves, next time we would happily try going in together.

Solitude, silence and finding your way around

I have no problem being alone with myself; I’m quite a loner and I spend a lot of time in silence. When I’m on my own, I’m in silence; I don’t put on the radio or music. I’m an only child, so solitude and silence don’t bother me. The darkness was the thing – I didn’t know how it would go with the night terrors, otherwise I would have gone straight for seven days. But it felt important to me to choose the right place.

We looked at various other places, but it seemed to me that here it is all really well thought out. I found my way around the cabin easily, even in the dark. Before I switched off the lights, I put everything in places where I knew I would find it again, and after that there was no problem. Sometimes you do find yourself searching for the water bottle and thinking you have no water, but in the end you find it. The cabin isn’t so big that things can roll away somewhere.

A world without demands and a feeling of safety

I see no reason why anyone should be afraid of it, as long as they are at ease with themselves and have no issues with themselves. It is healthy to take a break like this from the devices that are constantly flashing at us and making demands on us. Here there were no demands for two days, just a knock to say you’re all right, and a knock back. These days we live in a world of demands, and the kind of calm where you don’t have to do anything is something you rarely experience anywhere else.

There is a lovely feeling of safety here, and it’s a labour of love. For anyone considering a dark retreat, this place is wonderful, because you feel safe, and that is important for people who are afraid. We watched a few videos from various places, but here we felt that it was all right and that this was the one. The approach was beautiful, and from the start we knew that everything was fine. If darkness therapy speaks to you, you should overcome your fear and give it a try, because life is about overcoming fears.