Please note that retreating in the dark is a very sensitive and advanced practice that is not to be approached lightly. It is important to enter the retreat in a moment of stable body-mind and with an established mindfulness practice. We recommend to start with a few days, however we assess retreat inquiries on individual basis.
NB: When choosing a darkness retreat facility, please make sure the facilitators and space holders are experienced meditators and counselors themselves with sufficient capacity to hold a wholesome retreat space for you.
ITALY
Location: between Florence & Pisa, at a Sanctuary deep in the chestnut forests of Tuscany.
WE NOW OFFER TWO INDEPENDENT DARK ROOMS IN ITALY:
- Metta Bhavana (‘Loving kindness‘) is meant for retreats of 7+ days and can also accommodate a couple (king-size mattress, 35 sqm, hot shower).
- Upekkha (‘Equanimity‘) is meant for retreats of 5 to 7 days (single mattress, 20 sqm, sink, no shower)
From our years of experience, we highly recommend to plan a day or a few of Integration after your Dark Retreat journey to allow your system to adapt and process the experience (longer for longer darkness retreats).
Packages Metta Bhavana Room
7 nights Dark Retreat + 1 night Integration: €1160
10 nights Dark Retreat + 2 nights Integration: €1740
14 nights Dark Retreat + 2 nights Integration: €2320
21 nights Dark Retreat + 3 nights Integration: €3480
Please inquire for longer retreats.
Packages Upekkha Room
5 nights Dark Retreat + 1 night Integration: €750
6 nights Dark Retreat + 1 night Integration: €875
7 nights Dark Retreat + 1 night Integration: €1008
All above rates include:
- two plant-based meals per day
- organic herbal infusions twice per day straight from our herbal gardens
- introductory talk before the retreat and integration talk afterwards
- all linens, towers etc.
- dinner on arrival day & breakfast on departure day
- unlimited fresh spring water
- weekly cleaning, laundry & change of linens (for longer retreats)
- complimentary pick up / drop off at the nearest train station
- on-demand counseling while in the dark room by a highly experienced dark retreater and meditator
For Integration nights you will be offered one of our comfortable regular private accommodations at the Sanctuary.
Available meal options include gluten free, raw, smoothies and always come with herbal infusions from our garden.
Entry is between 6 pm and 10 pm, exit between 5 am and 9 am. Extra days for integration at the Sanctuary might be available on request as a personal retreat depending on our event schedule.
FACILITATOR
The Space holder & caretaker for your dark retreat journey will be Arpita, an experienced yogini, meditator & mindfulness teacher of many years who has sat and held dozens of meditation retreats and yoga trainings, as well as hundreds of people in darkness retreats since 2012. Testimonials of her can be found HERE.
GUATEMALA
OUR GUATEMALAN LOCATION IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE.
CONTACT
Email us at [email protected] or use Whatsapp by clicking here.
Booking & Cancellation:
A non-refundable advance payment in full is required at the time of booking as canceled retreat periods are notoriously hard to re-book due to the intricacy of scheduling. In case of changes of dates we do offer a reduced rate of 50% until three months before the starting date of your original retreat.
If you can provide a replacement person for your cancelled retreat, we are happy to accommodate such changes without charge up to two weeks before the starting date of your retreat, provided we can approve the replacement applicant.
We reserve the right to terminate a darkness retreat at our discretion in case we deem it unsafe for anyone involved, the retreater is unfit/unstable for the retreat or they are disturbing others on site. Please note that applicants currently taking psychopharmacological medications might not be approved for darkness retreats due to the various strains such a retreat poses on the body-mind.