The Science and Psychology of Dark Retreat: Bringing Ancient Wisdom Into the Modern World

In this light-polluted and highly distracted age, it’s more important than ever to find a way to stay centered and balanced. Dark retreat offers that way.

An ancient spiritual and shamanic practice, dark retreat traditionally entails spending time — from hours to weeks — in a totally dark cabin or cave. It has been practiced for healing, insight, creativity, and preparation for the end of life. Essentially a concentrated form of meditation, dark retreat is a powerful method for exploring the depths of the unconscious mind.

This profound practice has been preserved within spiritual lineages for centuries, but it is rapidly being recognized by the scientific community as an antidote to the stressors of the modern world. This experiential workshop provides an accessible introduction to the approach, along with cutting-edge neuroscience, psychological modeling, and philosophical frameworks that bring one of the most transformative practices ever devised into the 21st century.

Every morning, using an eye mask, you’ll discover how darkness can restore your nervous system and equilibrate your body-mind. In the afternoon sessions, you’ll engage with simple visual exercises that curtail sensory overload to realign your sense faculties. Throughout the workshop, we’ll investigate how dark retreat works with the unconscious mind, what actually takes place at the neurological level.

Dark retreat is uniquely situated to address the meta-crisis, which is a crisis of touch. Blinded by the light of distraction and immersed  in the dangers of AI, we’ve lost touch with ourselves, with one another, and with the planet. Going into the dark puts us back in touch — and helps us reclaim our humanity.

Recommended reading: Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Darkness for Creativity, Healing, and Transformation, by Andrew Holecek & Consciousness at the Edge of Death: Dark Retreat, Near Death Experience, and Generative Brain Dynamics, By Mark Miller et al.