The Insight Process · Pokój Ciemności
Dark Retreat
Four nights and three days in complete darkness, in a secluded place, in a circle of up to ten people. No outside “teachers”. A meeting with what matters most in you.
Awakening the inner light
A core meeting with yourself opens you to what is most essential. Awareness of light, wisdom, love and power within, without outside “teachers”, is the awakening of your I AM.
I stay with the participants for the whole time in darkness. With my presence and experience I hold the space, so that everyone can be as independent in it as possible. No method I know gives such independence in rising in your own light.
We allow ourselves this space through: refraining from food and drink, reducing stimuli in darkness and seclusion, conscious breathing, physical exercise, and the rhythm and sound of unusual instruments.
The week
Sunday, around 4–5 pm
Arrival and getting to know each other. Attuning to the group and the place.
Monday
Preparation: tools for the journey. Darkness begins around 8 pm.
Tuesday – Thursday
Time in darkness. Everyone turns inwards. Spoken word and music sessions on the second and third day.
Friday
Waking to a new life: sun, earth, water, and sharing the gifts of the dark.
We sleep on mattresses in one darkened room, with a toilet nearby. I am in the room the whole time, and you can meet me in a separate darkened room.
Three stages of darkness
Quieting and adapting
Thoughts slow down, emotions settle, the body gets used to new conditions.
Opening and trust
Mental, emotional and physical processes. What you need to see comes up. This is the hardest part.
Gratitude and creation
Integrating what the insight revealed, and settling into your own power.
This is only an outline. Expecting particular experiences can hold you back. Openness to what you personally need gives the most.
The calling
Who it is for
The Dark Retreat is for people who hear a calling inside. Most often, the people who come are:
- Seekers of the inner light who want to experience themselves without outside stimulation, teachers or methods.
- People looking for independence who want to find their answers within, not from someone else.
- People at a turning point: after a loss, or changing work, a relationship or the direction of their life, when they need a deep reset and a fresh view.
- Business people and leaders worn out by too much information and too many decisions, looking for silence, clarity and a way back to themselves.
- People who practise meditation, breathwork or bodywork and want to go deeper than they can at home.
- Those who want to give their body a rest: a few days without food or stimulation, with attention to the body's cleansing processes (autophagy) and its hormonal rhythm, in a guided space.
You don't need any previous experience of darkness. You do need experience of fasting: at least a few days without food behind you. Along with that, good health, readiness, and an honest conversation with me before you sign up.
Who it is not for
The Dark Retreat is an extreme experience, like climbing a high mountain. Four days without food and drink put real strain on the body, so every participant needs to consider carefully whether this is the place for them. I do not recommend taking part if you:
- take medication daily or are dependent on nicotine or alcohol (complete abstinence applies during the retreat),
- have taken psychotropic medication in the last 6 months,
- have been under psychiatric care in the last 3 years,
- have epilepsy, asthma, heart arrhythmia or another chronic illness,
- have high or low blood pressure,
- experience anxiety, neurotic or psychotic states, or strong emotional instability,
- have diabetes, kidney disease or a heart condition,
- have or have had an eating disorder, or are clearly underweight,
- are pregnant or breastfeeding,
- are under 21.
We talk before you sign up. Every participant declares very good health and signs a statement of personal responsibility. If you have any doubts about your health, please see a doctor and write to me.
The retreats take place in Poland and are held in Polish.
Dates and booking
The Dark Retreat is taking a break in the first half of 2027.
There are only 10 places per retreat, first come, first served. I open the next date once the previous group is full.
Apply
Send a text or a message first, then we talk. Write a few words about yourself and what is calling you.
+48 602 51 71 52mariuszalin@gmail.comI also talk about the Dark Retreat in the interview “Wiatr z serca” (Czwarty Wymiar 11/2020, in Polish). Read the interview.
“The exhale is letting go of everything, to see things as they really are, and the inhale is rising to a new, conscious way of being a Creator.”