I just came out of a dark retreat in Mexico. 7 nights I spent in pitch black darkness. This is a bit of a review, and to share with you some very effective techniques I used during those days.
A dark retreat is done alone, and in rooms specifically designed for those purposes. It emits absolutely zero light to come in or to pop up inside. They are equipped with all you need to basically never have to come out ever. It has a bed, shower, toilet, sink, chair, meditation cushions, yoga mat, and proper ventilation and air condition. You can fast during your retreat, or you can order food with it. The food comes through a box twice a day. Typically all meals are vegan and prepared in a way that you can actually eat it without having to see it.
Doing a dark retreat became an increasing craving for me in the weeks and months before. Especially after the Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat, which seemed to be the perfect preparation to spend some days in the dark.
I always try to keep expectations low, especially before retreats like these. But I was reading some reviews from others who had done dark retreats before. So I had some ideas, and maybe even wishes of what might happen.
Not very surprisingly it was very different to what I had in mind. Contrary to what I was thinking, I did not really feel a big release of DMT or produced intense LSD-like visions, as many people are supposedly doing. Even though I am generally very sensitive to substances and other things. The whole experience was very peaceful and left me with a bigger appreciation of the dark and silence. There were many ups and downs, but the dark helped a lot to actually purify them.
One of the things any source beforehand recommended, was to have an already established meditation practice. So I would like to share with you what I used and can recommend.
My most used techniques in the dark are as follows:
Mantra Meditation
Repeating a Mantra for 108 times at a time is one of my most used and appreciated techniques. It works very powerfully on the mind and even on the body. It can be done in the morning directly after waking up or before going to bed. For counting you can use a Mala or simply your hands.
Hatha Yoga
Practicing asanas in the dark was a very nice and powerful experience actually. For some reason it felt easier to be longer in an asana. Furthermore meditation and asana are both supporting each other reciprocally.
Vipassana
Focusing systematically on your body had proven itself very helpful especially on the last day. I could not sleep very long into the night, and woke up very early. Doing the Vipassana technique has helped a lot energizing both my body and mind. My body felt rested, and my mind was satisfied and away from fearing of not getting enough sleep.
But also at other occasions, between other meditations it is always a beautiful technique to be done.
Who Am I? Self Inquiry
This was my most recently discovered style of meditation, learned in a Hridaya Meditation retreat. Once you learn it, self inquiry and the phrase „Who Am I?“ always accompanies your mind. Even in other meditations, while practicing yoga, eating, taking a shower, it always pops into your mind. Which is great, as it brings you back to meditation and to what is really relevant.
Pranayama and Breathing Techniques
I tried several breathing techniques and pranayamas, and there is really no one fit all when it comes to breathing techniques. Sure, it is always good for anyone to generally breathe through the nose and into the belly. But when it comes to specific situations, different techniques have different effects. I used Sama Vritti (box breathing) a lot during my dark retreat. It calms beautifully and cleans the mind if it goes too rampant at times. Also Nadi Shodana as I learned it, I used regularly.
More vigorous or intense styles like Kapalabhati or Wim Hof are so intense for me that I only used them sporadically, and in dosages.
Spirit Release
A very powerful technique to resolve very sticky issues.
The morning of the day when my dark retreat started, I went for a massage to a local lady from the Zapotecean tradition of Mexico. She also showed me a technique of how to release spirits and work with issues your ancestors passed on to you. While moving through the world and living life, we can collect spirits in various ways. Also from past lives, or passed on by our parents. We humans are spirits of Light. These spirits consciously or unconsciously try to use us to find the Light as well. But if they can‘t or we don‘t let them, they can create problems within our mind and body. So we have to release them, ideally into the Light. The technique is as follows:
- Decide on an issue that is with you for too long already to be ignored any longer. Do not get into too much details. Be willing to see it objectively and as it is, so you can work on it.
- Place the left hand on your heart, and the right hand on your forehead.
- Invoke Jesus Christ and the divine clear light. Say or think the following words: „Jesus is to my left, Jesus is to my right. Jesus is in my back, and Jesus is in my front. The divine light is surrounding me from all sides. Whatever wants to go into the Light, this is your possiblitity.“ (You dont have to see the light or believe in Jesus for it to work – trust in it to work and be proper with your intention)
- Try to connect with both the heart and the mind, until you settle in.
- Make sure to the spirit that it is safe, that it can speak freely, and especially that it is free to go into the Light. But also make it clear, that the trouble he or she is causing for you, can not be tolerated any longer. It has the chance to go into the Light now or to be given back to the source that passed it onto you.
- Ask the spirit what it‘s name is, where it comes from, what it hopes to get through you, and how you can help it. Feel free to use your own words to establish a genuine connection of love and care. Give it time to answer, and listen to your body how it reacts. Answers might come in words, in pictures, or you feel that energetically things are moving. Maybe specific memories might pop up in your mind. Just be attentive and open.
- Once you get some information, or established a good line of connection, give the process its time to unfold and to be released harmoniously.
- When you are finished, place both hands on your chest. Give gratitude to the spirit, to the divine light, to Jesus, and to yourself.
This technique helped me to solve some big personal issues which terrorized my mind since years. I hope it does the same for you.
