10 Best Darkness Retreats for 2024
Darkness retreats are a unique experience that help to quiet the mind and support the body in its own natural rejuvenation. While darkness retreats are an ancient healing practice, they’re still applicable today and continue to grow in popularity worldwide. Keep reading to discover more about what a darkness retreat is and for a list of the 10 best retreats for 2024.
What is a darkness retreat?
A darkness retreat is just what it sounds like: a prolonged stay in a place that’s devoid of any light (both natural and artificial). During this retreat, guests will eat, sleep, and meditate in total darkness for several days or weeks at a time. By eliminating the constant bombardment of sensory input and stimulation, darkness retreats reveal what’s truly meaningful in life — making them an amazing way to achieve (or enhance) clarity, consciousness, and discernment.
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10 best darkness retreats for 2024
1. Best overall darkness retreat: Sky Cave Retreats
Sky Cave Retreats is nestled in the Cascade-Siskiyou wilderness of southern Oregon — a remote location that makes the perfect backdrop for a truly life-changing experience. Sky Cave invites guests to deepen into nature and simply exist among its beauty. Their private retreats provide a safe space for you to rest in the fullness of silence while also enjoying nourishing organic food, mountain spring water, and the wild sanctuary that surrounds you on all sides.
Location: Oregon, United States
Price: starting at $250 per night
2. Best affordable darkness retreat: Hridaya Yoga
Hridaya Yoga in Mazunte, Mexico has 3 well-appointed dark rooms that are specifically designed for personal darkness retreats. Each room is equipped with a ventilation system (including air conditioning), a comfortable single bed, a proper toilet and shower, and a light-protected ‘food box’ through which meals are delivered. If you’re looking for a basic, affordable environment where you can connect with your inner self, this retreat is it.
Location: Mazunte, Mexico
Price: starting at $42 per night
3. Best rest-focused darkness retreat: Darkness Retreat Africa
While it can be argued that every darkness retreat emphasizes the importance of rest, Darkness Retreat Africa prioritizes rest just a little more than the others on our list. In fact, this retreat believes the best way to benefit from your experience is to “make rest your primary intention.” In many ways, rest lays the foundation for all the other work you’ll be doing — plus, it gives your 5 senses a chance to recuperate from the constant overstimulation of your everyday life.
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Price: starting at $43 per night
4. Best teaching-focused darkness retreat: Retreat Into Darkness
Guests of Retreat Into Darkness have a chance to learn from Anoula Sifonios — a scholar and guide who’s been passionately studying the modified stages of awareness for the last 3 decades. During this retreat in Chiang Mai, you can not only engage with the deepest parts of yourself, but you can also take part in guided practices for relaxation, meditation, breathwork, and spontaneous movement of body/soul to awaken both your heart and consciousness.
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Price: starting at $868 for a 12-day retreat
5. Best multi-level darkness retreat: Dark Retreat Centre
The great thing about Thailand’s Dark Retreat Centre is that it eases you into the experience at a really approachable pace. For example, if you’re new to darkness retreats, you can start with the Level 1 program — which is a 3-day introduction to meditation and self-inquiry. Anyone who’s more familiar with darkness retreats can opt for the Level 2 program. This 9-day retreat gives you more in-depth time to work through the obstacles you might’ve previously faced.
Location: Surat Thani, Thailand
Price: starting at $180 for a 3-day retreat
6. Best personalized darkness retreat: Hridaya Yoga
While this retreat is also hosted by Hridaya Yoga, it offers a different experience than their space in Mexico. Situated near Lyon, France, this location has just 2 dark rooms (each about 25 square meters) which encourage noble silence — that is, the process of interiorization where you commune with yourself at the deepest level. Whether you want to stay a few nights or a few weeks all at once, the Hridaya team invites you to personalize your time to best suit your needs.
Location: Saint-Just-d'Avray, France
Price: starting at $64 per night
7. Best spacious darkness retreat: Samyama Meditation Center
Samyama Meditation Center in Bali is ready to help you quiet your mind and support your body with some much needed rest and natural rejuvenation. The rooms at Samyama are designed to minimize external stimuli so you can truly focus on your inner work. That said, each room is large enough to enjoy yoga and movement practices (which isn’t always the case with solitary accommodations). This way, you can get in a good stretch while you also expand your mind.
Location: Bali, Indonesia
Price: starting at $55 per night
8. Best flexible darkness retreat: Hermitage Retreats
Situated near Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, Hermitage Retreats has a gorgeous setting and carefully curated space that’s devoid of all light and sensory distractions. At Hermitage, guests can plunge into a deep awareness of the mind and ultimately connect to their pure consciousness. When we say these retreats are flexible, we’re really talking about the packages they offer — you can choose from a 3-day, 5-day, 7-day, or 10-day journey depending on your unique needs.
Location: Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Price: starting at $840 for a 3-day retreat
9. Best extended darkness retreat: Chamma Ling Colorado
Chamma Ling Colorado is located along the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. Founded in 2001, Chamma Ling frequently hosts group retreats focused on the ancient teachings of Tibet. However, they also offer solitary retreat cabins where solo practitioners can experience the power of stillness, silence, and spaciousness. These solo journeys can last anywhere from one week to many months, depending on the purpose and the person.
Location: Crestone, Colorado
Price: starting at $350 per week
10. Best hybrid darkness retreat: Gut Saunstorf
Gut Saunstorf is a modern monastery with a beautiful blend of ancient spiritual traditions and present-day healing practices. Located near Wismar, Germany (on the Baltic Sea), this space welcomes guests to take time for themselves and “withdraw from the noisy, demanding world of life in the fast lane.” The darkness retreats at Gut Saunstorf are an amazing opportunity to turn inward, become still, and open yourself up to everything you want to manifest in your life.
Location: Wismar, Germany
Price: starting at $200 per night
Darkness retreats - common FAQs
What happens in a darkness retreat?
At a darkness retreat, guests spend time in a space that’s totally devoid of all light and outside distractions. By spending time in isolation and stripping away all the noise and sensory stimulation of the modern world, these retreats allow you to gain perspective, improve mindfulness, and lower stress and anxiety levels to a large degree.
How many days do you stay in the darkness?
The length of a darkness retreat should always be specified prior to your arrival, whether you choose that time yourself or it’s established by your host. For the most part, a darkness retreat takes place over the course of a few days, though some facilities can also accommodate you for several weeks or months at a time.
What should I expect to experience during a darkness retreat?
A darkness retreat is a place for inner discovery, where you come face-to-face with your fears, blockages, and challenging thoughts. Some participants experience illuminating visions during a darkness retreat, though these visions tend to give way to a deeper sense of peace. More than that, dark retreats give your body a chance to rest, relax, and rejuvenate in a natural way.