Darkness Retreat

At Gut Saunstorf there are two dark rooms available for dark retreats. These rooms are secluded in the basement of the house, so that any disturbing noises from the house and from outside is kept to a minimum.

Each dark room consists of a small hallway with a table where food is placed, a shower room and the actual retreat room (about 10 m²). The room is furnished with the bare essentials: a closet, a bed, an armchair, a thick carpet, meditation cushions and a floor chair.

A vegetarian meal will be delivered twice a day at different times. Fruit, tea as well as trail mix are always available. The meals are provided by the kitchen service in the small hallway of the dark apartment in such a way that neither daylight nor personal contact disturbs your stay.

Since no daylight should enter the rooms, they are completely darkened. However, the rooms are well ventilated and supplied with sufficient fresh air.

The support during your stay includes a preliminary talk as well as daily talks (30 to 60 minutes). Three experienced darkroom therapists of the house are available for this purpose. The daily conversation takes place in the dark room. You will be advised by a knock at the door. In the preliminary talk on site, the external setting and all questions will be discussed.

A dark retreat in our house completely without the support of one of our experienced dark retreat therapists is not possible.

First you move into the dark room with light. This will allow you to orient yourself in the space and put away your personal belongings. The furnishings are basic, making it easier for you to find your way around the room without light.

No, the door is not locked. If you reach a point where it becomes very difficult for you, you can press the emergency button in the room. This button is connected to your therapists’ cell phone and she will come to you promptly.

Any form of light (e.g., from candles, electric toothbrushes, or similar) in the dark room should be avoided, as should smartphones and other media, so as not to interrupt the experience of immersion in darkness. If you would like to write something down for yourself in the dark room, we will provide you with a line board, which you can use to write even in complete darkness.

The following cancellation policy applies: Up to 2 weeks before your retreat is due to begin, we charge a handling fee of 50 EUR. After that, the full cost must be paid, due to our need to keep the darkroom and the corresponding support reserved for you.