Faqs (frequently-asked questions)
• Instead of having a fruit bowl in the room and delivered meals, can I fast?
No.
The protocols for the hygienic darkroom are for the conditions of life to be met: delicous fruit and meals, pure water and air … you are cosy and comfortable and nourished.
you might not feel like eating when the meal arrives. That is not fasting (or planning to fast) . That is not being hungry. And when not hungry, you do not eat.
You can always return the meal via the food hutch. Or you might feel like eating later, so put it aside on the shelf. Or where you won’t step on it or upend it.
• Can I darken my own bedroom ensuite?
Yes. You can Buy the book. It is a complete manual.
The following faqs are from Andrew Durham’s book, hygienic darkroom retreat. https://darkroomretreat.com/back/faq/
Mechanics
2 – I suffer from X. Will this help me?
Yes. Chronic suffering, whether psychic or physical, results from psychic trauma. The psyche heals itself of trauma in darkness. Therefore, symptoms of X will heal in darkness. Your suffering will decrease and eventually disappear. You will become better able to deal with causes that still need attention after retreating.
In your first retreats, you get a taste of these things. You realize them fully in later retreats. Meanwhile you get relief, a little healing, a new vision, and hope. The distress of hopelessness aggravates many problems.
3 – Do you eat in a darkroom retreat?
Yes. Food and water are always available. I recommend fresh fruit and tender leafy green vegetables. This accords with the frugivorous nature of human anatomy and physiology.
Fasting is part of hygiene, too. It is compatible with darkness. But wait on it till psychic issues are handled in darkness.
4 – How many people retreat at once?
One. The point of this retreat is to rest, heal, and recover oneself. Nothing is more stimulating than other people.
A mother and baby can retreat together in the dark. The mother will know if an older baby would be able to retreat.
5 – How do you do things in darkness?
Slowly and smoothly. First, become familiar with the room in light. Make memorable places for your belongings. Practice doing everything blindfolded before turning out the lights. Then do them in darkness. Always hold your arms in a circle in front of yourself when standing or sitting. This protects you from hitting your head.
6 – Could you just retreat with a mask?
No. No mask stays in place, so light leaks in. No mask is comfortable in extended use. The skin has enough light receptors to awaken one from sleep.
Then one still needs a properly ventilated room, minimally furnished to eliminate dangers, distractions, and associations. Ventilation is harder to arrange than darkness. My double blind and door seal make darkening a room easy. Every reason to darken the room exists.
Sleeping masks are good for travel, naps, and sleeping until your bedroom can be darkened. Also, for walking through a semi-lit space between a darkroom and a bathroom in dwellings where this is necessary.
7 – Is it like meditation?
In essence, no. Superficially, yes, they are is similar. Each involves less physical activity. Attention turns from the world to oneself. But what goes on inside oneself radically differs.
Meditation is active, ie, the will drives the process. Will is primary to meditation. The instant it relaxes, the process stops. The purpose of meditation is to make the unconscious conscious, or to compel the conscious to submit to a higher consciousness. It is a quiet, internal war.
Hygienic retreating is passive, ie, the unconscious drives the process. Autonomic activity is primary. Willed activity is secondary. The will is a servant of life. The purpose of retreating is to rest so the being can restore itself to wholeness naturally. It is peaceful.
These subtly different drivers and purposes have massive effects on one’s experience and results. As extraordinary as the process and results of meditation and spiritual practice seem to be, they pale before the power of the autonomic self.
Concerns
1 – Is total extended darkness safe?
Yes, if you do it correctly. This is uncomplicated. Dangers are easily avoided if you know what they are. I have identified a handful of them. See my warning
2 – I feel afraid of this.
Fear of darkness comes from assuming the conscious self leads a retreat, like it does so many other things. But you are not conscious of what awaits you in darkness or how to handle it.
Your unconscious self, on the other hand, was born in the dark. It knows everything there. It can handle everything. As you learn that it leads a retreat, and you see how to support and follow it consciously, your fear will dissipate.
Your unconscious is your champion. It will protect you from everything. It will only show you what you need to know and only when you able to know it.
Sometimes this may feel bad—as bad as what you face in daily life. But it may be the last time you have to face it. Your unconscious will have resolved the core of it before revealing the part concerning your conscious.
I am sure you would like to be free of such repetitive troubles.
Overemphasizing the conscious is the essence of our lifeway. It’s the air we breathe. So we even try to consciously direct unconscious activities. This is what exposes us to danger. Living in fear results.
Consciously supporting unconscious activities with normal conditions is the safe and sane approach. Hygiene embodies it. It banishes fear.
I make this distinction in various ways throughout this book. Reading it helps you find the place of your conscious in the process and leave fear behind.
3 – Wouldn’t you go crazy staying in darkness that long?
No, you would only go crazy in darkness from being forced to be there, as in prison. A retreat is a choice based on reason. You and your supporter each have a key to the door.
You don’t go crazy in darkness. You are already crazy. You heal from it in darkness. Craziness becomes more apparent in darkness as the organism heals from it.
This can be uncomfortable, painful, even alarming, like the traumatic causes of craziness. But simply having feelings is not dangerous. The room is safe and comfortable. Supporters are at hand. There is nothing to fear. See concern #2 about fear.
4 – Do you get bored?
Yes. It is a very good sign.
Part of the being is so damaged, painful, and draining that all feeling to it has been shut off. It is like an internal black hole. Boredom means the unconscious is approaching it to resuscitate it. Recovery of a lost part of yourself is imminent.
5 – It’s is a long time to do nothing.
You’re talking about idleness. That is an activity, not rest. Darkness is different.
We’ve been told being idle is bad. Being productive all the time is offered as the virtuous alternative. This tends to discourage rest and encourage overwork and over-consumption. Enough, already.
Moreover, we’ve all spent more than five days doing destructive things. Doing nothing would have been a big improvement. The secret benefits of profound rest would have been much better still.
Civilization teaches that the will is the only useful driver of activity in the being. We are bad if we are not busy. Only doing things by willful effort is respectable.
In fact, one would be poisoned to death by his own internal waste in seconds without autonomic activity. The will is helpless to restore psychic integrity, every animal’s greatest value. Tissue knits itself back together involuntarily. The autonomic self is infinitely intelligent, capable, and graceful.
It also makes you interesting. You rediscover this in darkness. You have lots of time to get to know yourself.
Everyone is nervous about this at first. It is like meeting someone special again. Gratification soon comes from doing the right thing. After days of delicious sleep and time to themselves, most wish they could stay longer.
Maybe you mean it sounds pointless or dreadful. In fact, a retreat often begins with a sense of relief. Discomfort usually comes after resting, when you are prepared. You make contact with your autonomic self again to draw on its resources. This is extremely meaningful, enjoyable, and fruitful.
Profound Rest Retreat 