A 4 day retreat looks like this:
You will be picked up at Alicante airport.
You will go into darkness before it gets dark (mid winter it gets dark around 17.30-18:00, summer it is around 21:00). You will have your first meal and some time to settle into the new feeling of darkness. When you get tired, you will go to sleep.
I will bring you food and conversation/company/emotional support once every 24 hours. If you need more, I can support you more, but I would advise that you go through the challenge of darkness with food delivery and support only once a day.
On the last day, I will come to escort you out of darkness. It can be a bit disorientating and overwhelming, but you will be supported through it all.
What do you do in the dark?
You slow down, you sleep as much as your body asks you to, you consciously nourish yourself with healthy food, you might want to actively meditate or maybe do gentle floor exercises, if that thought attracts you (I can give you a list of some exercises that maintain whole body strength while being safe to do in the dark). You allow yourself to feel whatever comes up for you, and you sit with yourself, by yourself through it all. Darkness is mainly about the body finally taking time to passively heal itself, and the mind is along for the ride. You surrender to the flow of your own rhythm, unconcerned about the time of the day or other people's needs.
What can you hear while in darkness?
Most of the time it is very quiet. The house is located in rural Spain and you will hear mostly animals. There is a horse on the field next to the house, some of the neighbours have dogs, there are a couple of donkeys and a flock of geese a few fields over. Once in a while you may hear a particularly aggressive sounding vehicle from the road higher up. The house is located on a dead end dirt road, there is no through traffic. A couple of times over a 3 day retreat you might hear human voices. Most of these sounds are only audible when the window is open. But do be aware that the retreat isn't 100% silent.
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change