Dark retreats grow in popularity.

The healing potential of dark retreats begins to be recognized. Retreat centres appear in many parts of the world, where people stay in a dark hut for a week or longer. They spend their days alone, without any light, in darkness so complete that one can't see their hands in front of their face.
There are more than two dozen such centres in the Czech Republic alone, and the demand is so great that people have to wait several months for a free slot. Similar centres exist in most European countries and on other continents.
We begin life with a nine-month stay in the dark. And then we come into the world littered with noise, light pollution and overstimulation.
We don't know true darkness, silence or conscious stillness. Elementary experiences escape us.
The experience of darkness, silence and privacy develops over time and requires time. The darkness retreat is a vacation from being constantly plugged in. It's a way to temporarily detach ourselves from the world, discover who we are, and gain control over how we respond to the expectations of others.
We have created a world where darkness is a luxury. We have removed the darkness from our surroundings and thus stripped away the magic that lies in it. However, the experience of darkness is healing for our bodies. Only recently, we are beginning to understand how constantly being in illuminated spaces harms our health.