Days-Long ‘Dark Retreats’ Are the Newest Spiritual Conquest for Tech Elites

There are around 5 acheronian retreat centers successful nan US, Berman says, pinch astir 100 worldwide. Sky Cave has 3 acheronian rooms; four-night retreats costs $1,770, pinch an other nighttime to settee successful and different to decompress afterward.

The imaginable effects of prolonged acheronian person not been studied well, but location are early indications to propose that nan believe whitethorn person a big of mental wellness benefits; a Czech halfway claims it can easiness “long-term fatigue and stress” done spurring nan processing of soul experiences. When group travel retired of 1 of Sky Cave’s 3 “caves,” video footage shows some crying pinch emotion.

But nan process of subjecting oneself to solitary confinement successful complete acheronian besides carries little-understood risks. “To my knowledge location has arsenic yet not been studies reporting connected nan antagonistic outcomes of acheronian rooms for extended periods successful naturalistic environments, though location are galore isolated anecdotes of psychotic-like symptoms and prolonged dissociation,” says David Luke, an subordinate professor of psychology astatine nan University of Greenwich who has conducted investigation connected acheronian experiences and nan similarities pinch psychedelic trips.

Some group astatine Berman’s halfway person spent arsenic agelong arsenic 40 days successful 1 of his light-deprived dwellings. Others lasted conscionable half an hour. “We don't fto group travel immoderate longer than 4 nights anymore,” says Berman. “We don’t really deliberation this is beneficial, arsenic we thin to find that astir group usage immoderate benignant of coping strategy to enactment successful nan acheronian for agelong periods of time.” Such strategies, Berman explains, are difficult to define, but they fundamentally pertain to group “doing” things successful nan dark, moreover meditation aliases belief practices—rather than simply relaxing, doing nothing, and surrendering a consciousness of control. This yet insulates them to immoderate grade from nan mysterious and profoundly self-reflective process nan acheronian is said to instigate, he says.

“This is simply a very vulnerable believe if it isn’t done right,” adds Holecek, who expressed peculiar interest for group who spell successful pinch “a machismo, white-knuckle” mentality.

“I cognize group who person gone successful who travel retired worse,” he says, explaining that a 49-day retreat was erstwhile an precocious Tibetan Buddhist rite of transition extracurricular of a fewer traditions successful which it is still used. “It fell retired of favour because ill-prepared, unsupported group went successful for 49 days and then, alternatively of attaining enlightenment, they would virtually spell crazy.”

Jason Halbert, erstwhile vice president of group and world information astatine Snap, did a acheronian retreat astatine Sky Cave successful February 2024. Speaking to The Profile podcast soon after, Halbert, a behavioral scientist, explained that it took him astir a time to get utilized to not absentmindedly checking his phone. “When you’re genuinely deprived of immoderate inbound ocular stimulation, beryllium it your phone, light, TV—eventually you’re near pinch dreams, thoughts, and blackness,” he said. “We don’t recognize nan tremendous magnitude of triggers that anchor our identity.”

Describing himself arsenic personification who “thinks each nan time,” Halbert likened his four-night spell successful nan acheronian to “cleaning up my office” and said it helped him ponder really to beryllium a “better human, professional, dad, coach, and husband.” (Halbert near Snap successful 2019; successful 2017, The Information reported that existent and erstwhile labor alleged he told “odd” and “inappropriate” stories astatine work. Halbert told WIRED nan allegations are “false.”)