The story of TMA SEMILY, our experience with dark retreats and why we created private retreat cabins near Semily.
How we came to dark retreats
Anna Bokotejová from the Semily area has long been involved with yoga and homeopathy and, in recent years, with dark retreats together with her husband. She draws on her experience when preparing the setting and when guiding participants who ask for support during their stay.
Every retreat is individual. Some guests mainly seek quiet and a space without ordinary stimulation; others want to spend time with personal themes. Guidance is available according to need and prior agreement.
Dark retreat for couples
In 2024 we also created a couples dark-retreat project. Two people can spend several days together without the usual bustle and visual stimulation, giving time to themselves and to mutual communication.
A shared retreat has a different dynamic from an individual stay, and its course cannot be predicted in advance. It is not couples therapy or a medical service.
More practical information about a retreat for two can be found on the dedicated information pages: Dark retreat for couples.
Why did we build the cabins?
We originally built the cabins as a place for our own quiet, inner work and a deeper pause from everyday life. Together we have four children and have long been interested in how we work with our habits, limitations and the way we live.
Dark retreats were a powerful personal experience for us, which is why we decided to create a place that other people could use as well. Simplicity, privacy, a natural setting and the freedom to experience the retreat in your own way are important to us.
Some of our experiences are entirely personal and subjective. What a person experiences in darkness can vary greatly and no specific outcome can be promised in advance.
Personal experience
One reason we work with dark retreats is our own experience of slowing down, rethinking life priorities and stepping outside the ordinary daily routine for a while.
For Anna, one retreat was also connected with an intense personal experience and memories of her mother, who had died many years earlier. We understand experiences like this as individual and subjective, not as a universal effect of a dark retreat.
A dark retreat and our guidance are not substitutes for medical, psychological or psychotherapeutic care.
You can also find more about the practical side of a retreat in our information guide: Laskavá tma – about dark retreats.