Hands up who curls up on the sofa with a blanket after a hard day in the office? Sometimes it’s all we can do to have a civil conversation with our housemates at the end of a long and stressful day.

And with good reason: the idea of rest and contemplation as an antidote to modern living is rooted in ancient religious practices (think traditional Jewish Shabbat to Sundays being a ‘day of rest’) and science agrees that taking time out for peaceful, quiet reflection has many benefits, both physical and emotional. Many spiritual traditions such as Ayurveda also extol the virtues of darkness and solitude for holistic healing – some Tibetan monks are known to spend many days in darkness in an attempt to clear their minds.

But could you cope with a ‘dark retreat’? And more to the point – should you?

Do you need a ‘dark retreat’? How darkness and solitude can enhance wellbeing