the things people ask before they apply
A few of the questions we are asked most often, answered as directly as we can. If yours is not here, write to us. We respond to every message.
No. Honest readiness is the only prerequisite.
Some guests have been on this path for decades. Some have never done anything like this before. The container is built to hold both. What matters is not what you have done before, but that something in you is asking for this now.
Chapter One is a solo passage. Even if you arrive with a partner, you walk it as yourself.
Couples have come and walked it side by side, but the work happens inside each person — and is sometimes deeper, sometimes harder, when someone you love is in the next room. We ask that you arrive knowing this.
Many of our guests are. The two work well together — therapy thinks alongside the mind, the descent works alongside the body, and most people find they meet in the middle.
We ask only that you tell your therapist you are coming, and that you let us know if anything is currently acute or recently destabilising. This stays confidential and is read only by us.
This work is built for people with trauma in their history — almost everyone arriving here has some. The practices are trauma-informed, the pace is held, and you are never asked to go anywhere we are not walking with you.
That said, this is not appropriate during an acute psychiatric crisis, during active substance dependence, or if you are currently working through severe untreated PTSD. If you are unsure, write to us. We will help you decide whether the timing is right, and if it is not, we will tell you so honestly.
Tell us when you apply. The application has a place for this. Most conditions and medications are entirely compatible with the retreat — we ask so we can hold you well, not to disqualify you.
Some practices are adapted on the spot for individual bodies. The work meets you where you are.
No. The descent is held entirely through breath, body, ceremony, and presence.
The medicine is the sequence itself.
English. Some guests are native, some are not — both work. If your English is good enough to follow a careful conversation, you will be held well here.
Many of our guests are Scandinavian. Some are not. The room makes room.
You will not be forced into anything. Consent is the floor of this work, not the ceiling.
That said, the arc is designed as a sequence — what happens on Day Three depends on what happened on Day One. Stepping out is always possible. Stepping back in, after the moment has passed, often is not.
The invitation is to trust the sequence, and to let yourself be surprised by what your body says yes to.
Of course. Your phone is yours to keep with you throughout.
That said, we deeply encourage you to put it away. The noise we carry in our pockets is the same noise that keeps us from hearing ourselves. Some of the most honest moments in this room happen because there is nothing to reach for, nowhere to escape to. If something truly urgent comes up, you will have access. But we invite you to discover who you are without the scroll, the notifications, the reflexive check. Most people tell us it was one of the best parts.
All meals are provided — clean, warm, and intentionally prepared. The food is part of the container, not separate from it.
If you have dietary restrictions, allergies, or preferences, tell us in your application. We accommodate all of it.
There is no reading list. No pre-work. No meditation app to download.
The preparation is honesty. Come as you are — not as you think you should be. The less you try to prepare, the more the work can reach you.
We send a practical guide (what to pack, how to arrive) closer to the date.
Some questions belong in a list. Some belong in a letter. Either way, every message is read by one of us, personally.