Going Dark: An Experiment

Hi all,

After reading this article at the Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...s-off-at-dusk/ and then reading Clark Strands book "Waking Up to the Dark," I decided to go dark myself. I've been doing this since August, and have had very good results.

"Going dark," as I am referring to it, means to turn off all of your electrical lights at dusk. The downside is that there isn't much to do in the dark except:

• sleep
• dream
• have sex
• meditate
• be there

The upside is that suddenly, there is a lot of time available. Time to just be. There are also many health benefits, which Strand enumerates in his article. I will list a few for the sake of brevity:

• increase melatonin production: melatonin is only produced when the brain detects an absence of light. Without light, the body naturally segues into calmer and calmer states of mind, before finally falling asleep. This is also one of the reasons why so many people report insomnia in the US and other developed countries
• prolactin production at night: for most modern sleepers, waking up in the middle of the night coincides with cortisol production, which essentially is a stress hormone that wakes you up. In the brain of someone with no electric light, cortisol is replaced by prolactin, a hormone in mother's milk that is calming. Our bodies produce it naturally in the middle of the night. Waking up is very peaceful, and there is no fear of getting back to sleep.
• more sleep: you sleep more. You feel more rested.
• more dreams: for me, this extra sleep has provided more dreams. In a pure setting, one is able to sleep 10 or 11 hours a night, if desired, and there are many opportunities to WILD
• hour of the wolf: the natural state of waking in the middle of night. Can be used to think, meditate, DJ, or just lie there (one of my favorites)

This kind of lifestyle does require one to give up some things, but if you already appreciate the life of the mind more than the life of Twitter, then it probably won't be too hard.

If anyone has questions about going dark please let me know, as I would be happy to tell you more :)

That sounds really awesome. I would love to try it, but it's really impractical right now, since I'm living with two roommates in a college dorm that like to stay up until 2am most nights, plus all the all-nighters I have to pull for class. Maybe when I graduate and get my own place, I'll give it a try.

Similarly, I've been meaning to do a digital detox for a while - basically shutting off all electronic devices for at least 24 hours. But again, since most of my college assignments are online (and of course, since I'm studying computer engineering), that one's not really practical either.

Keep us updated, I'm definitely curious how this goes. Good luck, as I imagine the first week or so is gonna be killer...

That sounds really good. Please report on your progress; I'd love to hear about it. :thumbup:

I'm also curious about this. I have now perfect conditions to try it but I don't know if I can convince myself to go to sleep so early. Not because I can't stand without electronic stuff and be with myself (ok, maybe a little). But everytime when I tried just to go to bed before midnight it ended (in the best case) by sleeping 12-14 hours or long, so I wake up late anyway, so I can't sleep at night etc. So I'm not sure how can I change this. If you have some tips it'll be nice to read them and maybe try some. I like idea of living in natural cycles.

So I edited the original post. I've been doing this since early August of last year. Results have been great.

@LiLeia: I would try it for a month. This is how long the original experiment was that Strand talks about, and by week three, hormone levels have readjusted to their natural levels and release times. If your sleep schedule is already off, or if you don't sleep too much, the first week or so you will probably sleep tons, due to sleep deprivation (11-14 hours). After your body has recovered, you can settle in to a 8.5--9.5 hour night (mine is around 9-9.5).

Best thing, I think, is the sleep quality, followed by the opportunities to induce LDs, if you want them.

I like to do this during summer vacation in the country. It's pretty hard to do in city living in a small apartment, particularly in winter, where it's dark from 4pm to about 10am. I do like the long winter sleeps, though :)

That sounds very intriguing to me. I bet it would help women with amenorrhea. Luckily for me, I already go to sleep pretty early in the night; but unfortunately, I don't think it would work with my husband's schedule. I wonder if doing it on some days and not others would have cumulative effects over time. Some is better than none, right?

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Originally Posted by lunagoddess

That sounds very intriguing to me. I bet it would help women with amenorrhea. Luckily for me, I already go to sleep pretty early in the night; but unfortunately, I don't think it would work with my husband's schedule. I wonder if doing it on some days and not others would have cumulative effects over time. Some is better than none, right?

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Blackout curtains in bedroom is a very good thing to help you, as well as candles (if your husband would put up with them). I've found candles don't really interfere too much with falling asleep, though if I had a choice I would not use them (wife got tired of house always being dark, lol)

I think some is definitely better than none, because at least you are getting good rest on those days.