 Good morning everybody. Thank you. My name is Marek Malusz. I work as an academic worker and researcher at the Department of Psychology at the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic and I'm really very honored that I was invited to come here to Portland and to share with you what we are actually doing in the Czech Republic. But before I start, I need to make a little introduction to my talk. It's quite a trend for me to talk here because I'm the only one who is going to speak completely only about chamber rest and I feel that there is so much to tell you that I'm sure I'm not going to make it in the 25 or maybe 30 minutes, which I have. I think it's a pity, but I hope you will understand it that if you don't understand something that we will have the chance to clarify it in the questions and answers session and maybe if we won't make the entire presentation that I will finish it in the questions and answers section then. So we have 78 more slides in front of us. So welcome to it. And just in case some of you don't know where Czech Republic is, because it was the same with me about Portland and Oregon, let me show it to you. As you can see, Czech Republic is quite a small country just in the middle in the heart of Europe. With its neighbors, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and Poland. In this eastern part of Czech Republic, it is an important place. There are beskidy mountains and it's important because this is a place where is an area where it all has begun. And now we are ready to go through it. It was in 2006 and 2007 when I really felt very miserably undone. Once I came to a tea house called Good Tea House and it was really good for me because I found only simple leaflet about a service called dark therapy. There wasn't much information on it. I knew nothing about it those days, but I immediately decided to undergo it without gathering any more information about it, which was quite unusual for me those days. Maybe even now. Well, all seven days spent during the dark therapy were very unusual for me and to sum it up, it was very powerful and completely new experience. I won't, because I can't tell you more now, I could talk about it for an hour. Maybe if you ask me later, maybe the next year or definitely if you come to Czech Republic to see and possibly to undergo it, you are welcome. What happened then? I talked about it, I was grateful to undergo it and I consider it as a life-changing experience, but that was all from the academic perspective. And three years later, in the beginning of the second year of my doctoral studies, while hiking in the open air with my colleagues, I realized that I really want to make a research on this new service. One of the colleagues was Dr. Markin Kupka and I want to name him because he's my best mate in researching the dark therapy and the majority of the research on dark therapy in the Czech Republic we made together. The year 2010 was the beginning of rest research in the Czech Republic and without, what is quite funny, without knowing it, and despite underestimation of others, I knew only the term dark therapy which was and which is used by the public. And I knew, but I didn't find anybody who knew the term rest, whether rotation or chamber rest. So I thought we were starting perhaps a completely new research in the world where we weren't. We weren't. And I realized it a few months afterwards. And the underestimation of others, basically some older colleagues knew something only about sensory deprivation and they considered it as a useless, weird and sometimes as a possibly dangerous business. Even my supervisor of my doctoral studies thought about it, it was a nonsense. Actually, he said he thought it was a bullshit. Nevertheless, he told to me, if you insist, do it. And he gave me the first money for starting the initial survey. And I really appreciate this attitude and I'm really grateful him for it. Now a little bit of general history of dark therapy. I'm not going to talk about sensory deprivation or rest research history, but I will talk about how did it happen that something like this exists. Maybe you know Holger Calvite, maybe some of you. Holger Calvite is a German ethnologist and psychologist who traveled around the world and he found some practices or rituals when people went into an environment with reduced stimulation. He was probably most influenced by a practice of Tibetan monks called Yangtik, which was a seven weeks long stay in a separate chamber with complete darkness, with food delivery and the guidance by an older and more experienced monk. He underwent it himself and imported into Germany as the dunco therapy, which could be translated as the dark therapy. So Germany was the first place in Europe where to undergo a week-long stay or its multiples in a complete, under these conditions. In 2006, a similar service, not exactly the same because it appeared independently, started in the Czech Republic. There was only one provider with two chambers those days. The price was 16 American dollars per day for the whole service with food delivery, with the guidance. And as I had told before, I underwent it in 2007. I was perhaps the first psychologist and youngest person who tried it those days. Nowadays, it is completely different. In 2010, when I started my research, there were several providers around five of dark therapy in the Czech Republic. I divided them into two types, as I will show you pictures in a few moments. Type one includes all providers except one. The way they run the service were I, but mainly they have a special wooden head or a brick chamber for it. The wooden head is mainly situated in their garden around the house they live in. And the brick chamber is mainly situated or it's a part of their house which is rebuilt for this use. Type two includes the only one provider. But he's important because he's the only one who is within a medical background and it is also the most most comfortable place where you can undergo the service. And what more? He was the first provider who in 2010 agreed with researching the dark therapy and allowed me to do it at his place. Now in 2015, there are around 15 providers of dark therapy in the Czech Republic. Czech Republic has around 10 million inhabitants, only for information, with one, two, or three chambers. And also a few new are in Slovakia now. So we can see the number of providers is rapidly growing and yet many of them are booked until the end of this year. And the most busy operator is the most comfortable, most expensive and the only one within the medical area. Usually it is booked more than a year in advance. I hope you are ready to see the pictures now, right? The type one dark therapy or rest chamber is situated in Kozlovice, which is a village in Beskidi Mountains. As you can see, this is the easier way how to do it. It is a wooden head and it is situated in a beautiful nature, mostly it is situated in a beautiful nature around it. Here's another view of the wooden head and here comes the interior. This provider has two chambers, so I will show you both chambers. You can see that the interior could vary, but basically it is very similar. You have bathroom, you have the sink, you have the toilet and sometimes you have a bidet. So this is the anti-chamber. This is not the main chamber for staying there. This is the anti-chamber for do the necessary things. Here comes the main chamber. Mostly you can see an armchair, heating, ventilation system, shelves with some fruits, nuts, sometimes essential oils, sometimes only sometimes a CDR MP3 player, but it's not allowed in my research. The other chamber, also an armchair, black one so you can see it properly. Sometimes exercise device, shelves again, heating again and finally the bed. The bed is very, really important for the stay and that's all from the interior for the main room. And as you can see, it is not only a lovely place, but you can also meet amazing people around these wooden heads. This tall man is the operator of the dark therapy, a service in Kozlovice. His name is Roman Bartak and I'm also showing him and his place because he's the second provider who allowed me to make a research in his facility. I hope I don't have to introduce you to this honorable and likable man. This is his wife, this lovely lady, it's his wife, wife Phyllis and I don't know why but the bold headed man on the left, it's me. Well, it was enough for the peaceful and quiet place in Kozlovice and now we are ready to move to the dark therapy rest chamber type two, which is actually only a few kilometers far from the first place. I showed to you. This is the second type, the only facility of its kind in the Czech Republic. It's within Beskidi Rehabilitation Center, Celadna. It's also a village in Beskidi Mountains. It's famous for its golf course and to understand it well, the Rehabilitation Center means that it works with physically impaired people like physiotherapy, something like spa. It's not for mental disorders or cognitive impairments. So this is that, it's called Vila Matma in translation, something like Mind Dark. Another view of the apartment of this chamber and now you can see the floor plan. And as you can see, you can enter the apartment from the front porch via two separate entrance doors. Here's the empty chamber in accessible technical room for the customers, for the people who are staying in the dark. This is their main room, a corridor to a cloak room, to a toilet and the bathroom. Now I will show you it on the pictures. So the two separately locked front doors, with a pre-empty or maybe empty, empty chamber, a really small one. Then the real empty chamber where the food is delivered. Also there is beverage, there is water. This is the inaccessible technical room. You can see in the technical room very sophisticated recuperation unit for the entire facility. Here you can see the bathroom. And finally the main room. Again, there's a bed, there's a comfortable armchair, some exercise devices, some shelves. What you can't see here is a table with some papers. And here it's a wooden computer with exactly seven marbles in each line. And you can guess why exactly seven marbles in each line. Here we can see the way the therapist visit can be performed, of course, under complete darkness. And here's another picture more up to date, where is a new bed, which is more comfortable. And also a couple stay was carried out there. And it was a honeymoon for newlyweds. And what more is important above the table is a communication device. It's one-way phone. Nobody is allowed to call inside the apartment, but you can, 24 hours a day, call or reach your guide, the nurses or a doctor. You can also try to imagine your own stay, lying and being in the complete darkness for minutes, hours, days, maybe one week, maybe more. This is Dr. Andrew Urbis, who is running the facility in Beskidi Rehabilitation Centre. And I want to show him because he was the first who allowed me to do the research. And because he, the most important operator and propagator of the dark therapy in the Czech Republic. And here we can see him just after completing his seven weeks long stay during January and February 2011. To sum the introduction to the dark therapy up, it is a procedure or service which you pay for it. You stay usually one week or it's multiples. It's a place of absolute darkness, a place of silence and solitude, but not necessarily absolute silence and solitude. It's a safe, cozy, cozy and comfortable place where food is provided, sanitary facilities and a daily consultation with your guide or therapist is included. And how is it organised? Again, daily food delivery, daily guide or visit or therapist visit. If you want so, if you don't want so, you don't have to. And sometimes you can order some special activities. For example, in the Beskidi Rehabilitation Centre where you have pain in your back, you can order a Thai massage, for example. Again, in the complete darkness. And for some urgent situations, you can call for help. It's not available for all the providers, but at the Beskidi Rehabilitation Centre, it's available all the time or you can quit. Mainly you are locked because of safety, but of course you have the key, every time you have the key to unlock the door and to quit it. And you have plenty of time for yourself. Really plenty of time. So what is allowed or enabled inside? You can sleep, you can meditate, you can open the door of your imagination. You can think or not think. You can lie, sit, walk, exercise, dance, sing, play some instrument if you have some. You can be silent, whisper, talk, shout, scream, yell, cry. You can be calm, relaxed, anxious, angry, sad, grateful, regretful, happy, excited, bored, or just be. You can of course eat and shower. All of these and probably much more you are allowed or enabled to do or not to do during your week-long stay. Simply it's about turning your attention inward to your body and mind and for some people to their soul and spirit. And what is not allowed or enabled inside? To phone, browse, Google, mail, chat, play games, watch TV, read a book, shop. Really try to imagine not to use this for the whole week or maybe for a longer time. And not only that you are not allowed to, but because you really don't need to. And even this, not for the whole week. You aren't allowed to meet people, debate, pretend, manipulate, lose face. You can't escape via drugs, via addictive behavior or neurotic behavior. Of course, exceptions are everywhere. Everybody can cheat if he wants to. But basically it's not as simple as in normal life to turn our attention outwards to other things, to other people and the other situations. So what is it good for, the dark therapy? What do you think? It's good for relaxation, for calm, shut down or restart. It's good for planning, reviewing, revising, reassessing, for clarifying, for new inspiration. And also you can perceive it as a rite of passage, which can have different forms. Sometimes it can be quite scary and adventures, but still it's a very safe way how to do your own rite of passage. You can also use the time for feeling and thinking about yourself, about your self-concept, self-evaluation, self-acceptance. You can also think about what other people perceive you. And how do you perceive other people? And how do you feel in your relationships? And you can maybe reconsider some of your relationships also. You have the time for thinking about your work, about your life, about the past, present and future, because you have a really huge moment of now, really huge moment of now for that. And it is really wonderful, or what I think that is wonderful, when you are able to integrate all the material which comes to your mind, either by yourself, on your own, or with the help of your guide or the therapist. You can see it also as a diet or detoxification, but mostly psychical, also physical, but this is mostly about the psychical detoxification. And when you think that you are lost in your life, that you need a more serenity or balance into your life, if you need to center yourself, find your life direction and more, you can try the dark therapy. And now, I don't want to claim that all these happen when you are in the dark therapy. These are only examples which are much more easier to do it during the dark therapy than in the normal life. And these are the examples from my own experience, from the experience of other people who underwent it. But again, it's not that it will be like this, and you will reach everything you want to from this day. To simplify it, you can perceive it as an art of rest, because you have one week long for resting yourself, or you can perceive it as a more complex restart of yourself, of your life, for example. Now, is it a therapy or not? Well, it is difficult to say it positively. The term dark therapy is not scientifically appropriate, but the whole context of the dark therapy could be used therapeutically. Many people consider it as a treatment or self-treatment, and I consider it as a special place and space suitable for the therapeutic process, which enables, affects and catalyzes our ability to get more in touch with both our consciousness and unconsciousness, or the conscious and unconscious part of our self. Is it a new discovery or not? No. It was there since time immemorial. From Donald Hepp, John Peter Zubek, John C. Lilly, Peter Sudefeld, Erid Barabasz, Tom Fein, and others, we knew about sensory deprivation and rest research. But when two do the same, it's not the same. It is different context and settings, different kind of people, different motivation there, inner motivation, different philosophy, religion, or spiritual background, different intention of the providers. So, again, it is hard to say it positively, both no and yes. And now, I would like to share a little bit of results with you, but I'm not sure whether we have time for it. Okay, we have some more time for it. Great. The initial and first survey I did, it was until 2015, and I collected data from 37 dark therapy customers, which spent the whole week in the dark therapy. I used self-reporting questionnaires and inventories, like existence scale, five facets, mindfulness questionnaire, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the symptom checklist 90, which is a psychiatric tool. Because we don't have time for go through the methodology and the statistics step by step, and to discuss things like how is it possible and what other interactions could be there. I only sum it up that we found significant, let's say, improvement even though it's not scientifically correct or appropriate, we found significant improvement among all categories. We collected the data before the stay and three weeks after the stay. Now, results of the second data collection, which hasn't been finished yet. I started this quasi-experimental study in 2015. There were 40 participants from the university. It was college students. The length of the stays were two or three days. We used battery of cognitive performance tests and physiological measurements thanks to the department of physiology and pathophysiology of the University of Ostrava. We measured data like EKG and HRV. Because the control group data will be collected after the autumn 2015, so I can't tell you the results now. I hope it seems to be promising, but I can't tell you now. And to the future, the third and the other data collection, I would like to make a quasi-experimental study in 2016 with longer length of the stay, with four or five days long stay and I would like to measure what I told before and I would like to add measuring mindfulness again and burnout syndrome. And as for the health benefits, I would like to continue measuring EKG and HRV, then to add blood pressure, weight reduction because I assume that there will be a weight reduction because it is shown that it is like that during the week-long stays. And if I have money for it, because that's always a matter of money, if I have money for it, I would like to measure this secretion of hormones like cortisol and melatonin and possibly EEG in the future, maybe fMRI, who knows. Oh, I would like to, but again, it's about the money. And the following studies, then I would like to skip to again, to seven days long stays and to measure the psychological and therapeutic benefits and addictive behavior and again the health benefits as above. So in a preliminary conclusion, drug therapy is a special modification of chamber rest. Still, it's quite controversial. Some people don't like it at all. I really think that it could be used as a therapeutic tool where the role of the provider, the guy, the therapist, I'm not really sure about the proper English word for it, so that's why I'm using all these terms. But the role of the provider-guy-therapist is not very clear yet, but it seems to be very important. I perceive the hunger of people for drug therapy stays as a life-tempo barometer, like a pendulum or mandala when you are too much into something, in extreme of something that you tend to do the exact opposite. And drug therapy is the exact opposite of the speedness of today's life. And I hope it could be also beneficial for dealing with civilization diseases, at least the prevention and possibly the cure, but it is definitely a matter of further research. What is important, I'm aware that there is much, much to do in front of us, but important is that the first steps have already been done. The very first steps, it was the sensory deprivation and rest research decades ago and the new first steps for the last five years. Thank you for your attention, and if you want to join, support or collaborate with us, please let me know. Thank you.