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Research · Chamber-REST

Three hours of darkness and silence. What the researchers measured.

In 2025, psychologists at Comenius University in Bratislava published two studies of a single three-hour stay in a dark, sound-attenuated room — Chamber-REST, a variant of Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy. According to the authors, it is the largest study of the method to date. The same setup — one person, one room, three hours without stimuli — is the starting point of the WZMOCNIA Room. Below we say plainly what these studies mean for us, and what must not be drawn from them.

3 h
one stay — no series of sessions
180
people compared with a control group: 120 after the stay, 60 in an ordinary room
7 days
after the stay — when the drop in stress and overload was measured
0
tasks, recordings or guided meditation during the stay

Conditions

The same premise: take stimuli away, give a person time.

Chamber-REST is neither a water tank nor a cramped cabin. It is a room where you can lie, sit and move — only without light, noise and screens. We set the laboratory conditions against the WZMOCNIA Room.

Chamber-REST laboratory (2025)WZMOCNIA Room
Durationone stay, 3 hoursa stay of 1, 2 or 3 hours
Lightdarkness; light-emitting devices not alloweddarkness; the phone stays outside
Soundacoustically attenuated roomsound-attenuated interior, strongly reduced stimuli
Where you liebed or armchair, free to movezero gravity chair
Contactintercom to an assistantstaff via intercom; in REST the specialist connects online by audio
Programmenone — no tasks, narration or meditationa plain stay is possible — no narration and no task
Who leadsthe university research teamguest stay — self-guided; REST — only an accredited specialist with professional qualifications

The table compares descriptions, not measurements. The study did not concern the WZMOCNIA Room, and we have not verified by measurement that its parameters match the laboratory. The laboratory also had a bathroom next to the room, and participants could eat and stretch — we settle these elements of a stay separately for each site.

Conclusions

Eight conclusions for WZMOCNIA — plainly.

Each conclusion has two parts: what the data showed and what it means for us. Figures come from the articles' tables; sources and full summaries are below.

  1. 01

    One stay is enough to have something to measure.

    A week after a single three-hour stay, perceived stress (PSS scale, 0–40) fell in the Chamber-REST group from 19.4 to 17.2 points. In the control group, which spent the same three hours in a bright room with a phone, it stayed level (19.5 → 19.4). The change differed significantly between the groups (p = 0.030); the drop within the Chamber-REST group was small (d = 0.38).

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    Three hours is not a shortcut or a demo version — it is the format that was studied. A single stay in the WZMOCNIA Room makes sense on its own, and we base an employer pilot on measurement before and after, not on a promise.

    A week before and a week after a single stay

    Mean scores in matched groups: Chamber-REST (120 people; overload — 91) and control (60 people).

    • Chamber-REST
    • Control group

    Perceived stress · PSS 0–40 · lower = less

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 19.4Chamber-REST · after: 17.2Control group · before: 19.5Control group · after: 19.419.519.419.417.2

    ● group difference significant

    Information overload · 1–10 · lower = less

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 6.97Chamber-REST · after: 6Control group · before: 6.56Control group · after: 6.96.976.566.96

    ● group difference significant

    Mindfulness · MAAS 15–90 · higher = more

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 54.1Chamber-REST · after: 56.4Control group · before: 53.2Control group · after: 53.554.153.256.453.5

    ○ group difference not significant

    Sleep quality · 1–10 · higher = better

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 6.8Chamber-REST · after: 7.1Control group · before: 6.8Control group · after: 6.96.86.87.16.9

    ○ group difference not significant

    Rumination · RRQ 12–60 · lower = less

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 43.1Chamber-REST · after: 41.1Control group · before: 43.5Control group · after: 41.343.543.141.341.1

    ○ group difference not significant

    Each panel shows 30% of its scale's range, so slopes can be compared across panels; read values from the labels.

    Data as a table
    VariableGroupbeforeafter
    Perceived stress · PSS 0–40 · lower = lessChamber-REST19.417.2
    Perceived stress · PSS 0–40 · lower = lessControl group19.519.4
    Information overload · 1–10 · lower = lessChamber-REST6.976
    Information overload · 1–10 · lower = lessControl group6.566.9
    Mindfulness · MAAS 15–90 · higher = moreChamber-REST54.156.4
    Mindfulness · MAAS 15–90 · higher = moreControl group53.253.5
    Sleep quality · 1–10 · higher = betterChamber-REST6.87.1
    Sleep quality · 1–10 · higher = betterControl group6.86.9
    Rumination · RRQ 12–60 · lower = lessChamber-REST43.141.1
    Rumination · RRQ 12–60 · lower = lessControl group43.541.3

    Own chart based on Table 1: Bartolen and Soláriková (2025), BMC Psychology 13, 796.

  2. 02

    The strongest result concerns information overload.

    The sense of being overloaded with stimuli and information in the past week (1–10 scale) fell after Chamber-REST from 6.97 to 6.0 (d = 0.46). In the control group it rose over the same period — from 6.56 to 6.9. This is the largest effect in the study and the clearest difference between groups (p < 0.001).

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    This is exactly the problem an employer brings: people buried in messages, with no break from the screen. "A break for overloaded attention" is not a slogan — it is a variable that can be measured, and one we propose to measure in the pilot.

  3. 03

    A comfortable room is not enough. Darkness and silence make the difference.

    The control group rated its stay just as well (7.9 out of 10 in both groups). After three hours, state anxiety fell and heart rate variability (HRV) rose in both groups — even more clearly in the control group. The groups differed in something else: Chamber-REST participants scored clearly higher on mindfulness — curiosity towards their own experience (15.7 vs 8.3) and distance from it (14.2 vs 9.7).

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    You can rest with a book. What set the stay in darkness and silence apart was attention turned inwards. That is why we design the WZMOCNIA Room around removing stimuli rather than around comfort — and why we do not sell relaxation.

    After the stay: this is where the groups differed

    State mindfulness (Toronto Mindfulness Scale) measured after three hours; satisfaction with the stay (1–10) for comparison. 58 people per group.

    • Chamber-REST
    • Control group

    • Curiosity towards experience · scale 0–24 · p < 0.001

      15.7
      8.3

    • Distance from experience (decentering) · scale 0–28 · p < 0.001

      14.2
      9.7

    • Satisfaction with the stay · scale 1–10 · no difference

      7.9
      7.9
    Data as a table
    VariableChamber-RESTControl group
    Curiosity towards experience · scale 0–24 · p < 0.00115.78.3
    Distance from experience (decentering) · scale 0–28 · p < 0.00114.29.7
    Satisfaction with the stay · scale 1–10 · no difference7.97.9

    Own chart based on Table 1: Soláriková and Bartolen (2025), Acta Psychologica 253, 104697.

  4. 04

    No meditation skills required.

    Mindfulness scores after the stay did not differ between people with a regular meditation practice and people without one. There was no instruction, recording or task in the room — only darkness, silence and time. The authors write that Chamber-REST evokes mindful attention without external guidance.

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    A stay in the WZMOCNIA Room requires no preparation or technique. The threshold is low for people who have never meditated — which is most teams.

  5. 05

    The most changes where the load is highest.

    In the high and very high stress subgroups, the PSS score fell by about 6 points (24.6 → 18.3 and 27.1 → 21.0). There was no drop among people with low stress. Among those who rated their sleep worst before the stay, sleep quality rose from 3.8 to 6.6. This is an exploratory analysis of the study group alone, without a control comparison — part of the change may simply be extreme scores moving back towards the mean.

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    A pilot makes most sense where a team is under real pressure. That is also where it is easiest to see whether anything changes — and where the first unit is worth placing.

    Perceived stress (PSS) by stress level before the stay

    The whole Chamber-REST group (176 people) split into four subgroups. No control group — exploratory analysis.

    Low stress · 51 people

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 11.6Chamber-REST · after: 13.911.613.9

    ○ change not significant

    Medium stress · 64 people

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 18.1Chamber-REST · after: 16.718.116.7

    ○ change not significant

    High stress · 36 people

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 24.6Chamber-REST · after: 18.324.618.3

    ● change significant

    Very high stress · 25 people

    beforeafterChamber-REST · before: 27.1Chamber-REST · after: 2127.121

    ● change significant

    Each panel shows 30% of its scale's range, so slopes can be compared across panels; read values from the labels.

    Data as a table
    VariableGroupbeforeafter
    Low stress · 51 peopleChamber-REST11.613.9
    Medium stress · 64 peopleChamber-REST18.116.7
    High stress · 36 peopleChamber-REST24.618.3
    Very high stress · 25 peopleChamber-REST27.121

    Own chart based on Table 5: Bartolen and Soláriková (2025), BMC Psychology 13, 796.

  6. 06

    We do not promise sleep or physiology.

    Across the whole group, sleep quality did not change significantly; neither did rumination. In the team's earlier study, cortisol did not differ between groups, and in the HRV study both groups' physiology changed similarly. The authors conclude that Chamber-REST may matter more for psychological outcomes than for immediate physiological responses.

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    We do not write that WZMOCNIA improves sleep or "regulates the nervous system". We talk about what was measured — and just as loudly about what was not shown.

  7. 07

    A room, not a water tank.

    Most REST research concerns flotation — floating in a salt solution. A 2025 systematic review covered 63 such studies and 1,838 participants, and explicitly excluded the room variant. The authors of the Chamber-REST studies stress that it does not require elaborate facilities: a sound-attenuated, darkened room, a comfortable place to lie or sit, access to a toilet and an intercom are enough.

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    The WZMOCNIA Room is exactly such a room — delivered as a ready unit, without water, salt or pool maintenance. We do not claim flotation results; the closest reference point is Chamber-REST research.

  8. 08

    HRV before and after is worth measuring.

    People with lower resting HRV responded more clearly. Parasympathetic activity rose in 94% of them (vs 63% in the higher-HRV group, which started from a higher level), and distance from their own experience explained 23% of the variance in felt calm after the session. There was no such relationship in the higher-HRV group.

    What this means for WZMOCNIA

    A five-minute HRV reading before and after a stay is a simple way to see for whom the stay is most noticeable. In the Chamber-REST plan configurator for specialists, this measurement is planned by default.

What must not be drawn from these studies

  • That WZMOCNIA was studied. The Chamber-REST laboratory at Comenius University was.
  • That a stay improves sleep. This was not shown at the whole-group level.
  • That everyday mindfulness rises more than without a stay. In the stress study, the group difference for mindfulness (MAAS) was not significant (p = 0.068); the clear difference concerns the state right after the stay.
  • That the results apply to everyone. Healthy students, mostly women, were studied, assigned to groups non-randomly, using self-report.
  • That a guest stay or a pilot is REST. In the WZMOCNIA model, the name REST applies only to sessions led by accredited specialists with professional qualifications.

How to say it — a sentence to use

"In a 2025 study (n = 180), a single three-hour stay in a dark, sound-attenuated room — Chamber-REST, a variant of Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy — was associated a week later with lower perceived stress and less information overload than three hours in an ordinary, bright room (Bartolen and Soláriková, BMC Psychology). The WZMOCNIA Room provides conditions of this kind; we check the effect in your organisation by measurement."

We do not say "research proves WZMOCNIA reduces stress" or "WZMOCNIA is a therapy". Chamber-REST was studied, not our unit, and NIHILI does not provide medical services.

Sources

Three articles — our summaries

We summarised each article: the researchers' question, conditions, results with figures, limitations and what it means for WZMOCNIA. We draw the charts ourselves from data published in the tables; the authors' figures are linked in the original.

Why a summary rather than a translation: all three articles are published under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence, which does not permit publishing translations or commercial use of the material. We will publish a full translation once the authors and publisher agree.

NIHILI does not provide medical services. This page summarises other teams' research; it does not describe the effect of the WZMOCNIA Room and does not replace consulting a specialist. In the WZMOCNIA model, REST is led only by accredited specialists with professional qualifications.

A stay in the WZMOCNIA Room is not crisis support. In an immediate threat to life or health, call 112.

REST research — what it means for WZMOCNIA | WZMOCNIA