What 40 days in darkness taught a DJ about consciousness and presence

Serial entrepreneur Pavel Stuchlik shares transformative insights from isolation at Biohacker Summit in Helsinki

Pavel Stuchlik stood before a packed audience at the Biohacker Summit in Helsinki last Tuesday, not to discuss the latest technological innovations or supplements, but something more fundamental – the wisdom gained from spending 40 days in complete darkness.

"Is it love or is it fear that you're going to choose?" Stuchlik asked the attendees at the three-day event held from July 1-3. This simple but profound question underpinned his presentation "What Darkness Can Teach You About Light," which guided participants through a journey of self-discovery and presence.

The unhacker

Stuchlik, an internationally recognized DJ/producer and serial entrepreneur, has built a reputation that spans music, business, and wellness. But it was his extreme experience of isolation in Thailand that formed the foundation of his talk.

"Unhacking is the new biohacking," he declared, challenging the tech-focused approach that often dominates conversations about personal optimization. According to Stuchlik, before adding more tools and technologies to our lives, we need to strip away accumulated distractions and reconnect with fundamental aspects of being human.

"When we unhack everything that we've ever known about every biohack out there and we connect back to this infinite source of knowledge, then we biohack," he explained. "We ask what is required from my body today?"

Breath, body, stillness

The heart of Stuchlik's approach is what he calls "instant presence" – a three-part practice focusing on breath, body awareness, and stillness. He led the audience through this experience, starting with slow, deliberate breathing.

"Breath is what you're born with. Breath is what you die with. It directs every situation of your life," Stuchlik told attendees as they practiced six-second inhales and exhales.

He then guided them to develop full-body awareness, followed by attention to "the stillness and silence underneath the sound." This practice, he suggested, can be performed anywhere – even in the busiest environments – to reconnect with oneself.

The me, we, be framework

Drawing from his darkness experiences, Stuchlik presented a holistic framework for personal development he calls "Me, We, and Be."

"Me" represents individual consciousness – examining one's mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. "We" explores collective consciousness through relationships and environment. "Be" addresses what he terms "supra consciousness" – our connection to something larger than ourselves.

"This life is so much more simple than we make it," Stuchlik reflected, explaining how his years of searching and suffering eventually led to this streamlined approach to well-being.

A cycle of transformation

Perhaps most practically, Stuchlik outlined a process for personal transformation: wake up (develop awareness), clean up (remove what doesn't serve you), power up (introduce positive practices), and rest/integrate (allow for assimilation).

He emphasized the importance of regular self-assessment, recommending a structured approach to reflection: daily (the first hour without phones), weekly (a full day of digital fasting and nature immersion), monthly (four days of deeper evaluation), and yearly (extended retreats like his darkness practice).

"We create these cycles that avoid burnout," he explained. "You get clear where you want to go, who you want to be. Then you're living in your power."

From suffering to service

Throughout his presentation, Stuchlik wove in his personal journey from suffering to service. "My whole life I spent learning through the gutter, through the pain, through suffering, through anxieties, depression, suicidal thoughts, and I was done," he revealed.

This transformation led to what he now calls the #noamovement, dedicated to fostering unity, love, and joy – or what he terms "the triple H effect: happiness, health, and harmony."

The audience responded enthusiastically to Stuchlik's vulnerability and practical wisdom, particularly during a group breathing exercise where attendees joined hands and breathed together, creating what he described as a "river of love" flowing through the conference space.

Beyond biohacking

As the Biohacker Summit continues to evolve from its technological roots toward more holistic approaches to human optimization, presentations like Stuchlik's represent an important counterbalance to purely data-driven methodologies.

His message – that presence, connection, and self-awareness might be the most powerful biohacks of all – resonated in a world increasingly dominated by digital distraction and fragmentation.

"Love is all there is. Love is possible," Stuchlik concluded. "This is what guides us now."

Frequently asked questions

What did Pavel Stuchlik do in darkness?

He spent 40 days in complete darkness, an experience in Thailand that formed the foundation of his Helsinki talk. The DJ, producer and serial entrepreneur used it to argue that unhacking is the new biohacking: before adding more, take something away.

What is instant presence?

A three-part practice focusing on breath, body awareness and stillness. Stuchlik led the audience through it with slow, deliberate six-second inhales and exhales, telling them that breath is what you are born with and what you die with, and that it directs every situation of your life.

What is the Me, We, Be framework?

Stuchlik's model for personal development. Me represents individual consciousness across mental, physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions; We explores collective consciousness through relationships and environment; and Be addresses what he calls supra consciousness, the connection to something larger.

About the event

This recap is part of the Biohacker Summit 2024 Helsinki series, recorded in Helsinki on 2 and 3 July 2024. Read the summary of the whole event or join the next edition, HOLOLIFE Summit 2026 Amsterdam, on 14 and 15 November 2026.