In childhood, I dreamed of expanding my brain use beyond the requisite ten percent capacity limit. While the ten-percent-cap theory was ultimately debunked, my fascination with igniting the dormant possibilities remained intact.

In adulthood, I awoke to a sobering reality of stress and insomnia. My frequent state of mental and physical depletion often impaired my cognitive function and verbal communication skills. Seeking clarity and refreshment, I revisited the dream of my youth via a pit stop to my mother's 70's album collection: In the words of esteemed civil rights activist and renowned funk musician Curtis Mayfield, "Why don't you check out your mind?"

The Kasina by MindPlace is a portable media system designed to optimize the user's mental state by integrating binaural and isochronic tones of varying frequencies with music and patterns of color and light.

DESCRIPTION - The Kasina package features a main unit that is similar in size to a classic iPod or a compact external hard drive, along with a choice of "Standard" Ganz frames (goggles suitable for closed-eye sessions) or "Deep Vision" Ganz frames (goggles suitable for either open or closed-eye sessions). Basic earbuds are also included, along with session-building software that enables you to create and store sessions of your own design. Many users share their creations on MindPlace's website forum.

FEATURES - The sessions are arranged by customizable visual, aural, and frequency output and organized into categorized folders that support the experience sought out by the user: Accelerate, Meditate, Mind Art, Night Voyage, Rejuvenate, and Trance.

USER EXPERIENCE - Lights out. Power up. Showtime. I was immediately transfixed by the array of colors, patterns, binaural beats, isochronic tones, and music. Within minutes my mind was relaxed enough to accept a state of relative prescience: was the breeze I felt coming from my bedroom ceiling fan, or was it the rustling of strings within a hyperspace dimension? It was nearly impossible to distinguish until the session was over. By then, I was in a deeply lucid state and far too relaxed to care.

FOLLOW UP - I’ve been using the Kasina for nearly five years. The sessions induce consistent bursts of quality twilight sleep - reminiscent of turbo-charged cat naps, but with better visuals. If you’re seeking a novel way to refresh, reset and enhance your perspective, this could be an excellent fit. Curtis Mayfield would wholeheartedly approve.