Kasina Review by Paul Martin at Change That Mind

I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity to undertake a review of the Kasina, with  Mindplace supplying me with  a refurbished machine free to explore..

Priced at  $349  U.S., the Kasina system consists of  a pair of “Ganzframe” (ganzfeld effect frames)  glasses and an MP3 device with  headphones . Wikipedia notes that ‘A flickering ganzfeld causes geometrical patterns and colors to appear, and this is the working principle for mind machines …The ganzfeld effect can also elicit hallucinatory percepts in many people, in addition to an altered state of consciousness’. Thomas Budzynski (1991)  notes that  ‘Mind machines can induce deep states of relaxation concentration, and in some cases altered states of consciousness, which have been compared to those obtained from meditation and shamanic exploration.’  The glasses have six colored LEDs per eye (3 blue, 2 green and 1 red LED per eye),  which are activated by  coding in  the mp3 music installed on  the micro-SD memory card that  comes with the system. The mp3 player has  a pre-installed  rechargeable battery which can be charged via a mini-usb cable ( included) or directly from mains power.

Mindplace claim  the Kasina is the most capable AudioStrobe decoder on the market due to its 16 different color mapping presets. AudioStrobe is a method of encoding light control signals to the Ganzframes within an audio file.

There are 46 sound and light sessions pre-installed on the micro-SD card in six categories: ‘Accelerate’, Meditate, ‘MindArt’, Night Voyage’, Rejuvenate’, and ‘Trance’.  The patterns from  the Ganzfield’  glasses are seen  with the eyes closed. Some are amazing and elaborate sound and light performances, while others have simple binaural  or isochronic sound pulsing and associated light effects. Most sessions are around 30 minutes long.

I found particularly that  the ‘cheer-up’  session did in fact cheer me up  in  a very  relaxed and cheerful  kind of way, and others just  spaced me out!

Many of the visual  patterns created by  the LED glasses can result in  your mind creating its own exciting visual  experiences from the patterns created.

Mindplace also include software on the micro-SD card you can  download to your PC to  create your own  sight and light sessions.

I am  finding the Kasina a great  little machine. Easily portable( although I do worry  about the fragility of the glasses) and great  for lying on the sofa of an  evening, just  relaxing completely with eyes closed immersed into the various sound and light sessions.

Being able to completely shut out the world;  both  visually and audibly, in itself  can be a relaxing place to be,  and the Kasina  makes that  experience  an  exciting journey!

 For the price of  about 60  cups of coffee you can have some long term  relaxation,  fun,  altered consciousness and  exhilaration!