A mind machine is a device you can use that helps you MEDITATE and reach relaxed states mentally.
They come in all shapes and sizes, and do different things. In fact, mind machines can not only help you meditate but also they can do other things like help you FOCUS and get mental energy.
There are lots of devices out there, and it can bee very confusing to know WHICH ones actually work, how they work, and why you should get them. This guide is going to help you understand all of that, and decide which mind machine you should buy.
But first, we need to just very quickly (don’t worry, we’ll get to the actual devices in a second) WHAT a mind machine is.
What are mind machines?
A mind machine is a device that you wear on your head, usually in the form of goggles, and headphones.
The device that you’re plugged into created or plays binaural beats and audio stimulation at the SAME TIME as making the goggles display flashing LED lights in a certain pattern.
By experiencing both of those things together at the same time, the mind machine is able to move your brain into a certain brainwave STATE.
This is very similar to how binaural beats work, and in fact lots of mind machines use binaural beats, but it’s just a little bit different, because mind devices use flashing LED lights as well.
By combining the two stimuli, you’re able to reach relaxed and meditative states much faster than if you’d just been listening to binaural beats. It’s a very profound experience and can leave you feeling very relaxed, happy and serene. Mind machines can also be called:
- Brain machines
- Meditation machines
- Light and sound machines
- Meditation devices
- Mind hacking machines
- Meditation aid machines
- And various other things as well
All of those names refer to a machine that you wear usually with both headphones and goggles, that can stimulate your senses in order to help you relax, focus, or put your brain into a certain state. They’re most commonly used to help people meditate.
The best mind machines of 2024 compared
Here are the TOP mind machines and light and sound devices you can find on the internet in 2023. These are in no particular order, but we’ll mention which mind machine we think is the best at the end.
1: The Kasina by Mindplace
The Kasina is the most affordable, effective and all round great mind machine we’ve found.
It comes with lots of preloaded audio tracks, and visual stimulation is excellent and it’s very easy to use. It sort of looks like one of the old school big ipods people used to have, but the Kasina isn’t as heavy.
2: The Proteus
The Proteus is a great mind machine, focused on getting to a wider audience.
It’s very cheap, almost always cheaper the the Kasina but it doesn’t have quite as many predownloaded tracks. You can’t edit the tracks as well, and there are some limitations with how it can decode audio and feed it through to the ganzframes.
That being said, excellent product just not as advanced as the Kasina. You’ll quickly grow out of it and WANT the Kasina.
3: The Laxman
The Laxman is another great mind machine, but this one is different in a few ways.
Firstly, it’s smaller and more compact than most mind machines, and it can be easily transported. Not saying that the others can’t be moved around easily, but this one is certainly small.
The other thing about the Laxman is that although it has lots of features, it’s not quite as versatile as the Kasina BUT it’s more expensive.
4: The Procyon
The Procyon is another great light and sound device from Mindplace, but this one can’t be used with Mac OS.
The great thing about the Kasina is that you can use the software to create custom tracks and you can use it on Mac. You can’t do that with the Procyon but that being said, it’s still a great entry level mind machine. Read our review of the Procyon first!
5: The Thoughtstream biofeedback system
Thoughtstream is a bit different. This doesn’t have any goggles, and doesn’t use visual stimulation, BUT it offers bio feedback.
You can attach electrodes to your head, and the device will detect what brainwave state you’re in, and ADJUST the binaural beats accordingly. This means you can move yourself very quickly into different states!
The best part is that it’s 1 5th of the price of the other mind machines like the Kasina!
How to use mind machines to meditate
So to actually meditate, it’s very simple.
There are guides included with most mind machines you can find in 2023, but that being said you might get one without a clear guide or something, so here’s how to meditate with a meditation machine.
Firstly, sit down, setup the machine and relax.
Make sure your muscles are all relaxed and you’ve not got any tension in your body, and then turn the machine on.
Choose the meditation track you’re going to use and put the headphones in, and put on the goggles. Play the track and relax again.
Put the machine down so you won’t drop it if you get too relaxed, and lay or sit back in your chair or bed.
this can be done at any time of the day or night, but we’ve found that the best time to meditate with a mind machine is either first thing in the morning or last thing at night, much like with regular meditation.
So lay or sit back, and just focus on experiencing the stimuli. Don’t try and change what you’re seeing or hearing, and don’t try and think.
The beautiful thing about mind machines is that they’re designed to pretty much FORCE you to meditate, it’s very difficult to get it wrong.
You just lay or sit back and watch the lights and listen to the binaural beats. The device will take care of the rest and make sure you meditate properly.
Are there dangers to using mind machines?
There are no real dangers to using mind machines, UNELSS you happen to have epilepsy.
Of course, because mind machines involve stimulating your eyes with LOTS of flashing colored LED lights, you should not use them if you have any history or family history of epilepsy or strokes induced by flashing lights.
The only other dangers are that you’ll enjoy using the device too much!
The other thing is that a study confirmed that on average, 3 out of every 10,000 uses of a mind machine resulted in an epileptic seizure.
Almost all of those cases were either in epileptic people, or undiagnosed epileptic people.
Make sure you know for sure whether you’re epileptic or not before using them.
What’s the best mind machine ever?
In our experience, the best mind machine we’ve found is the Kasina by Mindplace.
This is the most effective. It’s affordable, but it gives you a lot of high-end and complicated features that most other mind machines don’t, or at least don’t unless you pay a huge price for them.
The Kasina seems to be the best value for money, and you can also program it yourself and add custom tracks, making it very versatile!
Mind machines comparison chart (from Mindplace)
Here is a simple comparison of the top mind machines from Mindplace.com that you might find useful.
You can clearly compare models, and in our opinion, Mindplace is the best place for mind machines on the internet.
