By Lauren Keating

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Strolling through the bustling streets of New York City, our senses are inundated with a vibrant mix of sounds, sights, and scents. This constant sensory overload can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm. To restore balance and foster inner calm, medical and holistic wellness centers employ innovative sensory treatments, harnessing light and sound frequencies to promote healing, emotional equilibrium, and a profound sense of harmony.
  "It's therapeutic to have good sensory input," world-renowned Cognitive Neuroscientist Dr. Philip DeFina said. "It helps to manage your emotional state, to maintain your cognitive state, and improve your awareness of the environment." 

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How Sensory Beds Rewire the Brain for Healing and Harmony 

  In an era when holistic, non-invasive therapies are increasingly being embraced by the medical community, light and sound therapy is emerging as a powerful tool to promote brain health.   
  "Different frequencies of light and sound stimulate brain wave activity that helps regulate emotions and enhance and improve cognitive abilities," said Dr. DeFina, Chief Neuroscience Officer/ Clinical and Research Director at the International Institute for Brain Enhancement (IIBE) and Hyperbaric Services of the Palm Beaches, located at Delray Medical Center; and at the Advanced Brain Centers of Virginia and the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy of Northern Virginia, which is situated at Reston Hospital Center. "Light and sound therapies stimulate and increase the production of very specific neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin that are involved in helping to regulate your mood." 

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Dr. DeFina, a prominent neuroscientist with decades of experience, is at the forefront of this cutting-edge approach. At his practice, he integrates advanced sensory beds into treatment plans for patients facing everything from cognitive decline to traumatic brain injuries. 
“These machines can be used throughout the age spectrum, from babies to adults,” said Dr. DeFina. “They’re incredibly versatile and engineered to work with the body’s natural systems to repair and restore neurological function.” 
  At the International Institute of Brain Enhancement, Dr.DeFina provides various sensory treatments, including the VEMI bed. This sensory treatment is designed to combine vibrational, electromagnetic, and infrared therapies to promote relaxation and wellness. 
  When a patient undergoes therapy using a sensory bed, the experience is far more than just passive relaxation. “They lay in a futuristic, ergonomically designed chair,” said Dr. DeFina. 
  “They wear dark glasses for light therapy and headphones for auditory stimulation. At the same time, they’re immersed in a pulsating electromagnetic field.” 
This multimodal approach—known as Bio Stacking—involves several forms of stimulation simultaneously. It uses red and infrared light therapy to stimulate cellular repair, acoustic vibrations to support synchronization of brain activity, and Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF). “This rejuvenates the brain’s electrical and magnetic systems, enhances circulation, reduces inflammation and pain, and improves mitochondrial function," Dr. DeFina said. 

     “The result,” DeFina notes, “is a feeling like having done 100 meditation sessions in one sitting. You leave calm yet energized. It's one of the few therapies that simultaneously relaxes and recharges.” 

 

The Sensory Bed Experience: 
Not Just a Spa Service—A Healing Portal 
 
Sensory beds are also used as spa treatments for holistic healing at establishments like Modrn Wellness in Philadelphia. 
  At first glance, the bed is mesmerizing. With rainbow-hued crystals suspended above a massage table, Modrn Wellness' Sensory 7 Crystal Bed is something out of a sci-fi spa dream, providing an out-of-body experience. But underneath that beauty is powerful intention—and technology. 
  The Sensory 7 bed combines seven healing modalities into a rapid balancing and block-releasing treatment. This includes binaural sound therapy to organize brain waves, vibration therapy, crystals to realign the chakras, a frequency generator that promotes cellular rejuvenation, and chromatherapy for balance, magnetic therapy for energy absorption, and a biomat and infrared light to reduce pain, detox, and increase cellular metabolism. 
  The sound, light, and frequencies help to get even the most racing minds into a meditative state. 
  "The bed does the work for you," founder and hypnotherapist Alexandra Janelli said. "Because of the binaural beats that are playing, those are scientifically proven to change the brain wave lengths in your mind to bring you from beta state to alpha." 
  Set to the soothing sounds of light rain with thunder that rumbled through the body, it doesn't take long to enter other planes of consciousness. 
  "Your mind is being brought into all these different places, and the cumulative effect of it all is bringing you into that meditative state to create change," Janelli said. 
   Being so deeply relaxed, the soul is at peace, and the brain is reprogrammed positively. 
   This bed leaves a person buzzing with energy, a paradox of calmness and while feeling energized. While floating off mentally, the vibrations and energy that build up result in physical awareness in the body, including the feeling of chakras clearing and opening, anxiety and tightness in the chest melting away, and hands electrified with this powerful energy. 
  It's a transformative experience for those with an open mind. But there is science behind its supposed benefits. 
  According to Janelli, setting an intention before a session amplifies its power.  "Come in with curiosity," she said. "Let go of what’s weighing you down and invite in something new. You can’t just let go of something and leave a hole. You have to fill that space with something positive—like replacing heartbreak with openness or fear with peace." 
  And maybe, just maybe, let a stunning bed of rainbow crystals do the rest. 

 

The Science Behind the Therapy 
 
Light and sound therapy, often administered through sensory beds, works by engaging the brain’s electromagnetic systems through a process known as entrainment. According to 
Dr. DeFina, “When the brain's exposed to repetitive or consistent sound and light signals at specific frequencies, it tends to synchronize the activity in the brain with that particular signal.” 
   The most impactful of these frequencies, 
Dr. DeFina explains, is the gamma wave frequency — particularly at 40 Hz. “Gamma waves are the fastest brainwaves. They form the electromagnetic field of the brain and play a critical role in communication between the cortex and the thalamus, known as corticothalamic communication. This is vital for cognitive function and emotional regulation.” 
   This 40 Hz gamma stimulation has shown promise in addressing age-related cognitive decline, such as  Alzheimer’s disease. He has even seen success when applying the treatment along with others among coma patients, proving that even while they are in a vegetative state, the brain is still functioning. “We’re seeing real results,” says DeFina. “Light and sound therapy can influence the brain’s electrical circuits in a meaningful way.” 
   When used in specific combinations, 
Dr. DeFina said that light and sound therapies can result in better attention, improved attention, concentration, cognitive abilities, memory, and help reduce stress. 
   The most interesting feature of Modrn Wellness’ Sensory 7 bed is the frequency generator, a box that uses Solfeggio frequencies that are being pushed through the crystals. "When frequency goes through the crystals, it refracts differently and turns into what's called scalar energy," Janelli said. 

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Associated with Nikola Tesla and the idea of zero-point energy alternative medicine enthusiasts believe in its potential to heal. However, the claim that scalar energy can regenerate cells and eliminate disease have not been scientifically proven. 
  Those who use sensory bed treatment report better sleep, reduced anxiety, and a deep sense of self. 
  In short, the health benefit is harmony. "When you can harmonize disease, you can heal it," Janelli said. "It is putting frequency into your body, and your body will accept what it needs. It's kind of like a vitamin, and it begins to balance out your system." 
 
Neurofeedback and Brain Mapping 
For more precise interventions, Dr. DeFina uses QEEG brain mapping to tailor treatments. “With QEEG, we assess the power, speed, and connectivity of brainwaves—delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. This gives us a detailed electrical map of the brain, which helps us create a customized neurofeedback protocol.” 
Neurofeedback, he explains, is a form of entrainment where the brain learns to self-correct over time through consistent, feedback-based stimulation. “It’s like biofeedback for the brain,” he says. “And the gains are durable. If someone does 20, 40, or even 100 sessions, the improvements in cognitive and emotional functioning are typically maintained.” 
  After mapping the brain, Dr. DeFina can see where the sensory issues are with visual, auditory, and replicate what is not gained from nature and fine-tune different kinds of modalities that will enhance cognitive and emotional functions, with light and sound therapy along with electrical stimulation. 

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By harnessing light, sound, and electromagnetic stimulation, patients can find harmony not only in their brainwaves but in their daily lives. 
  As Dr. DeFina summarized, “This therapy helps revive, repair, and restore the brain. When done consistently, the effects aren’t just temporary—they’re transformative.” 
   To learn more about light and sound therapies please visit https://usbrainenhancement.com/

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Chromotherapy, also known as color therapy, is a holistic healing practice that uses the light and color spectrum to influence well-being. 

Each color is believed to offer specific therapeutic benefits: 
• Red – Stimulates relaxation by increasing melatonin. 
It influences mood and mitochondrial function. 
• Orange – Boosts creativity, joy, and enthusiasm. 
May aid in digestion and emotional release. 
• Yellow – Enhances clarity and mental focus. 
Linked to the digestive system and mood elevation. 
• Green – Balances and harmonizes. Known for its calming effects on the heart and emotions, promoting healing and peace. 
• Blue – Suppresses melatonin to soothe and promote relaxation. Often used for stress, anxiety, sleep issues, and cognitive function. 
• Violet – Use to spark creativity and inspiration. 

Modrn Wellness’ Sensory 7 Crystal Bed will be coming for pop-ups all through New York and Philadelphia soon.