How are you?
My friend in this podcast answered it with the title of the most famous western movies of all time — there is good, there is bad, and there is ugly1. He is right. It’s all too easy to treat a “how do you do” as merely a “hi”2 — it’s much harder to give an actual answer, considering how our own perceptions change in seconds.
I remembered that over a decade ago, another friend had taken to “biohacking” with the aim of getting better answers for himself by using certain technologies and techniques to gather measurable data to rely on — not just for a quick reply in public, but as a genuine long term life analysis tool.
Nowadays he isn’t alone, there are entire “longevity charts”3 with people competing (mostly amongst themselves) for the best “youth score”, measuring absolutely everything you can possibly think of, taking a ton of supplements and graciously sharing their “secrets” far and wide4.
Perhaps, instead of “biohacking” ourselves and popping all sorts of pills to match the data gathered from our efforts, we should first “hack our brains”, as without our brains, our bios could mean very little. We go to the gym, we stretch our muscles, we do Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong and many other valuable activities and practices, though when it comes to our brains, we kinda neglect them.
When was the last time you consciously treated and trained your brain as if it were a muscle, your thoughts as if they were movements or an emotion as if it were a stretch? Until we can say to our brain “Sleep” (and fall asleep within seconds), or, despite being sleepy, tell it to “Focus” instead (and with it be laser sharp the very next minute) — we have a long way to go.
From Hacking to Plasticity
Our abilities to create, focus, detach, relax, recover or rejuvenate and many other qualities that directly affect our personal as well as our professional lives, are incredibly dependent on the choiceful tapping of our brain’s different states at will5.
Whether it’s work productivity, family harmony, or an effort to provide a supportive environment for medications to function, if we get our brains in the right state of mind, we help ourselves to retain and regain the best possible health and life.
Or, as Garnet Dupuis6 (the integrative health specialist, entrepreneur and inventor of the NeuroVIZR, who was my guest on this Podcast) puts it:
“When you signal the brain, you message the mind.”
During the podcast Garnet shares enlightening thoughts about his journey, including:
how he got the idea of the NeuroVIZR in the first place;
what the best areas of applications are (that he has seen thus far);
how to use the NeuroVIZR for obtaining the maximum benefits (“stimulation” vs. “communication” vs. “revelation”); and;
scientific research which supports his approach, specifically around “Neuroplasticity”.
You’re now perfectly prepared to listen to the podcast. Or, if you already have, feel free to read on for more background on this exciting topic of Neuroplasticity.
For those keen to buy a NeuroVIZR device (shipped worldwide), you can do so directly on their website and you will get a 10% discount using the coupon “POLYMATHS”.
Should you live in Switzerland, you can follow this link instead and have free shipping, too. The coupon code remains the same.
Neuroplasticity (also known as “brain plasticity”) is a very interesting field of research, examining the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization.
Examples of neuroplasticity include circuit and network changes that result from learning a new ability, environmental influences, practice, and psychological stress. It was once thought by neuroscientists to manifest only during childhood, but research in the latter half of the 20th century showed that many aspects of the brain can be altered (or are “plastic”) even through adulthood.7
The potential of applying neuroplasticity to a wide range of disorders is immense. From ADHD, chronic pains and tinnitus, all the way to treating actual brain damage, a surprising consequence is that brain activity associated with a given function can be transferred to a different location, and with it, invoke healing.
Practical uses aren’t limited to dealing with diseases, or using tools such as the NeuroVIZR as a brain gym alone. Modern and seemingly superhuman aspirations can become quite real when we finally start to consciously build our brains.
Human echolocation for instance is a learned ability to sense our environment from echoes. It’s used by some blind people to navigate and sense their surroundings in detail by adapting parts of the brain associated with visual processing for the new skill of echolocation8 and can be learned by anyone within a matter of weeks9.
What capabilities would we unlock with flexibility in our minds and plasticity in our brains?
Viewing Without Seeing
Many years ago I read the amazing book “And There Was Light” — the autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran who had lost his sight in an accident when he was eight years old and went on to become a blind hero in the French Resistance during the Second World War. In a fascinating scene, he tells of interviewing prospective underground recruits, “seeing” them by means of their voices, and in this way weeding out early the weak and the traitorous. The book clearly conveys the message:
“Light is in us even if we have no eyes.”
And most of what this light can do, or how it works, science hasn’t figured out at all.
The following is an excerpt of a LinkedIn Post10 I came across a few weeks back. It resonated with me as I had just made an experience with the NeuroVIZR that questioned my perception of sight:
Blind from birth. No eyes. No optic nerves. No visual cortex. And yet they saw.
Neurologically this would be considered impossible as there was:
No photonic input;
No visual memory;
No retina, no optic nerves, and,
No developed visual cortex.
However, in a landmark peer-reviewed study by Dr. Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper11, and in many subsequent reports, congenitally blind individuals described vivid, spatially accurate visual experiences during near-death states.
Indeed our eyes don’t need to be open to trigger a vivid visual activity in our brain.
Now what if…
…using flickering light to activate visual regions in our brains in ways that create spatial patterns, would it allow us to view the perception of vision differently?
Several years ago I visited the beautiful Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta12 during sunrise — an incredible sight to behold and a truly eye-opening experience for me.
Joining a group of people who were doing “Surya Kriya”13 (note: this is different from what you get when you search the internet!), I realised that there is more to us humans than what meets the eyes — which actually are an extension of the brain14 and possible pathways to obtain the keys for uncovering our inner mysteries.
The Neuroscience of Flickering Light
There are shared principles between modern technology (e.g. using 40 Hz light frequencies when dealing with Dementia and Alzheimers15 or applying tools such as the NeuroVIZR to better train and communicate with your brain) and the ancient techniques relying on natural light sources alone.
All these historical and modern methods have some common neurological foundations of flicker-based induced light patterns through closed eyes, for example:
Brainwave Entrainment: Whilst there may be different overall effects coming from the nature of the respective light source used in conjunction to what types of electromagnetic waves ultimately reach their “destination”, all these practices induce so-called photic driving, where rhythmic visual stimuli (whether from natural fire, sunlight or torches) entrain brainwaves, particularly into alpha (8-12 Hz) or theta (4-8 Hz) frequencies.
Geometric Imagery: Visual patterns (e.g. spirals, tunnels, lattices or checkerboards), known as Klüver form constants, are commonly reported in traditional practices and linked to the same types of phosphenes generated by closed-eye flicker stimulation from devices like the NeuroVIZR.
Retinal Stimulation: Even through closed eyelids, the retina's cone cells are stimulated by flickering light, thereby triggering electrical signals that travel to the visual cortex. In the absence of complex external images, the brain processes this rhythmic temporal input as spatial forms.
Destabilisation of Default Brain Dynamics: Whether through the rhythmic input of flickering light, the sensory withdrawal of deep meditation, or even the effects of psychoactive substances which are sometimes used in rituals — the brain's "default wiring" is temporarily loosened. This "destabilization" allows the brain's intrinsic architecture to become visible as structured visual experiences.
In essence, these ancient practices and modern neurotechnologies both tap into the brain's inherent capacity to interpret rhythmic light as meaningful internal visual experiences, revealing a "First Language" of perception that is felt as rhythm, seen as pattern, and known as meaning.16
Whether cave, temple, monastery, or lab — the pattern remains unchanged. When the flicker calls, the cortex answers: Light begins to move, and we move with it.
Perhaps that’s why creation is filled with marvels of reflections — the sun’s rays bouncing off a calm lake, the ocean’s waves rolling in, a river’s flow downstream or the forest’s ceiling blowing in the wind.
It seems to me that Nature’s got her own switch when she wants to tune our brains.
“My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.”— Nikola Tesla (perhaps)17
Rejuvenation Olympics: Dunedin Pace — Longevity Leaders
Bryan Johnson: The Blueprint Protocol.
Modern Times Opportunities: Meditate — Health, Science and Being.
LinkedIn: Profile of Garnet Dupuis.
Case Electronics: Origin, Research and Discovery of Neuroplasticity.
The Scientific American: Anyone Can Learn Echolocation in Just 10 Weeks — And It Remodels Your Brain.
Unesco World Heritage Center: Borobudur Temple Compounds.
Surya Kriya (Sun Action / Sun Process): This ancient Tantra and Hatha Yoga practice involves sun gazing, where practitioners hold open palms with splayed fingers and rapidly move them back and forth in front of closed or half-open eyes while facing the rising or setting sun. This action causes the sunlight to "flicker" across the retina, creating a pulsing visual input akin to a natural strobe light.
Modern Times Opportunities: Brain Fog? Try this!
Garnet Dupuis: Light as Language — Toward a Unified Field of Visionary Semiotics.
Wikiquote: Nikola Tesla Disputed. Whether Nikola Tesla’s comment is ultimately from him or not, it certainly rings true for those who have experienced real revelations after starting to communicate with their brains.
Share this post