The roXiva Experience

I flew to Austin, Texas to try it.

That's the short version. The longer one is that I had been hearing about the roXiva and found myself booking a flight before I fully understood what I was actually signing up for. I had no real concept of what it was. A light therapy lamp, technically. Which, it turns out, tells you almost nothing.

What happened in that first session is hard to put into words even now. The colors. The geometric shapes. The feeling of being transported to a completely different state in what felt like an instant. I can still recall it clearly, which is not something I can say about most experiences.

I also got to watch a couple of friends try it for the first time. That part was its own kind of thing. Seeing someone encounter something they have no reference point for, and watching their face when they open their eyes after. I was sold before I left Austin.

So what actually happened in there?

The roXiva RX1 is a light therapy lamp. That's the most accurate one-sentence description, and it's also the least useful one, because it tells you almost nothing about what actually happens when you sit under it.

Here's the more honest version: it uses precisely designed flickering light at specific frequencies, synchronized with music, to guide your brain into different states. The science behind it is called Audio-Visual Entrainment. It works because of something your brain already does naturally. When you're exposed to rhythmic stimulation at a particular frequency, your brain tends to follow it. This is called the frequency following response, and it's been studied since the 1930s.

In plain English: the light does the heavy lifting. You just show up.

That matters more than it might seem. Most of the tools we have for shifting our mental state require something from us. Meditation asks for discipline and a practice that takes years to feel reliable. Exercise asks for energy you may not have. Breathwork asks for focus. The roXiva asks for almost nothing. You close your eyes, put on headphones, and let the light and sound do the guiding.

What you experience depends entirely on the session. Some are deeply calming: the kind of rest that feels like you slept for two hours in twenty minutes. Some are creative, thoughts arriving from unexpected angles, solutions surfacing for problems you brought in but forgot you were holding. Some go further into visual and altered state territory that is genuinely difficult to put into words. I say that as someone with a nursing degree and a board certification. These states are real, they're measurable, and they happen without a single substance entering your body.

That last part is worth sitting with for a moment.

What the Research Shows

If you're someone who wants to understand the mechanism before you commit, here's the short version of what the science actually says. I've linked the full studies at the bottom for anyone who wants to go deeper.

The neural reset: Researchers at IST Austria found that flickering light at exactly 60Hz causes the brain's immune cells to break down rigid protein structures called perineuronal nets. These nets form around neurons and lock in existing patterns, which is part of what makes the adult brain resistant to change. Previous research had shown these nets could be dismantled by ketamine. The IST Austria team found that 60Hz light alone produced the same effect. When those nets soften, the brain becomes genuinely more open to new input. Old patterns, whether they're emotional responses, habits, or calcified beliefs, can be rewritten rather than just worked around. This is what so many clients describe after a Gamma session: not just relaxed, but actually different. (Venturino et al., Cell Reports, 2021)

Brain protection and cognitive recovery: MIT researcher Li-Huei Tsai and her team found that one hour daily of 40Hz light and sound significantly reduced the cognitive damage associated with chemotherapy. Mice receiving gamma therapy showed less brain inflammation, better preservation of the protective sheaths around neurons, and substantially improved memory and executive function compared to controls. The benefits persisted for months after treatment ended. Human clinical trials in Alzheimer's patients are already underway based on this research. (Tsai et al., Science Translational Medicine, 2024)

The sleeping brain: Boston University researchers discovered that during deep, slow-wave sleep, cerebrospinal fluid pulses through the brain in rhythmic waves, clearing out metabolic waste, including the toxic proteins associated with cognitive decline. The electrical slow waves of sleep appear to drive each wash cycle. More slow waves means more clearing. Fewer slow waves, as seen in aging and in certain neurological conditions, means less clearance and more buildup over time. (Fultz et al., Science, 2019; Jiang-Xie et al., Nature, 2024)

This is why the sleep and longevity work I do with roXiva isn't just about helping someone feel rested. It's about restoring the conditions under which the brain heals itself at a foundational level.

Why This Moment Matters

We're in a cultural moment where psychedelic-adjacent experiences are getting a lot of attention, and for good reason. The research on what certain altered states can do for mood, for trauma, for creativity, for the feeling of being stuck, is compelling. What most of those conversations leave out is that your brain is already capable of generating these states. It just needs the right conditions and the right invitation.

The roXiva creates those conditions.

I offer sessions across a wide range of intentions. Deep rest and restoration for people who are running on empty. Sleep work for people who have stopped trusting their own ability to wind down. Flow and creativity protocols for people who need their thinking to move differently. And fuller exploration for the curious, the open-minded, and the people who sense there are states of consciousness available to them they haven't been able to reach on their own.

Every session at Mindful Works Wellness includes time before and after for conversation, intake, and integration. The lamp is the centerpiece. The hour is the whole thing.

If you are curious, the best thing I can offer you is an experience. One session will show you more than I can explain in a blog post. And if you want to understand what a longer commitment looks like: what it means to work with this technology across six, eight, or twelve sessions with a real arc and a specific intention, I'll be sharing more about that soon.

If you'd like to book or just have questions, reach out directly at info@katiegallenstein.com and we'll find a time that works.

Katie Gallenstein, BSN, RN, HNB-BC is a holistic nurse and founder of Mindful Works Wellness in Columbus, Ohio. She offers roXiva light and sound journeys, sound healing, Soma+IQ Breathwork, and vibroacoustic sound bed sessions across multiple venues and in private homes/locations in Columbus and beyond.

Research References

Venturino A et al. Microglia enable mature perineuronal nets disassembly upon anesthetic ketamine exposure or 60-Hz light entrainment in the healthy brain. Cell Reports, 2021. IST Austria.

Tsai LH et al. Noninvasive gamma entrainment treatment reduces chemo-brain symptoms. Science Translational Medicine, 2024. MIT.

Fultz NE et al. Coupled electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cerebrospinal fluid oscillations in human sleep. Science, 2019. Boston University.

Jiang-Xie LF et al. Neuronal activity drives glymphatic clearance during sleep. Nature, 2024. Washington University School of Medicine.

Hou ST et al. 40 Hz Light Flicker Alters Human Brain EEG Microstates and Complexity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2021.

Carter L. Psychedelic Light Therapy. roXiva.com, 2023.

Tarrant J. NeuroMeditation Institute. Research on audio-visual brainwave entrainment and consciousness.

Disclaimer: roXiva is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. This content is for educational and inspirational purposes only. Please consult your healthcare provider before beginning any new wellness practice.