The Ajna Light™ System activates DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) in the brain. DMT is similar in structure to serotonin – a chemical linked to happiness and a sense of wellbeing – and one which occurs naturally in the human brain. Usually, this is only naturally released at birth and death, or by people practised at yoga, meditation or deep field relaxation.

The system is developed by Guy Harriman, the son of two British doctors, a psychiatrist and a pathologist, Harriman grew up around frank discussions about the workings of the brain and was routinely taken to his parents’ laboratories. He eventually entered medical school himself but his training left him disillusioned, and despite doing well he eventually dropped out –instead opting to study computing and information technology.

After completing a degree in electronics at the University of Manchester, Harriman moved stateside to enter the then-burgeoning tech world of Silicon Valley. He spent his early years working with the one and only Steve Jobs at NeXT Computer (the company Jobs founded after initially being forced out of Apple), and recalls, with a laugh, feeling like they were the only two vegans in the valley. He remembers being inspired by Jobs’s approach to life – to follow his heart and listen to his gut, even in the highly logical world of business and tech.

After many years, Harriman retired from the world of IT, and felt an inexplicable yet irresistible pull to Thailand, where he acquired some land and started LannaYoga, allowing him an unprecedented opportunity to focus full-time on the healing arts.

The initial inspiration for the Light system came when Harriman was introduced to a similar, less developed machine. This light system was beautiful, with expensive furnishings and flashy looks, but lacked the latest technology. Intrigued, Harriman decided to combine his own medical, wellness and technological expertise to create a new machine, one that used cutting edge equipment. As he puts it, “I saw that I could create a machine that was ten times better, and for a tenth of the price.”

Light therapy is influenced by the work of both Czech anatomist Jan Purkyne and psychiatrist and medical hypnosis pioneer Milton Hyland Erickson, who both focused their research on the mysterious states which lie between consciousness and sleep.

Light can induce a trance, “verified by measuring the brainwaves of those under treatment,” by manipulating the cerebellum with specific frequencies, which is then heightened by adding relaxing music or drumming.