DECEMBER 9, 2025 – With stress and burnout continuing to affect service members, the Washington National Guard (WANG) is testing a new strategy: training the brain like any other muscle. The WANG opened three MindGyms on Nov. 21, becoming the first Army National Guard in the nation to offer a virtual mental-fitness system that uses neurofeedback and sensory-reduction technology to help service members build resilience.
“We work out, lift weights, eat right, get enough sleep, and try to do all the things that ensure our bodies remain healthy to keep us in the fight. This system gives us the tools to bring that same readiness emphasis to the cognitive space, which is often neglected.” said LTC Kevin Robillard, supervisor at the Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “The MindGym provides a huge advantage for the individuals in this organization to drive mental fitness and improve calmness, alertness, and focus, while combatting the effects of our current operational environment. We are thrilled to add this tool to our arsenal.”
As a fully immersive training environment, the MindGym combines neuroscience and cutting-edge technology, transforming any place into a space where you can train your mind. Focused on neurofeedback, the Mindgym combines focused attention meditation, sensory deprivation, and binaural beats, providing feedback to the individual user. The feedback is captured and presented in real-time, allowing the user to become more attuned to the inner workings of their mind. Understanding how the brain responds to various stimuli and stressors through neurofeedback unlocks the ability to self-regulate brain function, potentially improving attention, mood, and cognitive performance.
“MindGym was created to help train the mind and provide the user feedback to learn more skills so they can respond in stressful situations,” said Brandon Murphy, chief revenue officer with Lumena Labs.
At the end of 2024, there were 16 MindGyms across the Department of War. That number has grown significantly in the last year, including a MindGym at the National Guard Bureau at Arlington Hall in Virginia.
One objective of the MindGym involves directing the user’s attention to a specific point, object or thought and focusing on breathing patterns or a specific mantra to cultivate mindfulness and concentration. Lumena’s website states that when practiced regularly, meditation is shown to improve symptoms of anxiety, depression, inattentiveness and other forms of cognitive dysfunction.
“So much of our day is spent staring at a screen, so our brains never get a chance to turn off and reset and focus on mental health,” said Murphy. “We developed MindGym to reduce distractions and disconnect, even if for 10 minutes.”
One of the ways the MindGym reduces distractions is through sensory deprivation, creating an environment with minimal or no sensory input. Sensory deprivation aims to provide a disconnect from the body so a user can focus on their mind.
“This would have been done in a tank of water, but since we can’t do that we use a cube with minimum distractions,” said Murphy.
Since audio is a major part of reducing distractions, MindGym integrates binaural beats in training modules to engage the subconscious and promote healing. Binaural beats can improve cognition, memory, and mood depending on the frequency of the generated beat.
At the AASF, the Washington Army National Guard aviation community has already seen a benefit from using the MindGym.
“The daily stress related to the constant demands of Army National Guard aviation can take a serious toll on our soldiers,” said Robillard. “The MindGym’s ability to help individuals recover from that stress and harness neuroplasticity through isolation, light, reflection, and sound is an asset we can’t wait to test the limits of.”
Story by Joseph Siemandel
Joint Force Headquarters – Washington National Guard