Light therapy is as old as the sun. Human beings thrived and grew due to exposure to the full light spectrum of the sun. Today we limit our time in the sun so we are not overexposed to ultraviolet rays and their damaging effects. But a daily 20 to 30 minutes of direct light and sun exposure will increase health and energy due to the benefits of visible white light and infrared rays. One literally receives thousands to millions of light energy units known as joules. As a therapy away from the sun modern technology has learned to harness visible red light and invisible near-infrared light to penetrate the skin’s surface and enact healing to both organs and skin, including the brain.
Light and Personal Energy Production
As the light hits your skin at an appropriate enough intensity several metabolic events take place in the cell’s batteries, ancient bacteria known as mitochondria, that stimulate the production of energy currency, known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate). The food you eat combines with the oxygen you have taken in to produce ATP and the stimulation from light adds to this process. This energy unit, which is essentially light, is behind every function in your body from keeping you healthy and rejuvenating to having energy for social engagement and all of life’s events. When this is compromised our system still functions but poorly, much like an economy in recession – we see systems functioning but well below par, knowing we never feel so good but can’t understand why. Eventually ill health is an outcome. This is worsened due to reduced time in the sun, an overload of sunscreen on the skin when in the sun, and for many most of the day is spent indoors under artificial light – primarily only blue light, which deprives our cells even further.
Light Therapy
Light therapy is essential for our modern lifestyle, one that limits our time outdoors and even warns against direct sun exposure. Your cells want and need good light from the full spectrum. As a result you can produce more energy. The process is self-reinforcing. Light therapy has been studied through intensive scientific research over the past 40 years, specifically under an area known as low level laser therapy, or nowadays referred to as photobiomodulation. It is understood that the targeted wavelength of the red light spectrum, 630 to 660 nm, can penetrate the skin 8-10 millimeters, working from the inside-out to enhance mitochondrial function and thus benefit the skin. It has been noted in research that 660nm wavelength is closest to the resonant frequency of cell tissue and can subsequently be absorbed better in the hemoglobin, the carrier of oxygen in red blood cells. Near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths that function at the 850 or 880nm level have been shown to penetrate far deeper beneath the skin to tissue and bone. Based on research at NASA, NIR emitted through color specific LED bulbs operate by activating color sensitive chemicals in body tissues. This in turn stimulates the cell’s mitochondria.
Red and NIR, Skin and Organs
The combination of red light, which offers healing to the skin, and NIR, as healing to deeper organs, means a light therapy that improves our energy and healing, upgrades our health, enhances how the brain works because its energy workload is freed up and it can achieve higher grade energy production.
Health Benefits
Research study programs reveal health benefits that include enhanced blood circulation, anti-inflammatory effects, increased muscle recovery, improved skin tone and glow, reduced wrinkles and scars, improved wound healing, pain reduction, lymphatic flow boost, increased cellular growth, and even enhanced fertility and increased testosterone. A reduction of inflammation on both the skin and inner organs improves health and aids the reduction of inflammation in the brain to improve brain function.
How to Apply It
Take any opportunity you have to spend time outside in good, natural light. This is especially beneficial at the start of the day. One of the best ways to handle jet lag is to get up at dawn on your first wake up day in your new time zone and be outside, under the light looking towards the sun, whether cloudy or clear skies. Also take any opportunity to walk to work, school or the stores, and sit outside for lunch.
SOURCE: Samahita Retreat
