It is not surprising that many ancient cultures considered our Sun as the Bringer of Life. The therapeutic use of Sunlight was given the name Heliotherapy derived from the Greek “Helios” , the Sun God.
The Sun brings life to all things here on planet earth. Light, warmth, rays and frequencies of energy we are just tinkering around the edge of this understanding with relatively primitive means to understand something that resonates far beyond the realms of normal human Consciousness. Non the less ..
In days gone by we just knew the Sun was helpful in healing. The earlier Nature Cure movements popular in the 17th century through to the early 20th century understood this well and used light as an important part of the Nature Cure Process.
These therapeutic retreats were usually in the mountains in Europe in green spaces away from cities and towns. People would go there for rest, recuperation, regeneration and recovery. The residents were taken out of the stressful circumstances in their daily lives and the diet was simple. Fresh air and walks in nature were prescribed, often along with various forms of Cold water therapy in the forms of baths, showers or sitting in streams or under waterfalls including frequent periods of time spent outside in the sun.
Vincent Preisnitz was one of the early pioneers of this type of nature cure work in Austria in the early to mid 1800’s . He became work famous and had people from all over the world come to his Sanatoriums to experience remarkable cures.
It was common practice in hospitals to wheel patients in their beds or chairs, outside onto terraces or into the gardens to get regular doses of sunshine whilst at the same time breathing in fresh air and being closer to Nature. Anyone who worked in the healing professions, who spent time observing and listening to their patients and trusted what they saw and felt, just knew it was a good idea. It helped patients convalesce, regain their health and recover sooner.
Florence Nightingale advocated the use of Sunlight and putting patients’ beds as close to windows with sunlight streaming through as often as possible
Recent studies have shown that hospital patients in beds closer to windows and with views to the outside world, to sunlight and nature, recover faster that patients who are inside the same buildings but with no access to windows or the outside world. These patients have reduced stress levels, improved moods, they require less analgesic medications and have shorter stays in hospital than those with no access to sunlight through windows and views of the outside world.
Simple daily Practices.
Sunlight plays a very important part in normalising our circadian rhythm. After extended periods of stress we may go into long episodes of adrenal exhaustion or disruption to the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. The bodies threat detection systems go into overdrive, flight or fight activity gets heightened , a wide range of hormone levels become disrupted, the threat detection mechanisms trigger fatigue responses , affecting our thinking and mood. The quality, the depth and the amount of sleep becomes negatively affected and fatigue states often set in for extended periods of time.
Balancing our circadian rhythm plays an important part in these deeper repair processes and the simple and free act of going out side for early morning and end of day sunlight can play an important part in the healing of these imbalances.
Early morning sunlight stimulates Cortisol to rise. It helps boost our energy for the days activity in alignment with natural rhythms. It can help people with Chronic fatigue and those suffering Adrenal exhaustion.
Sunlight at the end of the day as the sun is going down signals to the body to reduce cortisol and increase Melatonin for improved sleep quality during the night. As the sun is setting less ultraviolet light frequencies are coming through due to the changing angle of the sun to the earth and the body responds accordingly with changes in hormone levels which support more restful sleep during the night.
This is why Screen time at night reduces sleep quality and recovery after a days activity. The Blue light frequencies cause Cortisol to continue to be stimulated late into the night and switches off melatonin production which is necessary for restful sleep and for the brain to effectively clean itself during the night.
There are many other benefits for sunlight exposure including Vitamin D production, necessary for bone health, immune and hormone functions. Extra Sunlight has been shown to improve outcomes for a range of cancers partly due to increased Vitamin D production.
Balancing our circadian cycles helps normalise Ghrellin production, our satiety hormone so that we don’t feel so hungry late into the evening reducing the need for late night snacks.
So how can we do this?
It’s simple
Go outside into the sunlight for 15 – 30 minutes early in the morning, it is best done in the first hour after sunrise but even sunlight exposure just after you wake up can be beneficial.
Spend some time outside Breathing , stretching , eating breakfast . Even better spend some time outside in bare feet, add some grounding benefits at the same time and on grass is better again. Feel your connection to the planet and through all of the kingdoms. We are not separate from them and our body functions more effectively when we let ourselves feel what is naturally already occurring without having to force anything.
Breath in the fresh air , feel the sunlight on your skin and indirectly through the eyes. (ie. not looking directly at the sun)
Then again in the Evening as the Sun is getting low in the sky around dusk. These changes in light frequencies from the changes of the angle of the sun signal the winding down of activity for the hormone system and other systems in the body . You may not feel significant changes in just one day. Its more a gradual lifestyle thing that will bring about these beneficial changes in our health. Done regularly over time with other healthy habits, like enough sleep and hydration, will help the body return to a state of homoeostasis supporting balance and repair to internal systems and bring about cycles more in balance with Nature, supporting health.
