I’m here in Los Angeles contemplating Fall and Winter. The sun will still shine here for lots of both seasons, but it’s not the same sun. There’s less potency. There’s less nourishing UVB rays that produce Vitamin D. And there’s less hours of this sun.
That’s a lot to contemplate for someone who lives in a sunny situation. I prepare in advance now, because in the past I would let a low-level maliase set in, I’d feel more tired and I’d get so much less done as the seasons shifted.
Those days are over!
No matter what climate you live in, you can harness much more of the power of light and sunshine year-round to keep your life full of high energy and your body humming along with greater glow and vitality!
“Sunlight induces coordinated endocrine adaptation effects. It affects sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, and is a major circadian and seasonal stimulus for the body clock … Our system, via the eyes and via the skin, detects the colors of the light in the environment in order to adapt the hormonal system to the specific needs of the time and place. – Alexander Wunsch
On a very basic level, the sun is vital, and most of us understand that practically. Without the sun, the planet would freeze over.
But, in a more profound way, our exposure to enough sun and sunlight is vital to wellbeing, to our body, mind and energy field.
Photosynthesis is vital. If you’ve taken a basic science class in grade school, you’ve likely heard of photosynthesis. It’s how plants use the sun to create their nutrients. Green plants use sunlight to create energy and food to sustain themselves, and store this energy in their leaves to flow this energy to other living organisms that feed off of them.
So, sunlight creates the food that feeds life at the lower levels of our food chain that sustains life itself in every way. That’s a pretty powerful foundation to start with.
We also need the sun for our sleep & great mood. Have you heard of SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder affects incredible numbers of people as light patterns change and sleep patterns typically don’t, leaving us with shorter times of light and low-to-high levels of depression. Light affects our sleep cycle, mood, creative spirit and more. When SAD sets in, exhaustion, sadness and unexplained mood swings can take hold.
On a basic level, you can counteract SAD with an early rising schedule, up with the sun.
You can also make a point of getting outside and surrounded by more natural light at home with windows open.
And, if you live somewhere in more darkness or storms than usual, get a light box. THIS one from Verilux has great reviews and I’m eager to try it!
Vitamin D is super-sun-important.
Straight from WebMD: “…benefit of vitamin D is its role in helping calcium build strong bones. But that’s far from the whole story. Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and the neuromuscular system. Vitamin D also plays major roles in the life cycle of human.”
Vitamin D is produced in your skin and is activated by your liver and kidneys. Your bones intestines – organs that metabolize, calcium, have vitamin D receptors. These receptors help fight against cancer.
HERE it is explained profoundly:
“One of the first pieces of scientific evidence was developed by Dr. Toshio Suda, back in 1979. What he showed was that if you took a leukemic cell that had a vitamin D receptor, and incubated it with the active form of vitamin D, that leukemic cell became normal. It transformed in to normal cell.”
In the 18th century, during the time of urbanization and industrialization, there were two disease named the “Diseases of Darkness.” Between the burning of coal and the smog and dirt it created, the narrow cluttered blocks of apartments…this all served to reduce sunlight and as a result children were getting rickets and tuberculosis.
It was found that when the children were placed in nature, receiving sunlight, it restored the health of their bones.
In 1903, Niels Ryberg Finsen won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work on light radiation and phototherapy. He found a method of curing Lupus Vulgaris (which is a skin condition from tuberculosis forming red patches on the skin) with light therapy, and small pox with red light therapy.
Professor Michael Holick, of Boston University School of Medicine and author of The UV Advantage says:
“We get about 90 to 95 per cent of our vitamin D from the sun.
It is essential for absorbing calcium, keeping our bones healthy, and for protecting against serious chronic diseases later in life such as osteoporosis, Type II diabetes, multiple sclerosis and many common cancers.”
His advice to boost your levels of vitamin D are to be in the sun, without sunscreen for 5 to 15 minutes, three times a week. This works best from late Spring to early Fall.
HERE is more of why the sun is vital for health:
So, what do you do in Fall & Winter to harness the sun’s power?
Keep full-spectrum lightbulbs in your home. They are a full rainbow of color to keep your mood high.
Try a Sperti lamp. This “Vitamin D Lamp” has been tested significantly and has been found to raise D Levels in just a few minutes of use a week. Rather than “tanning bed” exposure, the Sperti is a quick dose of the light that creates Vitamin D and it’s been found to be relatively safe and effective. I am actually ordering myself one this holiday season, because even in Los Angeles, the sun’s Vitamin D potency isn’t as high in Fall and Winter and we need Vitamin D. It’s an investment at over $400, but after many seasons of low Vitamin D, it’s an investment I’m willing to make!
Get up super-early and get outside! Simple. Get up early. If you can’t find a way to switch your sleep schedule, THIS incredible science can help.
Grow more plants in your windows to watch photosynthesis always in action, keeping the vibes higher in your house!
And… take vacations to the sun as much as you can!!! Hawaii & Bali: here I come!
While overexposure to anything is not a good thing, sun is a part of our life and light that we could all use a great dose of…and often!!!
xoxo Dana
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xoxo Dana
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