Sun Gazing for Health: An Ancient Therapy - Ted's Q&A

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Ted's Feedback on Sun Gazing

Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 03/10/2006 391 posts

Sun Gazing is an ancient method of healing that originated in India about 2600 years ago with the teaching of Lord Mahavir of Jain. Most people who do sun gazing have gone to extremes such as gazing like 10 minutes or 30 minutes. What it does, basically, is that it activates the pineal gland, the glands responsible for the body's circadian rhythm.

How it works I do not know, but for some reason at certain times, the eyes needs lights necessary to re synchronize with the body systems. What I do know is the pituitary was once considered a "master gland" until they later found out that it was actually controlled by the pineal gland.

The pineal gland secretes melatonin, which is a powerful antioxidant, controls blood sugar, sleeping, controls pituitary gland for example.

Seasonal Affective Disorders can be normalized by staring into a tungsten light bulb (good low wattage ones like 5 watts or 10 watts) for a couple of minutes to cure depression, etc, especially in countries where there is a light deficiency.

In fact, whenever you expose this light during the morning or make sure your bedroom lights are full spectrum, it will give you more energy for the entire day. That means the body functions better and the pineal gland can integrate various functions of the body to work in harmony with other glands as a result of greater activation by the lights. This is why the body gives you more energy.

Whenever you are exposed to light, the body needs to reset its timing mechanism everyday, and at least for me the best times to set the the biological clock so that you will be at least energized throughout the day is to at least get the sunlight into the bedroom in early morning hours.

It is necessary even if the room does not have access to bright lights to at least install a good bright tungsten light bulb or at least buy several light fluorescent from a local aquarium shops to have full spectrum lights turned on especially during the morning hours before going to work.

The practice of holistic medicine is to recognize that light, sound, energy, vibration are all related mathematically and this can be use to treat a wide variety of conditions.

Without going through too much math, it was Dr. Alfred Partheil that first recognized the relationship between lights and sound. He noted that the molecular weights of different elements of periodic tables at least from spectrum analysis were related to sound, by octaves. This concept can be further extended using the principle of octaves to sound, light, vibration and electromagnetic frequencies.

Assuming that I recorded your voice and break down the frequencies of your voice, the peak will show excess, the lack of it will show deficiencies. Therefore, these frequencies whether they be light, sound, or electromagnetic frequencies are related and allow the body to be complete.

Therefore, complete light spectrum frequencies, such as sunlight are best, but not necessarily does it have to be the sun. Most outside light, coming from the reflected clouds usually will have complete spectrum of frequencies. If you can program a sound generator sweeps from 0 Hz to 5000 Hz, the body can also be able to absorbed full spectrum of sound too, allowing equilibrium.

Basically the practice of sun gazing involves standing barefoot and looking indirectly into the sun for several minutes. However, I have modified the practice so that I will get the least problems (and complaints) with people who do it. Whenever people overdo something and encounter problems, they will generally quit doing everything altogether.

This is hardly the solution. The solution lies by starting something quite simply without resorting to extremes. For one thing, I have some correspondence with one person who uses sun gazing, but I prefer to call it light gazing, so people won't have to stare at the sun, which is generally not safe anyway.

The best way to start is to use more lights or make the room much brighter than usual especially during morning hours so that the body can reset its biological clocks. Just notice how less depressed you are and how much more energy you have for the rest of the day.

Another point that you can try later is to expose yourself to more lights than usual during the times in late afternoon where you are most depressed. Depending on where you live, that will be very different times, but if I lived in Chicago during the winter seasons, I would definitely need a very powerful lights full spectrum around between 3.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m. In warmer climates such as Houston, the ideal time at least for me when I feel most depressed is between 6.00 - 7.00 p.m. is the time I need the lights. Winter hours, I may need more sun gazing or light gazing where two times are preferable such as the morning and the late afternoon before the sun sets. These two times will uplift the body.

There is also a strange observation, that if I don't do this, and stayed in the house all day, I might have trouble sleeping. And it is strange that I sometimes have to sleep with the lights open if the turning off the lights is not working. This means that the body needs certain lights to reset its clock. If you won't do it during the day, then I guess it has to be done while you sleep! If you are aware that the lights involve the resetting of the body's clock necessary for normal function, you can use this to the best advantage for you.

While it is claimed that you can go without food, (but not water) for more than a year using sun gazing, it is best done under medical supervision.

The best ways to do it is not to go on hunger strike. A more moderate means, by observing whether you eat less or whether your weight has declined to normal levels. These don't need any effort and it happens automatically.

So that is the moderate way we can do it. The key to sun gazing effectively is basically keep it simple and stupid, or do the obvious with plenty of moderation making sure you don't make mistakes. If you master the basics and everything is on your side, further developing this techniques is quite simple. The key is to stick to the fundamentals first and master that and make sure your health is improving, this I would call success.

SUN GAZING METHOD
The time you do sun gazing is to look into white clouds and you need not look at the sun. The idea is for your eyes to receive full light spectrum, for a couple of minutes, such as 1-2 minutes. You need not stare too long, but you can do enough that you feel well enough then stop. Then if you feel you need some more exposure due to depression, tiredness, or burnout, look at it again. The key is not to strain but to relax. If you feel a strain in looking into the white light such as the sky or clouds, then you should really stop. Once the body is removed of its strain and the feeling that your body is being filled up with energy then that is the key to successful sun gazing. The idea is to do it at different times of the day, especially in morning and late afternoon. What exact times really depends on how much sun you are getting at each particular time.

For example, winter in Chicago and sun is lacking you may need a full spectrum light bulb or full spectrum lights that you might get from a aquarium shops. It must be noted that when you are exposed to this relatively brief period that you are not strained and you feel you need it. If natural sunlight is not possible than staring at a rather weak tungsten light bulb will also help as it has a rather continuous light spectrum compared to neon lights.

Sometimes when the body lack or deficient in lights, I have noticed that I cannot sleep without lights. I had to leave the lights on to sleep! In other words, after working in a home for days, the body just needs it. The body sometimes need to sleep with full lights, and in some instances it must sleep in total darkness. The key is the body must be relaxed, not strained. If it is strained from night lights, or if it is strained from lack of lights, you need to be aware of this fact without forcing yourself in such a situation. The brain needs lights to reset itself or to integrate various hormones by energizing the pineal gland where the eyes act as receptors. Without lights or lack of lights or body by instinct tend to signal your body into hibernation, so getting sleepy working in an office with lack of lights is hardly conducive to health since the issue of strain is there. Whenever constant source of strain exists, the body goes into adrenal exhaustion or accumulates way too much stress to cause the body into a breakdown condition, which means of course, sickness.

Ted

Replied by George
Sydney, Australia
05/18/2012

It is my feeling that your information regarding sungazing is slightly misleading. You give no mention of starting at 10 seconds per day and increasing by 10 seconds within the safe sungazing periods of first and last hour of sunrise and sunset (ie no UV ). I refer you to HRM's protocol. He is the leading authority (so to speak) on sungazing. He has researched sungazing for around three decades and as a result has formed the practise of safe sungazing. Anything outside the guidelines of what he has suggested (being a perspective- as he himself has reached the 44 minute mark) is not only leaving oneself open to potential harm but would be irresponsible to pass such information onto people who may be collecting data on the practice of safe sungazing.

My intention here is not to offend or put down you or anyone who has posted information on the site, rather it is to protect the interests of all of us when referring to sungazing.

If you feel what I am saying here about the practice of safe sungazing and passing on information to others about the practice of safe sungazing is in any way incorrect, then please feel free to provide me with the information you have regarding the practice and why you feel this information supports the safe practice of sungazing and I am happy to review what I currently consider as safe practice.

Sincerely, George

Replied by Sucheta
New York, US
09/21/2014

Yes I agree with George as well.

HRM Protocol for Sun Gazing is the standard for Sun Gazing.

According to HRM -
Sun Gazing is done in safe UV hours: within one hour after sunrise and within one hour prior to sunset with increments of 10 seconds per day.
This accounts for (300 seconds / month) 5 Minutes per month.
One can safely Sun Gaze in this manner with great results for up to 9 months or 44 minutes. After that it must be discontinued.