Sunlight phenomenon

[TylerDurden]

One thing I have noticed since going rawpalaeo and curing my chronic fatigue is that I am far more likely to wake up early , especially  during the summer months. It  depends also on whether the windows are shuttered or not. If my bed is facing the dawning sun, then, often, I'll get up and feel wide awake at around 5am or whenever it is that the sky starts lightening up very slightly after the pitch-blackness of night(ie well before dawn). Whereas, if I'm facing away from the sun, or in a shaded part of the room etc., I may wake up early, but often go back to sleep even if I don't feel the need at all. Also, my appetite does go down when I'm experiencing a lot of sunlight such as in summer or hot countries.makes me wonder if there's a tiny bit of truth to the whole sungazing phenomenon(though I still don't believe in most of its claims).

[JaX]

I think the body becomes much more in-tune with its needs and natural phenomena when you go raw paleo

The mainstream scientific reason behind the sunlight phenomenon is probably lowered metabolism (since during summer, the metabolism slows down due increased heat). But I think there's a lot more to it, such as increased mineral/vitamin absorption because of sunlight on the skin, which results in less need for food. I believe the sun affects all parts of the body in a lot more ways than just "sunlight on skin = vitamin D = increased calcium absorption". Wearing sunglasses too much is a bad idea since it cancels a lot of the positive effects of the sun and might actually be harmful.  It's all connected.

[magnetic]

One thing I have noticed since going rawpalaeo and curing my chronic fatigue is that I am far more likely to wake up early , especially  during the summer months. It  depends also on whether the windows are shuttered or not. If my bed is facing the dawning sun, then, often, I'll get up and feel wide awake at around 5am or whenever it is that the sky starts lightening up very slightly after the pitch-blackness of night(ie well before dawn). Whereas, if I'm facing away from the sun, or in a shaded part of the room etc., I may wake up early, but often go back to sleep even if I don't feel the need at all. Also, my appetite does go down when I'm experiencing a lot of sunlight such as in summer or hot countries.makes me wonder if there's a tiny bit of truth to the whole sungazing phenomenon(though I still don't believe in most of its claims).

I have been experiencing this. My body "wants" to be awake at dawn. I wake up feeling very refreshed and energetic, even after only 6 hours of sleep; I usually sleep longer. When I was eating a lot of fruit previously I also would wake up, but I would wake up earlier, around 3am, and I was manic--too much energy. I think the massive amounts of fat I am eating is really helping with my depression and chronic fatigue.

[raw-al]

One thing I have noticed since going rawpalaeo and curing my chronic fatigue is that I am far more likely to wake up early , especially  during the summer months. It  depends also on whether the windows are shuttered or not. If my bed is facing the dawning sun, then, often, I'll get up and feel wide awake at around 5am or whenever it is that the sky starts lightening up very slightly after the pitch-blackness of night(ie well before dawn). Whereas, if I'm facing away from the sun, or in a shaded part of the room etc., I may wake up early, but often go back to sleep even if I don't feel the need at all. Also, my appetite does go down when I'm experiencing a lot of sunlight such as in summer or hot countries.makes me wonder if there's a tiny bit of truth to the whole sungazing phenomenon(though I still don't believe in most of its claims).

I've noticed that my body seems to be more in tune with nature also, with no need to overeat and since I started sungazing (July 2009) and 5 months later started the primal diet Dec. 2008) it is hard to really tease out which is causal, but my appetite has reduced dramatically. Also my doshic imbalances (Pitta and Vata) have plummetted. Some foods I could not tolerate are now tolerable.

Some of the apparent claims re sungazing are beside the point to my GF and I as we are content to enjoy improved vision and reduced hunger..

[magnetic]

Some of the apparent claims re sungazing are beside the point to my GF and I as we are content to enjoy improved vision and reduced hunger..

I tried sun-gazing yesterday for the first time. I don't know if there is any technique to it but I basically looked just to the side of the sun, it was too intense for me to stare directly at it. I did it for 30 seconds. It was refreshing. I was a little blinded afterwards but my vision returned to normal shortly after. I plan on doing eat regularly now. Maybe it will become less intense over time or I will be able to look longer. What is your experience?

[eveheart]

I joined http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/sungazingtheHRMmethod/. They have a good information manual that has been helpful.

[cherimoya_kid]

I used to do a tremendous amount of sungazing.  It definitely improves energy and mood.  However, I overdid it, and now get nauseous if I do too much sungazing any more.

It's extremely healing for nasal problems, allergies in general, and kidney problems.

In 2005, I sungazed so much that I stopped having any boogers in my nose.  Literally, for 3 or 4 months, I didn't have to clean my nose out at all. I was working in an office where people smoked all day, and everyone else constantly had to clean their noses out. 

However, eating some dried longans caused my booger situation to go back to the usual that most people have.

The lesson?  Don't eat dried fruit, particularly the store-bought kind.

[raw-al]

I tried sun-gazing yesterday for the first time. I don't know if there is any technique to it but I basically looked just to the side of the sun, it was too intense for me to stare directly at it. I did it for 30 seconds. It was refreshing. I was a little blinded afterwards but my vision returned to normal shortly after. I plan on doing eat regularly now. Maybe it will become less intense over time or I will be able to look longer. What is your experience?

I recommend using HRM's method as it reduces the likelihood of discomfort and issues.

during first and last hour of daylight,
start with 10 seconds then
increase 10 seconds per day till you reach 45 minutes,
then back off one minute per day till you get to 15 minutes.
Stay at 15 minutes for one year,
then do it when you get the chance for 15 minutes

After you gaze, cover your eyes with your palms for 20 or 30 seconds, leaving your eyes open and or cover them till the image of the sun disappears. This will alleviate any after image issues.

Stand in bare feet on sand if posible or dirt, basically anything but grass. If you are unable then don't worry it will still work. You can look through glass, but it is not as powerful.

If the sunlight is not available at the prescribed hour, you can look at it in the reflection in (fresh not salt) water at anytime of the day.

Basically if it hurts then the UV is too strong, so don't gaze.

[Wolf]

one thing I have noticed about the sun, is that when I was younger and eating a SAD diet, I could look directly at the sun and it wouldn't hurt my eyes.  Now though, I don't know if it is because I have been staying indoors for too long, as I have gotten pretty pale and am not as tan nor do I tan as easily as I used to, or if it is because I have been eating raw, but now the sun hurts my eyes a lot more than it used to.  I have noticed also that my eyes have gotten lighter since eating raw, and I don't know if that has anything to do with it.  I've heard tell that lighter eyes have a harder time looking at the sun for some reason.. though my eyes are still brown and not THAT light.  But I do notice that once the sun reaches below a certain level, and is closer to the horizon, I can stare directly at it for as long as I want and it doesn't hurt my eyes at all.  I don't know if that might be because it dips below the layer of smog that we always have, and filters the light enough to make it less painful to my eyes, though.

But I have been trying to sungaze a little whenever I can as a way to naturally improve my eyesight, because I have some pretty bad eyesight, and I don't want to have to wear glasses or contacts.  I was also hoping that sungazng might help me in fasting for Ramadan, but I don't feel like I have much less of an appetite than I would if I didn't sungaze.  I don't sungaze very properly though, the only time I have access to be able to stand on pure dirt with my bare feet is when the sun is quite high in the sky and difficult to stare at, and the only time I usually get to stare at the sun when it is low enough to be painless is when I'm driving in my car and there's no dirt and I'm wearing shoes anyways.  Although then at least I usually roll down my window and take off my glasses so that there is no glass between me and the sunlight. 

I don't really believe that it's possible to survive on sunlight either though, it might perhaps help with reducing appetite, but I don't see how it would be possible to eliminate food entirely just from staring at the sun.  Like I heard one person ask, why then do the starving kids in Africa, with access to so much sunlight, still starve to death?

I usually keep my shutters closed, but I did leave them open once and the sunlight ended up directly on my face and it did wake me up.  But that might only be because when I felt the sun on my face I realized I had left my window open and that I needed to get up and close it so as to not let in all the heat, because it gets way too hot for me if I leave my windows open during the day,

[raw-al]

Wolf,

You are right about the sun being less bright when lower on the horizon. This is because the sunlight has to pass through more atmosphere at that angle and the atmosphere is a natural light filter. In the winter the sun is normally at a lower angle and that is why it is cooler. Since it is at a lower angle in the winter, the window of opportunity for gazing is increased. In other words, in the winter, the one hour window can be extended, because it is the sun's angle that is the important part.

Also at higher latitudes the window will be wider in the winter.

[Wolf]

Wolf,

You are right about the sun being less bright when lower on the horizon. This is because the sunlight has to pass through more atmosphere at that angle and the atmosphere is a natural light filter. In the winter the sun is normally at a lower angle and that is why it is cooler. Since it is at a lower angle in the winter, the window of opportunity for gazing is increased. In other words, in the winter, the one hour window can be extended, because it is the sun's angle that is the important part.

Also at higher latitudes the window will be wider in the winter.

I know it becomes less intense because of the atmosphere itself, but there is such a dramatic shift once it reaches below a certain point.. and we have such a thick layer of smog around here most of the time, I think the smog might have something to do with it.
The sun goes from being brightly sharp stabbing pains in my eyes to a soft pulsating warm glow once it goes below a certain point.  I'm not used to having these sharp stabbing pains in my eyes when looking at the sun, because all my life before I was able to look directly at the sun without pain.  I don't know what changed.

[raw-al]

Interesting. There are things at play that I am unaware of. Thanks.