BLUE AND GREEN LIGHTS DISTURB YOUR SLEEP
Have you noticed how poorly you sleep if there is any light in your bedroom? Perhaps a night-light is on, the TV is playing in your bedroom, or your computer is lit. Any of these lights may be powerful enough to throw your entire body’s clock off
For years we have been adding and blocking blue light because it sets the bodies sleep clock. Researchers recently have discovered cells in the eye (not concerned with vision) that contain melanopsin, a pigment that absorbs light in the blue wavelengths. Your body clock is very sensitive to this wavelength.
You spend much more time in front of your computer and/or under indoor lighting conditions where the light is fluorescent (green) or incandescent (orange). Recently scientists found that visual rods and cones also detect green light, and this also regulates the body’s clock setting system.
The quantity and quality of light plays a significant role in your mood and work performance. At night, as you begin to secrete nocturnal melatonin (a hormone that regulates your sleep and wake cycle).
Melatonin is produced by your pineal gland and it has a day/night function, and shifts your biological rhythms. It peaks during darkness and lowers during the day. Melatonin has been shown to block lights for short periods of time, whether blue or green, and regulates your body’s circadian system. For longer periods of time, blue light has a greater effect when you are exposed for long periods of time.
BLUE AND GREEN LIGHT IN HEALING
GREEN affects the heart chakra. It has a calming effect and balances the autonomic nervous system. It is a good color for cardiac conditions, high blood pressure and ulcers. Since green stimulates growth, it should be avoided in cancers and other tumors. Spiritually it is the color of love and connects us to perfect love.
BLUE is the color for the throat chakra. It is a good color in respiratory illness or throat infections. Blue is cooling to our system and hence is a good color to counteract hypertension. Spiritually it is the color of health and connects us to holistic well being.
VISIBLE LIGHT
Visible light has seven colors, and each color has its own specific frequency that corresponds to one of the body's 7 main energy centers, called charkas.
The set of frequencies related to musical notes is an example how colors works. If you place two properly tuned guitars in the same room and pluck the A string on one guitar, the A string on the second guitar will also ring. This is because the sound frequency of the A note traveled across the room causing the resonant frequency of the A string on the second guitar to sound. (Chakras and color healing).
The body's organs also have their own resonant frequencies related to the charkas. Hence, you can "tune " your body for optimal wellness through color therapy by exposing your Chakras to the specific color you need. This is exactly what acupuncture does by resonating with the organ’s vibrations.
CONCLUSIONS
Knowing this, researchers wonder if the full spectrum of light affects your body clock. If you protect yourself from blue light, you may still have green lights resetting your clock. Perhaps we need to have smarter lighting systems that can stimulate our non-visual systems as well as our visual systems.
At night, avoid bright lights and go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. Soon after waking, try to get as much bright lights as possible. To work and live at your best, you must keep your internal circadian rhythm in harmony and synchronized with the environmental cues (i.e., light and dark, temperature etc).
A bedroom in complete darkness will ensure a good night sleep. Ever wonder why you oversleep in a hotel room with its heave drapes? This therapy will cost you nothing, and comes without any side effects. Maybe it's time also to make a seven-to-eight-hour sleep night a serious goal in 2010.
Visit www.drneedles.com for more discussion of controversial medical subjects.
Sources
Journal science translational medicine, may 2010
American Academy of sleep medicine,May 2010, Kushida
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