Eye Care: Importance of Natural Light and Color

Most books on the anatomy of the eye mention that 25 percent of the visual fibres which leave the retina bypass the pathways to the visual area of the brain. It has been proposed that these fibres, carrying the electrical equivalent of white sunlight, go to a part of the brain known as the hypothalamus. This ‘master regulator’ makes adjustments to the nervous system of the body, balancing the functions of organs such as the pituitary and adrenal glands.

Also, a pea-sized organ known as the pineal gland, thought to be our primitive eye, or ‘third eye,’ is apparently ‘charged’ by the full-spectrum white light traversing the hypothalamus. This charge, may also have some influence on the balance in the nervous system, which is thought to affect our mood states and the accuracy of our perceptions.

It appears that natural, full-spectrum white sunlight keeps the bodily functions working at a minimal physiological level. In the absence of full-spectrum light, the autonomic nervous system has to make an internal adjustment. This adjustment can manifest as fatigue, a desire to eat ‘culprit foods,’ irritability, and mood shifts. To maintain the optimum balance in the nervous system, it is necessary for you to spend 20 to 30 minutes per day out of doors without eye devices that block natural sunlight, such as sunglasses, prescription eyeglasses, or contacts.

If the weather is pleasant, practice the vision games outside. In order to avoid unnecessary eyestrain and damage to the fovea, remember not to look directly at the sun and not to allow harsh sunlight to reflect off reading material. When you expose your eyes to natural sunlight, do so before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. to avoid the hottest periods of sunlight and to prevent unnecessary exposure to ultraviolet rays.

COLOUR

Within the full spectrum of white light are all the colours of the rainbow—violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Syntonics, a branch of optometry, has been demonstrating for the past eighty years how the combination of these colours can heal various eye conditions. Other reports suggest that imaging and breathing imagined colours can have beneficial healing effects on tissues and structures of the eye. The key to this, and to all healing, is repetitive application of the technique.

Yellow, orange and red are warming and stimulating colours. The flow of blood to the eye is activated by visualizing these colours striking the retina. Green is a harmonizing and balancing colour, which is why you feel so good going for a walk in a forest or being near lush green vegetation. Blue, violet, and magenta are relaxing colours. These colours stimulate the relaxing parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, which de-stresses your nervous system, and you feel and see better. Remember that the iris muscle, which controls the size of the pupil, and the ciliary/focusing muscle are influenced by this nervous system. Relaxing colours recalibrate the nervous system so that your muscles don’t become as strained and fatigued.

Spend time outdoors looking at the colours in nature. Walk through a garden. Pick vegetables of different colours and imagine the colours and nutrients increasing the well-being of your eye structures while you eat them. Using colour is one way to develop a life-style that supports the unfolding of your clear vision

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