Sun gazing
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I have this thing. I could lie on the grass all day with a completely blank mind, simply gazing at the sun. Nothing feels more comforting than these moments, spent soaking in the energy of the sun. Sure, during the day you better close your eyes to avoid UV rays bothering your eyes (and use organic sun protection), but at sunrise and sunset it is worth opening your eyes to enjoy the full benefits of the suns healing powers and even to improve your eyesight.
In yoga we practice Surya Namaskar, a prayer of gratitude towards the sun, one of the most powerful sources of health and life in our galaxy. But not only yogis bow in awe before the sun, many ancient cultures worshipped the sun as well. In ancient Egypt, for example, the sun was worshipped as Ra.
The man who brought Sun gazing to the West was Hira Ratan Manek from India. (Check out his solar healing institute https://solarhealing.com/). For years he studied the ancient practice of sun gazing and took part in three scientific investigations where he lived on sun energy and water only for up to 411 days. Those studies found that sun gazing helped to regenerate the grey cells in HRM’s brain and activated neurons. Even his pineal gland started to grow. Some other effects of sun gazing: it seems to reduce hunger and depression and increases the level of vitamin A and D.
Scientist assume that the photoreceptor cells in our retina and pineal gland enable us to receive energy and vitamins. The 7 coloured rays of sun seem to have a cure for several illnesses like Alzheimer or cancer. But what is affected most is our pineal gland as well as the pituitary gland, which control our sleep-wake-cycle and are responsible for the production of Serotonin and Melatonin. Sun gazing decalcifies the pineal gland and allows it to grow. It thus increases the production of Melatonin and Serotonin.(Melatonin being the substance that is converted into DMT, allowing us to enjoy some astral travelling from time to time ;)).
According to HRM we all have super powers. We all are gifted. Yet, those powers are programmed in a part of the brain that we never use. Spoiler: We only use about 5-7% of our brain, Albert Einstein used about 32% of his). The supreme goal of sun gazing is to activate these parts of the brain. The sun activates the brain? How?
“Being a holistic entity it needs a holistic power supply”, HRM says about the brain. A holistic power supply? What’s that? Yes: Sun energy!
Why do we have to stare at the sun? Isn’t that harmful for the eyes? Well. Yes and no - depending on the time of day. So, why not simply sun bathe? What’s the problem with that?
The problem is: Sun energy can enter the human brain only through one organ: the eyes – the doorway to the brain, the windows of the soul, as HRM writes. (And we are only starting to understand the human eye!) One thing is for sure, its 5 billion parts are not just for vision.
HRM goes on saying, that the rainbow we can see at the horizon is not in the sky. Instead, these 7 colours of the sun are a reflection of what is in our eyes. It is a reflection of the part in our eyes that can receive the entire spectrum of the sunlight. Pretty epic, isn’t it?
“Very little mind is in the body but the whole body is in the mind”, says HRM. His conclusion: we need to energise mind, body and spirit to be healthy. How to? Yes, you got it: Through sun gazing.
Sun Gazing Process
Sun gazing can be practiced all year long and all over the world. You can support your practice by drinking water charged by the sun and standing barefoot on natural ground. In ancient medicine traditions the big toe represents the pineal gland. They say: By walking barefoot you stimulate this gland and activate psychic powers while the sun stimulates your crown chakra.
Sun gazing helps to increase the number of healthy neurons in our brain and improves our eye sight if we practice safe sun gazing in the one hour of sunrise or the hour of sunset. (So, if sunrise is at 6am you’d want to practice between 6am and 7am, if sunset is at 10pm you’d want to practice between 9pm and 10pm). At these times sun gazing brings nothing but healthy benefits for body, mind and spirit. Especially, as HRM suggest, if we do it with a positive attitude and an open heart and mind.
Apart from only looking at the rising or setting sun during safe and UV free hours (the 1-hour window after sunrise and the 1-hour window before sunset) it is wise to start slow. Start with 10 seconds and go from there. Just practice continuously. The longer you can look into the sun, the more colours of the sun reach your brain what helps to regulate the flow of color prana to the organs. Specific organs seem to depend on specific sun color prana for their health.
Already 30 minutes of sunlight – as naked as possible – are a great support to cleanse your system and to reduce the effects of electro smog and radiation. It helps to compensate the negative effects of the artificial blue light which interferes with the production of melatonin.
HRM recommends these books:
-"Light, Medicine of the Future", by Jacob Lieberman
- "The Healing Sun: Sunlight and Health in the 21st Century", by Richard Hobday.
This is a tale of the tribes of America which I found on HRM’s website:
"A long time ago there lived a selfish chief who kept the sun and moon and stars for himself. The world had no light at all. At that time, there lived a raven who wanted to get the light and give it to the world. The raven changed himself into a leaf and was swallowed by the chief's daughter, who became pregnant and soon had a baby. The baby was none other than the raven. The baby could see many bundles hung about in the chief's house and started to cry for them. The chief was an indulgent grandfather and gave the child the first bundle. This was a bag of stars and the raven threw them up the chimney. They quickly arranged themselves in the sky. The child cried again and this time his grandfather gave him a bundle, which contained the moon. Again the child threw it to the sky. Some time later, the child started to cry again. This time the grandfather gave him the sun and the child quickly changed into a raven and flew out of the window. This was how light came to this world."
