Sun gazing and bizzarre 'health' rituals

[Flutterguy]

Felt like making a thread where you could share any bizzarre 'healthy' activities you have tried or heard about. As for me, well I started 'sun gazing' at the recommendation of a vegan musician friend about 2 weeks ago.

It's the act of looking into the sun at dusk or dawn for a short time daily starting at 5-10 seconds and gradually increasing. Seeing as the sun powers all life on the planet I figured its plausible and gave it a shot. After about 14 days now I managed to do it a dozen times, and I have to say I do feel more charged and clear headed, especially for an hour or two after doing so.

However the more I look into it, the less I believable it becomes. The articles do a horrible job of citing sources, often choosing not to. The more I recall of photosynthesis the less sense it makes as well. Seeing as I habitually get migraines I figured I would not take the psilocybin I usually do quarter-annually as a preventative and continue sun gazing, if I do not get my annual christmas migraine I will claim my experiment a success.

So, ya not entirely sure on this one but I'll experiment on myself a while longer and find out.

 

[Clowndoe]

I won't lie, sounds like a load of quackery to me. I just can't think of any reason why it should. Light is transformed into a nervous signal by the optic nerve, and that's about it.

This is actually good timing for a thread like this: The other day I visited the old woman down the hall from me. When I found out she was using homeopathic sleeping pills I downed about 20 of them to make my point. I reimbursed the money she spent on that racket, and she hasn't bought any ever since.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

Yeah, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you to stop staring at the sun now. While it's a lot less dangerous at sunrise and sunset (because the shorter wavelengths like UV are being scattered more by the atmosphere), you're still not doing your eyes any favors.

I'm not sure what you mean about photosynthesis--could you tell us what the articles say? Humans do photosynthesize vitamin D, but that happens in the skin, so just getting out into sunlight will do it without looking directly at the sun.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, no, not going to help. The sun powers all life, but not in such a direct way for most of it.

Now, if you were a plant, you'd need sunlight, and if you eat plants, you are powered by something that is powered by sunlight, but otherwise...no.

 

[FalloutJack]

The sun gives you life by imparting its warmth to you, the warm-blooded mammal. Your eyes do not benefit from the sun, as light is for perception in those organs, not growth or nourishment. Please, if you're going to do something with the sun, get a nice sun tan one day and try not to burn. Humans are not solar-powered.

And, because some ideas need to be lampooned, take it away, Dara O'Briain!

 

[sanquin]

Seeing a sunset or sunrise might have a psychological effect on you. That being said, you run a serious risk of damaging your eyes if you stare directly at the sun every day. Don't do it. Just watching a sunset while not staring directly at the sun should have the exact same effect, if it's indeed psychological.

 

[Flutterguy]

Eh pretty much the responses I expected, and pretty much things I had been believing since starting. Either way it put a bit more regularity into my sleeping pattern not to mention I seen more sunrises in the past two weeks then i have my life (Bit of a stretch).

 

[kurokotetsu]

Felt like making a thread where you could share any bizzarre 'healthy' activities you have tried or heard about. As for me, well I started 'sun gazing' at the recommendation of a vegan musician friend about 2 weeks ago.

It's the act of looking into the sun at dusk or dawn for a short time daily starting at 5-10 seconds and gradually increasing. Seeing as the sun powers all life on the planet I figured its plausible and gave it a shot. After about 14 days now I managed to do it a dozen times, and I have to say I do feel more charged and clear headed, especially for an hour or two after doing so.

However the more I look into it, the less I believable it becomes. The articles do a horrible job of citing sources, often choosing not to. The more I recall of photosynthesis the less sense it makes as well. Seeing as I habitually get migraines I figured I would not take the psilocybin I usually do quarter-annually as a preventative and continue sun gazing, if I do not get my annual christmas migraine I will claim my experiment a success.

So, ya not entirely sure on this one but I'll experiment on myself a while longer and find out.

Good to know your healthy green clour is doing well. Because you know, the plant need clorophyl to absorb sunlight to have energy (and CO2, so ifyou are going all the way for standard photosynthesis, use a bag over your mouth). Really as said before, this is just quakery.

You are having better sleep pattern and probably a placebo effect, which may help, but you are risking your eyes, and for the synthesis of vitamin D you donj't need an specific time nor looking directly so there are no real benefits of this practice. Please, for your good stop now.

Also, even if you don't get the migrane it means nothing. It is not a reliable experiment, because in the first palce this Christmas migrane may be part of a confirmation bias (as you will tend to forget about the Christmas' that you dind't have one) and also it is neither statistichally signidficant nor repeatable. DOn't use that as a meter of continuing.

 

[McMullen]

Felt like making a thread where you could share any bizzarre 'healthy' activities you have tried or heard about. As for me, well I started 'sun gazing' at the recommendation of a vegan musician friend about 2 weeks ago.

It's the act of looking into the sun at dusk or dawn for a short time daily starting at 5-10 seconds and gradually increasing. Seeing as the sun powers all life on the planet I figured its plausible and gave it a shot. After about 14 days now I managed to do it a dozen times, and I have to say I do feel more charged and clear headed, especially for an hour or two after doing so.

However the more I look into it, the less I believable it becomes. The articles do a horrible job of citing sources, often choosing not to. The more I recall of photosynthesis the less sense it makes as well. Seeing as I habitually get migraines I figured I would not take the psilocybin I usually do quarter-annually as a preventative and continue sun gazing, if I do not get my annual christmas migraine I will claim my experiment a success.

So, ya not entirely sure on this one but I'll experiment on myself a while longer and find out.

I read about this a while ago:

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/dont-stare-directly-into-the-sun/

Yep, about all I have to add to that:

Plants get energy (but not their nutrients) from the sun through photosynthesis using the chloroplasts in their cells. You don't have chloroplasts in your eyes; you have rod and cone cells. These rod and cone cells are susceptible to damage by exposure to excessive levels of light, especially UV. One of the most commonly available means to acquire this damage is to look directly at the sun.

As a mammal, you get energy from carbohydrates, which often are the chemical stores of energy that plants have built up from photosynthesis. Even if you could get your energy from the sun, you still, like a plant, would be unable to get anything else except vitamin D. That's why plants need soil. Incidentally, if you're worried about vitamin D intake, you shouldn't be:

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/new-recommendations-for-calcium-and-vitamin-d-intake/

As for the topic, your post puts me in mind of Inedia or Breatharianism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inedia

This is the related belief that you can sustain yourself on sunlight and air alone. Some people have tried it and found that it works as long as you supplement it with food and water (hmmmm....). Some try to go hardcore with this lifestyle. Most of these eventually give up (and commonly blame "pollutants" in food for their inability to live without it), but some have persisted long enough to actually die of starvation.

What I'm genuinely curious about is: what was it about this idea that made it seem plausible to you? That's not meant to be smug or anything, I am really interested to know why people find these things persuasive.

 

[Amir Kondori]

Belief is a powerful thing and there are multiple good studies that show this effect. So while sun gazing itself may not have any inherent therapeutic effects your belief in it may give you some relief. Really if it works and has no negative side effects go ahead and continue it.

Now looking at the sun can have many negative side effects, so you should be careful and consult an ophthalmologist. Looking directly into the sun can lead to temporary blindness or even permanent vision damage. This is well documented and for this reason I would argue against the continued practice of sun gazing, as you may be damaging your eyes and it may lead to things like cataracts and solar retinopathy, which is damage to your retina caused by the radiation given off by the sun.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

As a mammal, you get energy from carbohydrates, which often are the chemical stores of energy that plants have built up from photosynthesis. Even if you could get your energy from the sun, you still, like a plant, would be unable to get anything else except vitamin D. That's why plants need soil. Incidentally, if you're worried about vitamin D intake, you shouldn't be:

Well you also get energy from fats, proteins, and alcohol. Your body stores more fat than glycogen and fat has more energy per gram than the other 3.

There are several different forms of Vitamin D, the one you get from sun is the best one as it has the most positive effect of them (requires the least amount of aswell).
But yeah your advice is sound.

 

[Do4600]

If you want to be objective, there is no possible way that will have any positive effect on your bodily health, how exactly is that supposed to help you? If I told you right now that standing on your head between 11:55 and 12:05 would benefit you because the sun at it's apex would pull you into a cosmic alignment why wouldn't you believe me? Because I told you I made it up? Or do you actually weigh what I'm saying against what you know is true and false?

Staring into the sun at any time other than night is actually going to do you long term harm, the first thing that happens is the surface of your eye gets sun burnt, it takes only a minute for that to happen, after that it damages the light sensitive tissue in the back of your eyes, this is permanent partial blindness, over the long term your eyes will form cataracts and cloud over and you will have to get lens implanted in your eyes to prevent total blindness.

Is that worth whatever you're feeling after you stare at the sun?

 

[Vale]

I heard that climbing to a mountaintop during the Hunter's Moon and howling with the wolves will turn you into a werewolf.
Didn't work though.

 

[Queen Michael]

Don't do it. It's a proven fact that it ruins your eyes.

 

[Candidus]

Euuugh.. "Well uuuh, like, it powers all life right? So if you look right at it..."

That's literally despair inducing.

Don't look into the sun, and don't humiliate yourself again in the future by taking health advice from imbeciles.

Good day.

 

[bobthebobthebob]

Before you follow the spiritual/pseudo medical advice of random people you should really at least do a quick check to make sure their advice won't kill or maim you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sungazing

I mean, come on, even a quick look at Wikipedia says the practice can blind you.

As someone who occasionally suffers migraines I would stick with the psilocybin. Research on that compound as treatment may be in its infancy, but at least there is a modicum of medical data to back up that it does something, rather than the a vegan telling you sun powers life and every ophthalmologist on the planet screaming in silent agony over the spread of more ignorance.

As far as fringe health rituals I've tried myself, I once tried a homeopathic headache remedy. Amazingly, candy and magic water does not cure headaches either.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

You need to stop staring at the sun. That's actually going to hurt your eyes in the long run, so you'll need to get your placebo effect fix somewhere else.

It's all a load of bull, honestly. If it makes you feel better, that's only because you think it's making you feel better. Now, sometimes that's better than nothing, but it's no substitute for actually helping your body. As for this sungazing thing specifically, the sun is only the origin of life insofar as it supplies the planet with light and heat. We don't photosynthesize; the only thing we get beyond those is vitamin D, which is made in the skin, not the eyes.

I don't follow alternative medicine. As far as I'm concerned, unless something has 100% proven health benefits based on tests done in medical laboratories or something, it doesn't work. Homeopathic stuff is bogus, too, though there are plants that contain chemicals with proven health benefits.

Sunsets and sunrises are nice, but you shouldn't stare directly into the sun. It's not good for you, and there are probably other ways that you can help yourself feel better.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Felt like making a thread where you could share any bizzarre 'healthy' activities you have tried or heard about. As for me, well I started 'sun gazing' at the recommendation of a vegan musician friend about 2 weeks ago.

It's the act of looking into the sun at dusk or dawn for a short time daily starting at 5-10 seconds and gradually increasing. Seeing as the sun powers all life on the planet I figured its plausible and gave it a shot. After about 14 days now I managed to do it a dozen times, and I have to say I do feel more charged and clear headed, especially for an hour or two after doing so.

However the more I look into it, the less I believable it becomes. The articles do a horrible job of citing sources, often choosing not to. The more I recall of photosynthesis the less sense it makes as well. Seeing as I habitually get migraines I figured I would not take the psilocybin I usually do quarter-annually as a preventative and continue sun gazing, if I do not get my annual christmas migraine I will claim my experiment a success.

So, ya not entirely sure on this one but I'll experiment on myself a while longer and find out.

I'd have to go with Reiki massage or any sort of "no touch massage", anything that claims to flush 'toxins' out of your body, and anything involving crystals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC0NonELLio
Go to 1:10 for a hilarious example of how, when you really believe something will make you feel better, it will.

 

[irok]

Don't think that any improvement you feel comes from this, its likely either a placebo effect or simply being in a good move, if it works on you , chances are its not actually working at all and proclaiming it works is confirmation bias and its how this sort of stuff spreads , I mean question 1, do you contain chlorophyll , if not then the suns not doing a hell of a lot for you other then increasing a couple of things that are much better absorbed through the skin then the eyeballs.