Saturday, August 27, 2016

Health Professionals and Psychologists

To Health Professionals

Light and Public Health are interconnected. 
* We must protect the eyes of young people and older, from the cool 
LED lighting (above 4000K) as it has high content of Blue 440nm 
wavelength light, that produces retinal photo-degradation, and in
the case of older folks macular degeneration. 
* Spectral content of lights can de-regulate the circadian system. 
Recently the AMA American Medical Association issued a warning 
that cool LED lighting (above 3000 Kelvin) can have negative impact
on human health at night. Cool LEDs suppress melatonin or the sleep
hormone, disrupting sleep which generates overeating, obesity, cancer.
* Equally important it is to receive full spectrum bright light (daylight or
reflected from a wall surface) in the morning, for people with SAD or 
Seasonal Affective Disorder and mild depression.

Some health issues from lighting are easier to fix - like glare, or multiple 
(multi-fringed) shadows form a single object, or heavy/black shadows on 
the floor, perceived by Alzheimer and dementia patients as holes that they 
have to jump over...posing risks for safety and falls. These issues are fixed 
with the selection of a lens or shield that softens, disperses, and mixes light.

To Psychologists and Neurologists

With lighting there are more complex health issues. 
* Digital LED lighting can overstimulate the Sympathetic system,
keeping people in a state of continuous arousal without repose to regenerate.
* Too many visual stimuli (too many things lighted) overwhelm the cognitive system,
numbing senses and creating tension.
* Multiple lights/fixtures result in multiple luminous edges that activate ganglion cells 
neural signals, and fire-up continuous neural response. These are unhealthy environments. 
* And I haven't started talking about lighting physics and waves, resulting in turbulent spaces.
* Multiple shadows from a single object, all in different directions at the same time
create loss of spatial orientation and disconnect and disassociation from physical reality,
and from how is it done in Nature, and the natural world.
* Trying to manipulate the Circadian system and creating bio-dynamic cycles, unless subtle,
slow pace, and following closely Nature rhythms; we will create more harm to human health.

We need places for people, that are human, lighted for calm, ego-less simple, nurturing, and 
regenerative environments. Can we do it? Yes, if we are conscious to our purpose to improve 
people's lives, to help humanity stay connected with Nature, and help people breath, focus, 
and self-center with lighting. And help people through peaceful minds to find their internal 
lights to shine, connecting with infinity field which is the true source of healing. 

Or we can continue doing what we have - ego centered lighting and damage people's health, 
we can be unconscious and excited about technology and IoT in lighting, without seeing the 
interconnectedness with human health.  
Awakening to lighting consciousness is different, is helping people to be healthy, is becoming 
excited about consciously applied simplicity and Natural feel in lighting; it is about unified and 
not fragmented, about softness and not harsh environments for people.

Is it possible to "prescribe" healthy lighting to help people stay healthy?
Yes, look no further than the free manual of Nature, where we have light and night repose, 
we have coolness in mid-morning and warmness in evenings, forms have single shadows, 
simple order and calmness pervade, and people have choice to be in light or in shadow. 

If we have to use LEDs lighting, ask yourself -  can I  do the simplest lighting, can I be 
Nature inspired, can I do essence and elevate above form. Think how good this is.


Healthy Days for All, LightHeal

Monday, August 22, 2016

Hi Everyone,
I will take you on a journey for healing with lighting. The journey may take unexpected turns and it will always end with new information on how to stay healthy and how best to protect your health.
So buckle up and be open to improvisation.
For those who like order, guidelines, checklists...we'll have these dispersed
through the series of LightHeal Blogs.

Let's begin - The big bus with tinted glass, pulled along the sidewalk at about 9pm. Keep in mind that melatonin or the human sleep hormone, starts production after 7pm, definitely at 8pm, and picks-up by 9pm. The folks on this bus, had no idea about the process taking place in their bodies. Bowed over their laptops (on the way to home) and illuminated by blue and green LEDs located 10 inches from their eyes.

As the bus glided forward through the intersection, I couldn't help but see a striking parallel, the semi-dark warehouses of acres with green houses, growing plants under controlled lighting. In horticulture for years now, LED lights of precise spectrum (purple-blue-green-red color) have been used to stimulate plants growth, to speed blooming, to obtain gigantic size products that are unseen in Nature. We are putting plants to work extra hard and produce extra big, we trick the plants with controlled light spectrum and intensity. Would these products taste the same as the ones grown in nature and under the sun, would these products have the same nutrients as the ones formed under the natural cycle of light and dark?
Some horticulturists talk about controlling the photons intensity and how many light particles hit the plants leaves (think of human retina and the skin as envelope of the human body) so that plants are not burned.

That night at 9pm, as the bus cautiously glided along, seeing the young faces (could have been my kids) illuminated by laptop screens and the unstoppable presence of blue and green LED laser beams, I felt a squeeze of my heart. Will we use LED technology humanly or manipulatively?

LightHeal token #1: at 9pm - use warm light coming from behind a shade, like a table lamp with warm color shade, do not use lights from the ceiling,  keep the ceiling and upper wall surfaces relatively dark, illuminate surfaces at lower than the eye level, again table lamps is the best if you want to go to sleep