Sleep is the Golden Chain that binds health and our bodies together

– Anonymous

How much sleep do I need?

Health.Gov suggests that most adults need 7 to 8 hours of good quality sleep on a regular schedule each night. Getting enough sleep isn’t only about total hours of sleep. It’s also essential to get good quality sleep on a regular schedule, so you feel rested when you wake up.

Why is getting enough sleep important?

Getting enough sleep has many benefits. It can help you: Get sick less often – When your body gets the sleep it needs, your immune cells and proteins get the rest they need to fight off whatever comes their way. And according to the well-rested sleep specialists at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, proper sleep can also make vaccines more effective. Stay at a healthy weight – If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces ghrelin, a hormone that boosts appetite.

Your body also decreases the production of leptin, a hormone that tells you you’re full. Lower your risk for serious health problems, like diabetes and heart disease – Not getting enough sleep can lead to heart health problems like high blood pressure or heart attacks. That’s because lack of sleep can cause your body to release cortisol, a stress hormone that triggers your heart to work harder.

Roy Kohler, MD, who specializes in sleep medicine at SCL Health in Montana, reaffirms all we know about the benefits of sleep, citing research that shows people who get less sleep tend to be heavier, eat more, have a higher BMI, and are more likely to be diabetic. Improves productivity and concentration – When people don’t get enough sleep, their cognitive functioning, attention, and concentration abilities decline. “For example, going without sleep for 48 hours impairs cognitive abilities to the same degree as having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.1%, above the legal limit for driving in every state,” says Dr. Epstein (Harvard Specialist Sleep Report, 2014).

Reduce stress and improve your mood – The American Psychological Association refers to this as the ‘stress-sleep cycle’ and reports that, on average, adults with lower reported stress levels report sleeping more hours a night than do adults with higher reported stress levels (7.1 vs. 6.2 hours). They are also more likely to say they have excellent or very good-quality sleep (33 percent vs. 8 percent) and get enough sleep (79 percent vs. 33 percent).

The circadian rhythm is the body’s biological clock.

Your circadian rhythms are the cycle of physiological and natural processes that fluctuate over 24 hours on average. While the circadian rhythm is often referred to as a single process, several body clocks oscillate throughout the day. A tiny cluster of approximately 20,000 neurons in the hypothalamus (a region of the brain responsible for maintaining homeostasis of the body, linking the nervous and endocrine systems) controls your body’s many circadian rhythms, known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN); this master control center is responsible for acting as your body’s internal pacemaker. While the exact mechanisms for how this process works are not precise, environmental cues have proven essential and sunlight most significantly. As sunlight decreases at the close of the day, the visual system sends signals to the suprachiasmatic nucleus; the SCN responds by signaling the pineal gland to increase the hormone melatonin production. An increase in melatonin helps reduce activity and induces sleepiness (Verywell Health, 2021).

Sun Gazing

Sungazing (also known as sun-eating) is the ancient Vedic practice of gradually introducing sunlight into your eyes at the lowest ultraviolet-index times of day – within an hour of sunrise and sunset. You must practice sungazing barefoot, in contact with the actual earth – sand, dirt, or mud; finally, you must begin with only 10 seconds the first day, increasing by 10-second intervals each day you practice. WellnessOne reports that many proponents of this ancient technique, used by many cultures such as Mayan, Egyptian, Aztec, Tibetian, and Indian yoga, report healing benefits to common illnesses and obtain super-human abilities, advanced telepathy, and going ultimately without the need for food.

Integrating sun gazing into your daily routine has numerous benefits:

Increased Energy
Boosts production of the feel-good hormones serotonin and melatonin
Improved eyesight
Reduces hunger pains –the body is completely nourished by the sun
Stimulation and growth of the Pineal gland
Release of internal emotional blocks.

The Man Who Brought Sun Gazing to the West Sun-gazing is a practice also called the HRM phenomenon, coined after Hira Ratan Manek, the man who submitted himself to NASA for scientific testing to confirm that he does indeed possess the ‘super-human ability of not eating as a result of his ongoing dedication to sungazing. Funded by NASA, a team of medical doctors observed Hira 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 100 days, and confirmed that he could survive largely on light with only the occasional small amount of buttermilk or water during this time (Seva Yoga, 2018).

What happens to the body during Sun Gazing?

First 3 months:

The sun’s energy moves through the eyes and charges the hypothalamus tract. The hypothalamus tract is the pathway to the rear of the retina, which leads to the brain. The brain then gradually becomes activated by the energy supply being received by the sun. Initially, you will experience a relief of mental tension and worry since most worry is fuelled by the energy received by the foods we eat. Moreover, an increase in confidence and efficiently solving your problems is reported, as you are without tension. By the end of 3 months, the gazing time will have increased to 15 minutes per day.

3-6 months:

Studies show that physical diseases start to disappear. By the time one is gazing 30 minutes per day (building up 10 seconds per day), all the colors of the sun will have reached the brain. Colour therapists attribute their healing of certain diseases to flooding the body and brain with the particular color that is lacking – depending on the ailment. For example, in liver disease, the color green is deficient. The kidneys need red, and the heart, yellow. All of the organs and all of the systems are said to respond to different colors of the rainbow, so it is also recommended to eat a diet rich in various colors.

Why Is Sleep So Important?