Transcription
So far, I've talked about going outside, especially in the morning, and soaking up and getting that beautiful energetic burst and neurotransmitter support that we can get from morning light into the eyes all winter long. I've also talked about mitigating junk light and artificial light, especially before sunrise and after sunset, because of how damaging and disruptive that is to our circadian rhythm and to the key hormone that we make at night called melatonin.
Right now, I want to talk about how we can actually supplement light in our internal environment, in our indoor living space, in order to get some major benefits all winter long. The light that I'm talking about is called red and infrared light.
Now, a little primer on light: We've all seen light split through a prism, and when we see it split through a prism, we see the rainbow of colors. Towards one end of the rainbow, we have red—that's red wavelengths of light; that's red. Just beyond the red that we can't see, but is always there, is called near infrared. Then there's mid-infrared and far-infrared. So there's actually a big chunk of infrared light that's found in sunlight.
So even in the winter, you're getting red and infrared light from the sun, even though it might feel cold outside, even though it's cloudy, you'll still get it. However, it's not always easy to apply therapeutic doses of sunlight—of red and near infrared and far-infrared sunlight—from sunlight to the body all winter long. So while you can, you know, sun yourself outside in the winter, it's easier to find and use supplemental light sources inside. And I'm going to give you plenty of options to do so.
I want to give you a couple of key guidelines as to what the different wavelength ranges do. First, the red wavelength range of light supports mitochondrial health big time. So it's going to help the mitochondria become much more effective at making water and ATP. Those are two key things that the mitochondria make that we will use to maximize cellular health, cellular energy, cellular vitality all winter long. Unfortunately, almost all modern light bulbs no longer have the red wavelength of light, and modern window glass is blocking it as well, for energy efficiency. Which means that in our modern interior environments, we're really lacking in red light.
What can we do to get it? Well, we can use a red light therapy panel. You'll see in the linked resources all of my red light therapy panel recommendations. If you can get one, it will serve you all winter long because those red light panels contain not just red wavelengths, they also contain another very important wavelength range of light called near-infrared light. And that near-infrared wavelength of light also supports mitochondrial health, but actually it helps the mitochondria make much more subcellular melatonin—or melatonin made inside of the cells—as opposed to melatonin made in the pineal gland in response to darkness. So our cells are designed to make melatonin for us all day long in response to near-infrared light exposure. Again, modern lighting has omitted near-infrared; modern window glass blocks near-infrared. So we're in a very near-infrared deficient environment when we're living and working indoors.
So you can go ahead and get a red light therapy panel and get both of those wavelength ranges of light to support mitochondrial water and ATP production and also melatonin production in the cells. This cellular melatonin acts as a very key antioxidant, meaning it cleans up cellular damage all day long. It's—it's—I'm likening it to tidying up around the house all day long, or let's say you have a daycare with a lot of little kids running around; it's much easier to kind of tidy up all day long as these messes are being made as opposed to waiting until the evening to just clean everything. And so that's what subcellular melatonin does for us; it cleans up the damage all day long. It's very, very supportive of inflammation and cellular health. And again, red light therapy panels are a great way to get it.
Now, how do you use a red light therapy panel to get this benefit? Well, there are some general guidelines, but what I have found is that most people's bodies are red and near-infrared starved for light. So my general recommendation is: pick a large solar panel of naked skin—so naked chest and abdomen, naked back—and get a red light therapy panel that you can apply to this area of your body, typically 10 inches or so away from the panel, and start with 10 minutes, but you know, build up to 20 minutes. Some clients love even more. It can be a very, very beautiful way to support the body with—with the—giving it red light therapy and the near-infrared wavelengths that it's just craving.
And so, you know, ways to do that: There are companies that give you stands that you can use to set it up; you can, you know, just simply put it on the floor and sit with it; you can hang it up and stand with it. So whatever works for you, figure out a way to do it so that you feel comfortable utilizing it for 10 to 20 minutes, sometimes more. Do that if you want to do that. Some clients love it every single day; some clients do it more on an every-other-day basis. But if that's you and you love it, then do it. If it just makes your body feel so good, then do it. It can be very, very supportive in so many ways, both with how our body feels. It can also—those red and near-infrared doses get absorbed into the water in our body, and it feels like it's very supportive of heat in the body. So while the panel itself doesn't emit heat, our tissue can start to warm up nicely as well when utilizing red light therapy. And so feel free to grab one of the panels if you'd like, and give that a try. Don't overthink it; just use it, and use it consistently because, like I said, most bodies are starved for red and near-infrared light.
Now, there's another wavelength range of light that goes beyond the near-infrared. We're talking mid- and far-infrared light—that's the type of infrared we actually feel as heat. So it's light that we perceive as heat. So how can we get these heat wavelengths of light into our body? Many, many ways. But what does this range do? This range actually creates a bigger, what I call, battery of energy in the body, inside of our cells. I've already talked about that beautiful hydration, and that that hydration is energy for our cells; it's voltage, it's charge, it's vitality for our cells. Why is that? Well, because that water actually structures itself and organizes itself into a specific state called EZ water or exclusion zone water. I'm not going to go into a ton of details on the science of EZ water in this video, but I want you to—I want to let you know that our ability to maintain that EZ water is everything. And guess what wavelength range of light charges that EZ water, expands that EZ water, maintains that EZ water? Infrared—right? Specifically the mid- to far-infrared wavelength range that we feel as heat.
And so how can we get that? Well, we can get that with a hot bath; we can get that with a hot shower; we can get that with a hot sauna; we can get that with—I've got clients who use something like the SaunaSpace or RubyLux bulbs to apply infrared to their body. So any way that you want to apply those heat-based sources of infrared will be of benefit. I also have clients who get the hot water bottle from Intuition Physician—it's a grounded water bottle—that water bottle, you put hot water in it; that's infrared light, heat; they're the same—and you can put that on various parts of your body to help support exclusion zone water.
And so what are different ways to use it? Well, if you use a sauna, you can use—you can use the sauna as what I call an EZ water recharge, meaning you hop in for 10 minutes a couple times a day just to recharge, recharge, recharge, or you can use it in a more traditional sense, meaning two, three, four, five times a week; you can stay in it, and you can allow your body to start sweating and also do a detoxification as you do that. Now, if you do, make sure you're hydrated—we'll talk all about that in another video—and you have adequate minerals, which I'll also talk about in the hydration video. So do make sure you're replenishing water and electrolytes if you sweat a lot. However, it can be very, very, very soothing and healing to use that intense form of infrared all winter long. And no, it doesn't negate your benefits from cold adaptation; it actually turns on a heat stressor pathway that is also very supportive of cellular health; it turns on longevity genes; it's very supportive of cardiovascular function and blood flow. So there's a lot of benefits you can get from using a sauna-based infrared source. And you know, I'm not as picky—I used to be more picky, maybe—with the sauna type. You know, full-spectrum far-infrared—yeah, get a heat source, right? Traditional—whatever works for you as a sauna, it can really be of benefit, especially if you're in a cold winter climate.
A study that I found very interesting was one that followed—SC—I believe it was just Scandinavian men—for a course of about 20 years, and they found that men who sauned for at least 20 minutes five times a week had a massive reduction in all-cause mortality—something like a 40 to 50% reduction in death from all causes. So that's huge, right? That means that that water battery recharge can translate to overall health in all capacities. And so, using infrared is a great way we can expose ourselves to it. Again, if you don't have a sauna, look to the bulbs—the heat bulbs. Do make note: they get hot; do not touch them; do not get close to them. We can also use, like—like I said—a hot shower, hot bath. So don't think, "I can't afford a sauna, so I'm screwed." No, that's not the case. You can also make a fire in your fireplace and sit close enough to it that you feel the heat. Do you have a wood-burning stove? Sit closer to it, because the heat that's being emitted from that is this infrared that I'm talking about that we soak into this water battery. This is if we were living at one with nature in a cold-weather environment; we wouldn't—we would have always had a campfire nearby to keep us warm, or fire in our interior environment to keep us warm. So we would have always been exposed all winter long to this beautiful infrared wavelength of light, meaning we would have been structuring our water battery and maintaining this battery and this charge and this vitality all winter long.
So don't overcomplicate it, but do recognize the importance for red, near-infrared, and then the other range of infrared all winter long. How often you apply it is up to you, but I would say be consistent with it. Me personally, I'll use my red light therapy panel at least four times a week, and in the winter I'll use my sauna at least three times a week. I love it; my body just craves it and soaks in all of that light and all of that heat in a very, very supportive and healing way.