Sungazing

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Sungazing, also known as sun gazing, solar healing, solar gazing, solargazing, solarhealing, sun staring, Sun Yoga, Surya Yoga and Solar Yoga, is the practice of staring directly at the sun to receive "nourishment" from it.

1 Dangers
2 Cultural background
3 Famous sungazers
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Dangers

The practice of sungazing is controversial, as there is considerable evidence that looking directly at the sun for even brief periods of time may cause blindness or severe damage to the eye^[1]. Solar retinopathy is a form of damage to the eye's retina due to solar radiation^[2] that frequently results from sungazing^[3]. Although vision loss due to this damage is generally reversible ^[2], permanent damage and loss of vision have been reported ^[4] and most eye care professionals advise patients to avoid looking directly at the sun^[5].

[edit] Cultural background

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According to its proponents, sungazing was practiced by a number of cultures including the Ancient Egyptians^{[citation needed]} , Aztecs^{[citation needed]}, Mayans^{[citation needed]}, and Native American^{[citation needed]} tribes, as well as practitioners of Indian and Tibetan Yoga^{[citation needed]} and some traditions of Qi Gong^{[citation needed]}, such as Ba Kua^{[citation needed]} and Tai Chi^{[citation needed]}. Sungazing is often practiced with the bare feet^{[citation needed]} in direct contact with bare earth^{[citation needed]}. Some sungazers only sungaze during the so-called "safe hours", one half-hour after sunrise and one half-hour before sunset, while others feel that sungazing can be done at other times of day^{[citation needed]}.

Some positive results reported by sungazers are increased energy level and decreased appetite^{[citation needed]}; these may be the result of melatonin production resulting from direct ultraviolet exposure (see seasonal affective disorder). One of the most well-known sungazers, Hira Ratan Manek, claims that sungazing is capable of providing the body with all the nourishment it needs to function; he also claims that since 1995 he has lived on only sunlight and water.

[edit] Famous sungazers

Gustav Fechner (1801-1887): German physicist and philosopher who is widely regarded as the father of psychophysics, the science which seeks to quantify the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations they produce. Experiments on afterimage formation (for which he gazed at the sun) left him partially blind and painfully sensitivity to light.

Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi (b.1927):Pakistani Sufi-Master and Parapsychologist recommends Sungazing for improving vision (both near- and far-sightedness), mental focus and general well-being. However, he recommends Sungazing only during the early few minutes of sunrise, when the sun is red-orange (infra-red) and for starters not more than 1 minute a day for six months. He cautions against doing sungazing for prolong period as this could lead to mental health problems.

[edit] References

^ D van Norren (1991). "Photochemical Damage to the Eye". News Physiol Sci (6): 232-234. 1548-9213/91.
^ ^a ^b Chen JC, Lee LR (Nov 2004). "Solar retinopathy and associated optical coherence tomography findings". Clin Exp Optom. 87 (6): 390–3. PMID 15575813.
^ Stokkermans TJ, Dunbar MT (Oct 1998). "Solar retinopathy in a hospital-based primary care clinic". J Am Optom Assoc. 69 (10): 625–36. PMID 9805443.
^ Krasniz I, Beiran I, Miller B (1999-11-01). "Retinal lesion due to excessive exposure to sunlight". Harefuah 137 (9): 378–80, 431, 430. PMID 11419039.
^ n/a. "Health Effects from Ultraviolet Radiation: Report of an Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation". Documents of the NRPB 13 (6). ISBN 0-85951-475-7.