{"id":2954,"date":"2009-05-24T02:48:40","date_gmt":"2009-05-24T07:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/?p=2954"},"modified":"2009-05-24T02:48:40","modified_gmt":"2009-05-24T07:48:40","slug":"we-need-some-daily-undiluted-uv-light-through-our-retina-taking-a-ride-to-clear-the-mental-cobwebs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/we-need-some-daily-undiluted-uv-light-through-our-retina-taking-a-ride-to-clear-the-mental-cobwebs\/","title":{"rendered":"We need some daily undiluted UV light through our retina; taking a ride to clear the mental cobwebs"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em>I went on a long drive yesterday afternoon.\u00a0 I’ve not had a chance all week to get out for a change of scenery, and I needed one. I know I live in Paradise, but sometimes driving out to see the rest of the world lets me appreciate it even more when I return.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve heard that “Paradise does not make itself known to you until you’ve been kicked out of it<\/em>.” I want to make sure that never happens to me.\u00a0 I want to recognize and draw Paradise out of anywhere I am, anytime I’m there.\u00a0 Ma Yoga Shakti<\/a> says, “Wherever you are, make a heaven of it<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

So yesterday afternoon, I took the long drive along US1 and the Indian River south to the Wabasso Causeway, then east across to AIA.\u00a0 Although it had rained the past couple of days, it was sunny and mild and I could see many boats on the waterway.\u00a0 Usually, there are just a handful of sailboats anchored out all up and down the river.\u00a0 Now there were small craft motoring along as well.\u00a0 I’d taken my sunglasses off, since I know that most Vitamin D is absorbed through the eyelids.\u00a0 Besides blocking vitamin D absorption, sunglasses interfere with the body\u2019s circadian rhythms, which depend on undiluted UV light hitting the retina to set our internal clocks. It just takes about 30 minutes a day.\u00a0 The last couple of days I’d been inside at the computer, and no sunshine.\u00a0 I have a tendency to work in the available light from the windows in the offices rather than turning on a bright light to work, as I should when it’s dark or stormy and I’ve not been in the sunlight for a day or more.\u00a0\u00a0 Researchers have found that bright light changes the chemicals in the brain, and that the undiluted UV of the sunlight also affects mood, causing it to lift.\u00a0 Much has been written about Seasonal Affective Disorder<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 People who stay out of the sunlight for prolonged periods, especially those who live in front of a tv, are most often affected.\u00a0 Many of them are diagnosed as depressed.\u00a0 The remedy is some sunshine each day, being outside and moving your body.\u00a0 St. John’s Wort is a good natural reuptake inhibitor <\/a>if you are taking no other medications.<\/p>\n

I could feel myself coming out of my rut as I drove.\u00a0 I could feel my mental thoughts picking up.\u00a0 I had some last minute rescheduling to do last week, and I had finally figured it all out.\u00a0 It seems I am always juggling my schedule, when one person changes something, it all dominoes *smile*\u00a0 Then either everything changes or I end up doing it all myself.\u00a0 I’m used to it, obviously I attract it, I must thrive on it.\u00a0 Maybe I just use it as my excuse to not have any real time off.\u00a0 Grin.<\/p>\n

I drove north on AIA, with the Atlantic Ocean on my right.\u00a0 There was the usual crowd at Sebastian Beach Inlet Park<\/a>.\u00a0 I could tell not much surf was happening, because AIA was not lined with cars as is the case mid day when there are waves.\u00a0 As I got into Melbourne Beach and Indialantic, there was a lot of foot traffic walking across AIA, a lot of bicycles on the road.\u00a0 I turned west to drive across the Melbourne Causeway at Hwy 192 and saw dozens of people out walking the causeway.\u00a0 There was one gentleman who seemed elderly and out of shape, yet he was riding his bicycle up the steep grade like he was used to it.\u00a0 I love seeing that.\u00a0 I know getting there takes work.<\/p>\n

I turned south on US1 and drove through the old part of town, now rather decripit yet with an industrial beauty all its own.\u00a0 I followed the Indian River south to Malabar and then back home as the sun began to get low in the sky.\u00a0 In just that short 90 minutes, I felt completely rejuvenated and was ready to be back home again.\u00a0 As I pulled up to the house, I saw the cats lolling about, waiting for my return.\u00a0 Squirrels were running through the oaks and the cardinals were at the birdbath.\u00a0 A wasp drank water from an upside down leaf on the concrete bench in the garden.\u00a0 All was right in my world.<\/p>\n

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