The sun is shining! Spirits are high! The sky is blue and the mood is high elated. The body is agile and full of excitement. Humanity is loving and the day is full of opportunities. Oh, it’s just so nice.
And then it gets cloudy once again. It’s as if everything falls apart. The sky is low and the day is boring. Your limbs are heavy and you sigh deeply. Faces become strict and everyone blends into the background. Ugh, it’s all so terrible.
– from the book ”LIGHT” – by the Danish writers Tor Nørretranders & Olafur Eliasson
These two quotes mean a lot to me. They describe my mood from the years when I every year around midsummer and would lay there looking up at the ceiling and just felt really bad. I was just inconsolable – for no reason. Over the summer, my mood would fade slowly until it was all good again. The situation would repeat itself year after year, when the darkness came and every year it felt worse than the year before.
Many may recognize situations that can arise at two different occasions during the year:
In the AUTUMN and the darkness makes you lose all hope and commitment. The quilt is heavy and moods are low – as if you’re lapping at the water surface. Sometimes you’re just above the surface, other days just you’re just below or further down in the abyss, defeated and full of sadness. It’s just a lack of desire and energy. You make it through the day with a heavy heart. Life feels heavy and lacking all color.
Then when SPRING and summer is upon us and the sun is shining and everyone is happy, you’re laying there unable to get out of bed. You feel bad, might go to the doctor, but they don’t find anything. All evidence points to you being healthy.
Everything repeats itself, until you can’t even tell what’s really going on. Or you’ve been there so many times that it finally revealed that as many others at these latitudes, have a tendency to apathy and lack of desire in the darkness. Let’s just call it what it is for some of us: a winter depression (or seasonal depression as it’s sometimes called). The whole thing is toxic. All you do is wait for it to become bright outside again. (Note: This should not be confused with the actual kind of depression that needs to be treated by consulting a doctor.)
Depression over the autumn-winter or spring-early summer is the same thing. For some of us, it occurs state in late autumn. We experience depressed moods and sadness or a lack of energy and vitality. The condition increases over the dark months later to be reinforced over year-end, before it subsides again. For others, the condition can be delayed, only to be felt in the first months of the year. It’s kind of like a “bill” from the darker season. It can last over the early summer and it only goes away once summer is quite advanced.
But what does this depend on?
We are all different and react biologically differently to the darkness. But for us who are sensitive, the explanation is simple: It’s all about LIGHT! Or rather the lack of light.
The role of light in the body
We all know that we get vitamin D when the sun shines. At the same time, we know that if we continue to expose ourselves to the sun, we brown the skin. Then melanin is formed, which is nature’s protection against the sun’s damaging rays.
Our organism; our cells and our brain knows the sun and react naturally to it. The sun is a prerequisite for all life; we are as a people entirely dependent on getting enough light to our biological, biochemical and neurobiological processes in the body. Our health is dependent on our brain’s neurotransmitters can proceed as intended. For this we need the life-giving light and preferably with sufficient intensity. There is only one way we can get light into our nervous system, and it is through the eye via the optic nerve and into the brain. It’s our nature. We live by the light – in addition to water! One could even say, just as a plant is dependent on light and water.
On a really clear summer day with high blue sky, we are exposed to a light intensity of more than 100,000 lux – lux is a unit of measure. On a really bad overcast day, we have about 1,000 lux, ie 100 times less light than on a cloudless summer day. Worse still for us who live at latitudes far north. Because of the Earth’s orbit around the sun, it means approximately 6 months with reduced light and even more if the clouds are heavy and long time without breaks with clear weather. A major problem for those who are dependent on very light through the eye. For we human beings are created for light, and we need light to our life-giving processes in the body and brain must proceed optimally.
Basically winter depression is not yet fully understood, but there are among researchers agreed that light plays a major role, and it’s about the brain’s neurotransmitters: serotonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, melatonin, dopamine – and many more that operate in a carefully interaction.
Disturbance occurs in the interaction, can cause a state of lethargy, sadness, decreased energy, etc. Are you also experience increased levels of stress or pain and is going through a period where you sleep poorly, you have a health bad cocktail.
Especially the neurotransmitter melatonin is important. This hormone produced by the pineal gland (also called the pineal body) lying at the front of the brain stem upper side close to the pituitary gland, is particularly important for the circadian rhythm. Melatonin is controlled by light via special cells in the retina. It is essential for the delicate balance between day/night hormones. This gland is particularly interesting in connection with the use of LifeWave patches via a photo technical lysproces (phototherapy) that stimulate selected points on the body with exactly light. I will return to.
The colors of the light affects the brain
White light consists of all colors. We know from lyslæren at school, where we learned about light once through a prism. Otherwise think of the rainbow in the sky, the water droplets in the atmosphere breaks white light into all the colors of the spectrum. When the sun rises, the light blue/white made of light refraction in the atmosphere. Around noon whiter and in the afternoon rising yellowish for nearly towards evening when the sun goes down, we get the red light.
Modern research has shown that all colors have an impact on how our organism has it; that our biological and neurobiological processes its signal in the brain is optimal. The colors relate to the various bodies work and health. For me it makes sense to take this aspect when we talk about a “winter depression”. We have all colors through the eye, but first and foremost we need a suitably high light intensity during the day. This is well documented through scientific research including at the Psychiatric Center Ballerup, where in some years, research into how light and color are important for our health.
Will you look at this statement, one can yield hear the American psychiatrist Andreas Moritz talk about why it’s important to get un-filtered light through the eye, and why NOT, in certain situations, wear sunglasses; Among other things, it has significance for the formation of vitamin D. See more here.
The blue light gives more energy to us and our life processes. So it makes sense to expose as much as possible for the blue light early in the morning, the white light of day, and preferably as early as possible until mid-afternoon, where the yellowish takes over, for later when we get the reddish light toward evening and the coming night. A natural cycle which will take place day after day and not to be disturbed.
Broken or disturbed this cycle, it might for some lead to an impaired neurotransmitter activity in the brain. Combined the degraded signal process with a relatively increased levels of stress and/or an impaired sleep pattern, it can lead to an even poorer sleep pattern and which, when the condition has lasted long enough, it can lead to winter depression. Feel for yourself and judge whether it could be relevant for you.
Can you connect with this message, it makes sense to stop display screen already at 20 o’clock in the evening. This means avoiding light sources from PC, mobile screens, tablets, and television – yes, all light sources that send strong white blue/white light directly into the brain. Is it still necessary to delay for screen brightness, it is appropriate – if possible – to set the screen red light which many new devices are beginning to have that opportunity.
The dilemma of artificial light
The modern human lives indoors for 90 percent of their waking hours. Yes, that is, you and I are probably among the many who spend up to 90 percent of our waking hours indoors in varied lighting. Many businesses and jobs have realized what a sufficiently good and intense lighting means, both for comfort and for production. And the artificial light has improved. But in many workplaces and in many homes, there is still too little lighting – partly to get light sources, partly with too little intensity and brightness and also with the yellowish light. Energy saving light bulbs was long a disaster with its weak and yellow light. Now occupies LED light sources and partly halogen light bulbs market, each with advantages and disadvantages.
LED lights which are being used more and more because they have a very low consumption, unfortunately the disadvantage that it emits too much blue light; good for a day where we need to be awake but bad in the evening and just before bedtime. The blue light of the television, tablets, smartphones, and an indoor lighting that tells the brain that you must not sleep but to remain awake, make our brain just acknowledgment of continuing to stay awake. The consequence may for some be sleeping problems and poor conditions for good and natural sleep. They prepared themselves to sleep, but the head is not clear.
If in doubt about how light affects one through the day, try for a period – like a few months to follow nature’s changing light amount and intensity of your waking hours. Mind you that when the evening arrives, have let the white light replace the more reddish and soft light with a subdued intensity. Although it is difficult to introduce, we are actually created to go to bed and get up with the chickens.
In summary, one can say that it comes to bombard the brain with light – through the eye, and “thought” as much light as possible during the day. The aspect of getting as many lyspauser as possible through the day is a practical problem which they must try to solve.
Phototerapi with LifeWave
I met LifeWave by chance, but soon learned that patches have a stunning effect. It’s all about light for me. A kind of acupuncture without the needle, wherein the patches, through the body’s own infrared heat radiation by means of light that stimulates the selected points on the body.
I read up on them and the other products and decided to give it a try and it was certainly my rescue. Slowly, I got better.
My sleep was lousy. I was awake at night, come generally too late to bed and had difficulty falling asleep. In multiple awakenings during the night and/or early awakening at 4:00 to 5:00 time. So a proper good, deep and long sleep was what I so to speak dreamed of.
The sleeping patch Silent Nights I regard as one of the most important patches, and when my sleep was miserable, was Silent Nights for me the first priority. Sofa patch was my good friend. I tried all of the five different points in the game for this patch until I found the two to three points, which was the best. It took a while, but slowly sleep anymore and I got several nights without sleep interrupted. A fantastic experience to get a better sleep quality and huge boost energy and mood wise.
When I had read that the Aeon patch enhances the effect of all other patches – besides that it generally has a relaxing and analgesic effect – was this patch my constant companion that I wore every day – and chose to sleep with.
When I looked at my melatonin levels as low, so I decided on some days to keep “sleep patch” in the middle of the day when I replaced it with one of the other patches in Y-Age series. The Glutathione patch to raise the level of the body’s most powerful antioxidant and the Carnosine patch for its cell regenerating and bioelectric characteristics.
When I was caught in a – let’s call it “a small winter darkness” – so it’s hard to break out and initiate changes. It requires knowledge of one’s situation and effort to create new habits. I recommend that you start with the easiest: Get better sleep – even if the sleep is so-so.
Getting better sleep is all still about neurotransmitters and about creating a sufficiently high melatonin levels. It is crucial that the quality of your sleep is optimal with sufficient number søvncykluser, so as to achieve deep sleep where the brain so to speak washes debris out. This is acknowledged by sleep research and is essential for the brain regenerate sufficiently and is ready for a new day. After six weeks, I had a much improved sleep pattern and was several times weekly 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Complement like with lots of light in the day time if possible, for example, a lunch break spent outdoors facing the sun.
The aeon patch against stress is brilliant and for all with these challenges, it is an absolute must. The patch reduces the level of stress, gives peace and booster all other patches you wear the same time, relieves pain and often with Silent nighst greatly improved sleep. It should be worn 5-7 days a week as a standard.
My sleep, I watched as a key problem, and I therefore chose to reinforce this maximum. For this, LifeWave has another ingenious product: Theta Heart – a wellness system consists of three components with specific nutrients that work together to provide maximum heart to function optimally. Theta Heart supports heart contractions, raises it to heart important magnesium level has a positive effect on the nervous system, protects against oxidative stress and works beneficial to blood pressure and sleep. Theta Heart – as pulversticks, easily done during the evening in a pint of water.
Maveric for the men I had read about. I chose to try this could be something for me. Maveric, which is a natural herbal and mineral supplements used for the man with prostate trouble. It was not my problem, but as the natural means men have a lot of beneficial effects, including increased energy and improved sleep, I decided to give it a try over three months. And to be on top of improvements to the prostate is not to be despised.
I must say that LifeWave kept their promises. Wow an energy boost, and sleep was actually further improved by taking four tablets natural supplement per day.
Those who are interested can read here on Blog.tohuman.com my post about Maveric to the modern man. Read it here.
The end of winter depression
I started this post by recalling that the post is meant for people with mild winter depression and not actual depression that should be treated. Remember that we are all different and each with our unique biology/biochemistry. What are your challenges?
I myself am deeply grateful encounter with LifeWave three years ago. I have not had winter depression ago! I use the patches every day. The patches are with me on my way, all over wherever I go. It may be that you meet another person like you can help. It’s simple!
All LifeWave patches may be used and works in their own way. All products are natural and works without any chemistry. There are other products on the shelf that are not included in this post and which could also be used to get your possible winter depression for life.
If you want to hear about these other options, contact me. Contact details can be found here below.
