From Theo Gimbel’s “Healing with Color and Light”

The electromagnetic spectrum embrace ranges from cosmic rays to radio waves.  They are graded according to wavelength.  Only a limited part of this spectrum can excite the photoreceptors of the eye – electromagnetic energy with wavelengths between 380nm and 760nm. (One nanometer equals one millionth of a millimeter). This constitutes the spectrum of visible light -- a narrow band of energy roughly in the middle of the electromagnetic spectrum.  Violets have shorter wavelengths (380nm), higher frequencies, and more energy.  Reds have longer wavelengths (760nm), lower frequencies, and less energy.

Beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum there are even shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation (which is essential for producing vitamin D in the body), X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays. Ultraviolet light, which has shorter wavelengths and more energy than visible light, is filtered out by the eye’s lens. 

Beyond the red end of the visible spectrum there are the longer wavelengths of infrared radiation, which does not have sufficient energy to excite the photoreceptors of the eye but perceived by receptors in the skin and is felt as heat.  Further on the scale are microwaves (which are used in microwave ovens), and television- and radio-waves used for transmitting television and radio signals. 

High-energy, fast-vibrating cosmic rays emerge from the darkness, followed by gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light, microwaves, radar, FM radio, television, short-wave radio, AM radio; beyond these, the energy loses its electromagnetic qualities and emanates as sound.  Eventually, the energy vibrates at the level of atoms and molecules – the realm of matter and form.

Before the existence of matter, there was darkness.  Then a slowing or contraction of cosmic energy yielded light.  As it slowed, it produced color, then contracted into sound, and finally into matter. The more subtle the energy the more powerful it is.

The Eyes and Vision

Our eyes translate the energy of light into signals – nervous impulses – that the brain interprets as “seeing”.  This visible light is part of a wider spectrum of energy that surrounds us.  Visible light is made up of the colors that we know as the rainbow.  Our eyes are sensitive to the whole range of its hues, but the rest of the spectrum is invisible to us.  Although these energies, such as infrared and ultraviolet, are outside our conscious color vision, we are sensitive to them.  High-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet rays have a subtle impact on us all the time.  The Earth’s atmosphere, in particular the ozone layer, protects us from much of their harmful effects.

Color in our World

Sunlight, although it appears to be white, is really a blend of colors. The varying wavelengths of energy are reflected back to our eyes from the objects they strike and interpreted by our brains as various hues of the color spectrum, so when we view the world in terms of color, in fact, the color is in our minds, not in the landscape. This manifestation of color results from a very fine balance of factors: the receptive abilities of our eyes and brain, and the combination of gases, moisture, and dust particles in the Earth’s atmosphere that filter, reflect, and refract (bend) the rays of light energy.  Without this atmosphere there would be no life on Earth and little color. Too many particles in the atmosphere, either from natural gases or industrial pollution, can create a blanket that some of the light rays cannot penetrate.  When the light level is reduced in this way, or when it declines gradually at dusk, the color experience fades.

Each color has its individual characteristics and effects.  Light and colors have a strong effect on our mind/body.  At physical, mental, and emotional levels we respond to colors whether we realize it or not.  Some familiar expressions are: “red with anger”, “green with envy”.  Color is strongly linked with emotions.  Extremes of emotions are often the result of imbalances in the flow of color energies into and out of the body.  

Physical responses to color: As a general rule, the red end of the spectrum tends to make the body tense, while the blue end of the spectrum tends to relax it.  Exposure to red increases the blood pressure, while blue relaxes the body and lowers blood pressure.

Mental responses to color: Color affects our perceptions. A red room seems smaller than the blue one, for example.

Emotional responses to color: Color affects the way we feel about what we see. In general, a red excites us, while blue makes us feel calmer.

None of us see color in quite the same way, or to the same intensity.  We tend to think of color as a purely physical phenomenon experienced by our sense of sight alone, but as a form of energy, color is active at all levels of our being – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  Its effects are not restricted only to the sighted.  Experiments have shown that visually impaired people are affected by color in the same way as the sighted. Those with impaired vision are equally receptive to these energies, in many cases they are more so because of their enhanced sensitivity to non-visual stimuli.  Some are sensitive enough to identify a color with great accuracy by feeling the density of the air that surrounds it.  The air over red surfaces, for example, feels denser than the air over the blue ones.

Color and Physiology

Of all colors, red and blue light have the most marked effect on the physiology of the human body. Red light increases muscular activity, blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate.  Blue has the opposite effect, relaxing the body, and can help insomnia sufferers.

The effect of color on our bodies does not depend on our eyesight alone. The skin is particularly sensitive to ultraviolet light.  Ultraviolet light causes the skin to produce melanin (which gives us a tan) and vitamin D (which is crucial for the body’s metabolism of calcium).

Too much or too little light can upset general health and well-being.  People who are exposed to insufficient light, either because they spent too much time indoors in artificial light (which does not provide the full spectrum found in natural daylight energy) or because they live in latitudes where the sun is absent for long periods during the winter, are known to be prone to winter-time depression.

By contrast, excessive exposure to light has been shown to speed development, and even have an aging effect.  For example, girls who live in towns and cities begin menstruation earlier than girls from more rural areas, who experience a normal day/night rhythm of light and darkness.

People who spend a great deal of time in artificial lighting, which does not emit the same balance of colors as sunlight, are depriving themselves of nourishment.  They may soon start to suffer from a deficiency of natural light, the condition known as SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder – which is a depression usually brought on by the lack of sunlight during winter.  An excess of inadequate artificial lighting can bring on similar symptoms.  Full-spectrum lighting, however, often incorporating ultraviolet light, prevents the development of SAD. 

The Effects of Light

Light energy received by the eye sets up nervous impulses to the retina of the eye, which travel as coded messages along the optic nerve to the visual cortex of the back of the brain.  These impulses stimulate a specific part of the brain’s hypothalamus, which acts as the body’s biological clock by regulating sleeping, feeding, and other functions such as temperature and water balance.  The hypothalamus influences both the pituitary and pineal glands in the brain, which conduct the functions of the body by producing hormones that stimulate other glands, such as the adrenals and reproductive organs, and affect the metabolism of the body.  

Article Compliments of www.SpeedKnowledge.com