Better health with color, light, sound and aroma

Successful accomplishment requires possession of a strong desire and an ability to hold focus.

by Dr. Renee Waldman — 

How have you handled the challenges of preparing for a test, race, promotion or class reunion? Whether you are aspiring to lose weight, improve your fitness, increase mental acuity or achieve greater emotional resilience, nearly everyone has, at one time or another, pursued a self-set goal. When we encounter perceived difficulties, instead of seeing them as obstacles to achieving our goals, we should consider them opportunities that can help test our nature, clarify our purpose and reveal to us the beliefs we hold about ourselves.

Many of today’s motivational and inspirational authorities share the view that individual success is determined by one’s ability to connect to particular, positive emotional states. Successful accomplishment requires possession of a strong desire and an ability to hold focus. Executing tasks in a certain way and making daily decisions in alignment with a constructive desire will perpetuate movement toward success.

All of these capabilities are dictated by the emotional state of the individual. The “emotional charge” provides the strength behind the “motor of action.” It is important to note that our emotional state can be profoundly affected by our environment. There is now a greater opportunity than ever before to harness the benefits of creating environments conducive to affecting and maintaining healthy emotional states.

One simple and effective way to support our emotional health is through the combined use of color, light, sound and aroma. Sir Isaac Newton said, “The universe is filled with color.” Color exists in the form of oscillating light waves which are visualized as colors of the light spectrum. The patterns and qualities of color have an undeniable effect on energy.

The factual evidence described in Dr. Masaru Emoto’s book, The Message From Water, has helped us understand the dramatic impact vibrational energy has upon the molecular structure of water. Given that the human body is composed of 75 percent water, it is easy to extrapolate from Dr. Emoto’s work how the energetics of different color frequencies can significantly impact our physical well-being.

Humans are intimately dependent upon natural light. Natural light is comprised of a full spectrum of radiation that includes ultraviolet and infrared rays that provide a life-sustaining element as basic as air. Sunlight contains 100,000 lx (expressed in terms of luminance), whereas indoor/artificial lighting contains approximately 700 lx, or less than one percent of the light received from natural sunlight. Myriad physical, psychological and emotional factors result from light deficiencies in our modern lifestyles.

Light is absorbed by the body’s eyes and skin to play an important role in many vital processes. For example, sunlight striking the skin surface immediately stimulates vitamin D production. Also, light absorbed by the retina is used to regulate our circadian rhythms and assist the hypothalamus in governing sleep-wake cycles, alertness, core-body temperature rhythms, and production of the hormones cortisol and melatonin, to name a few.

Implementing a simple sunbath into your day (upon consultation with your dermatologist) is an easy inclusion for a healthier body and mind.

Sound is the result of movement of atoms and molecules within the air, which vibrate the eardrum and travel through nerve cells to the brain. Nearly all the cranial nerves lead to the ear, which explains why sounds can be so impacting and/or relaxing.

Sound can change molecular structure and create form. According to cymatic studies, it has been demonstrated that physical patterns are produced through the interaction of sound waves in various mediums like water. The higher the frequency, the more complex the shapes produced, with certain shapes having similarities to traditional mandala designs.

These visual demonstrations of sound only add to the growing body of physical evidence of the potential effects of vibrational energy — even upon the body’s cellular structure. Listening to music for health, relaxation and meditation has been practiced for centuries. Through the use of music specifically engineered to help shift our energy and balance our brain-wave patterns, the field of mind-body medicine is only now beginning to fully capitalize upon the benefits of sound on our well-being.

Smell is a potent stimulant to our central nervous system. As an aroma is inhaled, the molecules of scent travel up the nose. Nasal sensory cells are stimulated, and a signal is then sent to the olfactory center, located in the limbic system of the brain, for the interpretation of smell.

The limbic portion of the brain is also the emotional control center of our nervous system — the emotions of anxiety, depression, fear, anger, love and joy all originate from this portion of the brain. It directly activates the hormonal center of the brain — the hypothalamus — which releases chemical messengers that can affect everything from energy levels to sex drive. Because of the close association between olfactory function and the limbic system, smells can directly stimulate the brain to trigger beneficial physiological and mood changes.

It’s easier than you may think to take advantage of the effectiveness of blending these elements into your daily routine. Start experimenting with the combined power of color, light, sound and aroma. It can be as simple as wearing colors that invigorate you, while inhaling your favorite scent and listening to soothing music that relaxes your entire being.

You may be surprised at how using these simple actions together can help improve how you feel. The greater the understanding we have of ourselves and our bodies, the easier it becomes to support our own health and well-being.

Dr. Renee Waldman is a naturopathic physician and has worked with many Olympic and professional athletes to enable greater performance through expanded awareness techniques. She is the founder of Wellness EffectSM. www.wellnesseffect.com or 602-687-9477.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 27, Number 3, June/July 2008.