Light Therapies

A comprehensive guide to the therapeutic benefits of light and color and how they affect our physical and psychological well-being

• Shares scientific research on how different wavelengths of light influence our cells, brain function, sleep patterns, and emotional stability

• Examines several forms of light therapy, including chromotherapy, heliotherapy, actinotherapy, and thermotherapy

• Explains how to use light and color therapy, maximize the benefits of sunlight, and avoid the health risks of new light sources such as compact fluorescents and LEDs

Beginning with sun worship in prehistory and sunshine therapies in ancient Egypt, Greece, and India, light has long been associated with the sublime, the divine, and healing. Yet only recently have we begun to understand how different parts of the light spectrum, from infrared to ultraviolet, can affect our physical and psychological well-being.

Covering the historic, scientific, and spiritual aspects of light and its role in energy medicine, Anadi Martel explores the vibrational nature of light and the interaction between light, biology, and consciousness. He demonstrates light’s incredible effects on the physical, energetic, and cognitive dimensions of life and examines several forms of light therapy, including chromotherapy (color therapy), heliotherapy (sun therapy), actinotherapy (ultraviolet therapy), and thermotherapy (infrared therapy). He details how to use light therapy daily, get optimal benefits from sunlight, and avoid the health risks of new artificial lighting such as compact fluorescents and LEDs. Combining his own 30 years of research with practical insight from the many phototherapy pioneers he’s encountered, the author examines scientific studies on how specific wavelengths of light influence our cells and DNA, brain function, sleep patterns, and emotional stability; speed the healing of wounds; and are effective in the treatment of disease, including arthritis, stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and brain and nerve injuries. Exploring the spiritual aspects of light, the author explains why auras and halos have been used to represent sages and saints of all traditions, revealing the intimate link between light and consciousness.

Investigating the many laser, monochrome, audiovisual, and infrared machines designed to heal disease and treat emotional disorders, Martel also reveals promising medical applications for light that are currently in development, inviting the reader not only to appreciate the complexities of light but to maximize its therapeutic dimensions.

Anadi Martel is a physicist and electronics designer, who has acted as a consultant for IMAX, Cirque du Soleil, and the Metropolitan Opera of New York. For more than 30 years he has researched the therapeutic properties of light and the interaction between technology and consciousness, leading to the creation of the Sensora multisensorial system. His sound spatialization devices have been used around the world, including by NASA. He serves as President of the International Light Association (ILA) and lives in Quebec.

Foreword by Jacob Liberman

Preface

PART I
Understanding Light

1 The Origin of Light Therapy
Ancient and Modern Uses, Advancements, Controversies

2 A Short History of the Science of Light
Revelations from Crucial Experiments

3 What Is Light?
Physical Properties

PART II
Light’s Influence on Health

4 The Three Biological Pathways of Light
Entry and Influence

5 Light Medicine
The Modern Use of Phototherapy

6 Health Risks of Light
The Harmful Potential of Artificial Light

PART III
New Applications of Light

7 The Dawn of Energy Medicine
Integrating Vitalism and Science

8 Color Medicine
The History and Uses of Chromotherapy

9 Alternative Light Medicine
Modern Chromotherapy Technologies

PART IV
Cognitive Aspects of Light

10 Sync and Resonance
How Light and Sound Cause Biological Balance

11 Objective Light, Subjective Light
Using Light to Promote a Harmonious State of Being

12 Light and Consciousness
An Intimate Association

Postface

Glossary

References

Index