By Tama Duffy Day

As summer arrives the sun rises earlier, providing us with more hours of daylight. Along with this comes our need to be outside—to garden, exercise, sunbathe, and take trips to the beach. As the days get longer and the nights shorten, the majority of those afflicted with seasonal affective disorder (SAD)—sometimes called winter depression—see their symptoms simply go away. It's a reminder of the powerful role sun and light play in our health.

Even while we lather on lotions with sun-protecting factors in the 50s, we are affected and nourished by light. We need sunlight and its rays to directly provide us Vitamin D, to stimulate our pituitary glands and pineal glands, and to activate the circadian rhythms that in turn activate the generation of the hormone melatonin at night.

This knowledge is not new. An entire light therapy field dates back to the 1800s B.C. in India and Tibet, where exposing the body to sunlight was the method of treating disease. Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle developed theories about light and healing dating back to 500 B.C. The Ancient Greeks practiced heliotherapy, medical therapy by exposure to light, and were the first to document both the theory and practice of solar therapy. In Heliopolis, the Greek city of the sun, healing temples were constructed to disseminate sunlight into spectral components to then treat individual medical ailments according to color. For the Greeks, color was a manifestation of light, and therefore both therapeutic and divine in meaning, and variations of heliotherapy developed over time to incorporate manmade lighting and a diverse array of treatment solutions.

In connecting light, color and form to healing, the Greeks produced geometric shapes to articulate the spaces and proportions in creation. Plato visualized the world as being composed of basic elements, each represented by a particular shape. Dubbed the Platonic Solids and also known as "The Golden Mean," Plato's five shapes are a version of the Sacred Geometry and represent a blueprint for all cell structures in the body of humans, animals, plants, and minerals.

Based on triangles, each Platonic Solid is associated with an element, a color, a sense and a species. The Tetrahedron is associated with fire, man, sight, and the color red. The Hexahedron (or cube) is associated with earth, the mammal, smell, and the color green. The Octahedron is associated with air, the bird, sound, and the color yellow. The Icosahedron is associated with water, the reptile, taste, and the color blue. The Dodecahedron is associated with ether, spirit, touch, and the color violet. In addition, the Dodecahedron creates a pentagram, the five-sided figure, and around the “five points of the star were placed the letters of the greek word for health, (h y g e i a), from which we get the word 'hygiene.'"

Today, we continue this investigation into the connection between light, color and form and healing. Light therapy, or “light medicine,” as described by Joseph Liberman, is being utilized in numerous modalities. Dentists shine beams of visible light on new light-curing filling materials, eliminating the use of toxic silver fillings. Bacterially infected blood is cleaned through the use of water-cooled UV lamps with the FDA approving the use of blood irradiation for the treatment of infectious diseases in 120 clinics. During the last century red light was found to prevent scar formation in cases of smallpox, and startling cures were later reported among tuberculosis patients exposed to sunlight and ultra-violet rays. It’s no surprise that age-eradicating techniques are also integrating light and light therapy treatments. What's more, some of the most gifted architects and designers also are utilizing light, shape, and form to create memorable and life affirming spaces that both support and contribute to health and healing.

In March of this year lighting designers, scientists, researchers, and California policymakers gathered for two days in California to discuss the topic of light and health. One of the goals of the gathering was to provide opportunities for the interdisciplinary exchange on light’s impact on human health. Presenters included representatives from neurology, photobiology, biochemistry, ophthalmology, immunology, psychology, gerontology, pediatrics, public health, energy policy, building design, and lighting technology. Light medicine has once again moved from the realm of speculation to scientific findings, and the significance of these findings for designing healthcare environments is powerful. What better time to provide solutions allowing innovative design to play a large meaningful role in the success of healing in the future?

Tama Duffy Day, FASID, IIDA, LEED AP, is a principal at Perkins+Will, an international architectural and interior design firm. She is the national interior design healthcare practice leader, formulating research and design initiatives throughout the firm’s 19 offices. She can be reached at DCResearch@perkinswill.com.

Data and content for this article was developed from the following sources:

Breiling, B.J. and Hartley, L. (1996). Light Years Ahead: The Illustrated Guide to Full Spectrum and Colored Light in Mindbody Healing. California: Celestial Arts.

Coghill, R. (2000). The Healing Energies of Light. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.

Gimbel, T. (1994). Healing with Color and Light: Improve your Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Health. New York: Fireside (Simon & Schuster Inc.)

Graham, H. (1990). Time, Energy and the Psychology of Healing. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd.

Liberman, J. (1991). Light – Medicine of the Future: How we can Use it to Heal Ourselves Now. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company, Inc.

Wellman, T. (2003, Jun/Jul). Heliotherapy: Let the Sunshine In! Total Health, 25(3), 40-41.

http://www.mayoclinic.com