The Weekly Thread: human photosynthesis and cellular energy, hip hinge movements, and the “soul” of getting outside.

Information transfer is a fundamental part of life. 


Growing research has shown our cells and DNA use biophotons to store and communicate information. It appears that biophotons are used by the cells of many living organisms to communicate, which facilitates energy/information transfer. 

Naturally, your next question might be…

What is a biophoton?

A biophoton refers to an extremely weak electromagnetic wave or particle of light emitted by living organisms, including plants, animals, and humans. The term “biophoton” is derived from the words “bio” (meaning life) and “photon” (a basic unit of light). Biophotons are believed to be emitted as a result of various biological processes occurring within cells and tissues.

We cannot see these biophotons with the naked eye, however, turn out the lights, and with the right camera, you can see, we all emit light waves of various colors, and thus, it sure looks like we sparkle. 


Understanding more about the role of biophotons and why this is important to our health.

Sunlight contains a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet (UV) light, and infrared light. Some studies suggest that certain wavelengths of light, particularly in the visible and UV ranges, may have an influence on biophoton emissions and cellular processes. It is hypothesized that exposure to sunlight might affect the generation, propagation, or detection of biophotons in some way, potentially influencing cellular communication.

Here’s a quick rundown of what the early research in this area is telling us:

✔️ Researchers have conducted experiments that suggest biophotons are involved in intercellular communication. For instance, studies have observed the emission and transmission of biophotons between cells and tissues, indicating a potential means of cellular signaling.

✔️ Various studies have shown that different cells and tissues emit characteristic patterns of biophotons. These patterns can change under different physiological or pathological conditions, indicating a potential link between biophoton emissions and cellular processes.

✔️ Advanced techniques such as photon counting and imaging methods have allowed scientists to detect and measure biophotons emitted by living organisms. These observations provide empirical evidence for the existence of biophotons and their potential significance.

✔️ Light therapy and photobiomodulation, which involve exposing cells or tissues to specific wavelengths of light, have shown promising results in various areas of health and healing. While the mechanisms are not yet fully understood, some researchers speculate that the effects might be mediated, at least in part, through biophotonic interactions.

✔️ Finally, it is well accepted that at the core of the central nervous system (CNS) is bioelectricity (yes, we run on biologically produced electricity), which is responsible for many primary functions of the CNS. Many of the higher functions and mental activities of the brain still cannot be explained such as perception, learning and memory, emotion, and consciousness.

✔️ Recently, both experimental evidence and theoretical speculation have suggested that biophotons may play a potential role in neural signal transmission and processing, contributing to the understanding of the high functions of the nervous system.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that human beings emit weak, organic light waves called biophotons. 

Typically, the way the human body works, is that everything serves a purpose. The research and study of the interaction of biophotons and their role in cellular communication is early and still growing, however, it certainly seems to point to a strong correlation. 

On average, it is estimated that the human body contains 40 trillion cells. 

These cells serve all kinds of different purposes and as parts of different tissues such as blood, bone, muscle, kidney, heart, brain, and so much more. 

If biophotons play a role, quite possibly a significant role in making all 40 trillion of these cells communicate with each other, then biophotons play a critical role in every single process in the body. 

Get your sunlight. 

We also know that the natural waves of light emitted by sunlight, when connected to the human body, increases biophoton production and activity. 

This could mean that natural sunlight acts as a natural battery charger of sorts that can jumpstart the communication of all 40 trillion of these cells. 

We already know that natural sunlight exposure is critical to the production of D3, an immune boosting, disease fighting hormone that the human body produces endogenously. It could very well be possible that biophotons not only play a role in this, but also a role in many more processes that can positively impact and benefit our long term health and wellness. 

There’s a strong chance we’re really only at the beginning stages of starting to unpack why natural sunlight is so beneficial to our health. 

We’ve covered extensively the role of water in the body, and how it helps us produce this energy known as bioelectricity. If you couple that with the cellular communication that occurs when biophotons from our cells connect with natural light waves from the sun, and you’re looking at the beginning stages of photosynthesis. 

Sure, we may not exclusively use natural sunlight and water to produce our energy like plants do, but I do think this idea of “human photosynthesis”, and the understanding of just how critical of a role quality water and natural light plays in the energy production and cellular function in the human body is an area of research and understanding that will only continue to gain momentum with time. 

The “Hip Hinge”


Last week I began a segment where I will outline key movements to incorporate into your life on a daily or weekly basis to keep you functionally strong, flexible, and mobile for life. 

Note, I say “movements” and not “exercises”. What I’m outlining are specific types of movements for everyday life, and then I outline various exercises you can do within that type of movement. 

Everything I will outline and provide video links for are movements that require no more than a single kettlebell, and can be done anywhere, and don’t need to be part of an actual exercise regimen, and are a great excuse to get outside, and get your bare feet in the grass. 

If not part of an exercise regimen, just work these movements into your life and day throughout the week. 

These movements are ideal for kids and young teens to work on specific mobility and reduce risk of injury in sports, all the way up to the eldest of adults. 

At the conclusion of this weekly segment, I will share some full body workouts that I do myself, to help you put some workouts together using all of these essential movements. 


Hip hinge movements primarily involve flexing and extending at the hip joint while maintaining a neutral spine. Some common exercise movements that involve a hip hinge are:

1. Deadlifts: Whether using a barbell, dumbbells, or kettlebell; deadlifts require a hip hinge to lift the weight from the floor and return to an upright position. 

2. Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs): Similar to deadlifts, RDLs emphasize the hip hinge pattern while targeting the posterior chain, including the hamstrings and glutes.

3. Kettlebell Swings: This dynamic exercise involves a powerful hip hinge to swing the kettlebell between the legs and up to chest level, using the momentum generated by the hips.

Remember to maintain proper form and technique while performing these exercises.

CLICK HERE to watch an example of Single Arm Deadlifts. 

CLICK HERE to watch an example of Single Leg RDLs.

CLICK HERE to watch an example of Kettlebell Swings. 

Are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?


Oftentimes in these “Meditations”, I share with you something I’m pondering on, whether it be a quote, a personal thought, or something I read somewhere that stuck with me and made me think more deeply on it. 

In connection with the theme of getting outside and soaking up more light, I’m going to simply share a poem with you that I came across that stuck with me, and well, there’s not much else to really add to it. 

I’ve been digging into the science of why natural sunlight exposure is so beneficial, however, there’s another more qualitative benefit, and that is that getting outside and appreciating nature, truly taking it in, is just good for the soul, and this poem encompasses this sentiment far better than I ever could. 

Have you ever tried to enter the long black branches?

By Mary Oliver

Have you ever tried to enter the long black branches of other lives --
tried to imagine what the crisp fringes, full of honey, hanging
from the branches of the young locust trees, in early morning, feel like?

Do you think this world was only an entertainment for you?

Never to enter the sea and notice how the water divides
with perfect courtesy, to let you in!
Never to lie down on the grass, as though you were the grass!
Never to leap to the air as you open your wings over the dark acorn of your heart!

No wonder we hear, in your mournful voice, the complaint
that something is missing from your life!

Who can open the door who does not reach for the latch?
Who can travel the miles who does not put one foot
in front of the other, all attentive to what presents itself
continually?
Who will behold the inner chamber who has not observed
with admiration, even with rapture, the outer stone?

Well, there is time left --
fields everywhere invite you into them.

And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away
from wherever you are, to look for your soul?

Quickly, then, get up, put on your coat, leave your desk!

To put one's foot into the door of the grass, which is
the mystery, which is death as well as life, and
not be afraid!

To set one's foot in the door of death, and be overcome
with amazement!

To sit down in front of the weeds, and imagine
god the ten-fingered, sailing out of his house of straw,
nodding this way and that way, to the flowers of the
present hour,
to the song falling out of the mockingbird's pink mouth,
to the tippets of the honeysuckle, that have opened

in the night

To sit down, like a weed among weeds, and rustle in the wind!

Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

While the soul, after all, is only a window,

and the opening of the window no more difficult
than the wakening from a little sleep.

Only last week I went out among the thorns and said
to the wild roses:
deny me not,
     but suffer my devotion.
Then, all afternoon, I sat among them. Maybe

I even heard a curl or two of music, damp and rouge red,
hurrying from their stubby buds, from their delicate watery bodies.

For how long will you continue to listen to those dark shouters,
caution and prudence?
Fall in! Fall in!

A woman standing in the weeds.
A small boat flounders in the deep waves, and what's coming next
is coming with its own heave and grace.

Meanwhile, once in a while, I have chanced, among the quick things,
upon the immutable.
What more could one ask?

And I would touch the faces of the daises,
and I would bow down
to think about it.

That was then, which hasn't ended yet.

Now the sun begins to swing down. Under the peach-light,
I cross the fields and the dunes, I follow the ocean's edge.

I climb, I backtrack.
I float.
I ramble my way home.