Spend time in the Sunshine

We are a generation of sunscreen worshippers, the children of the original sun worshippers, no doubt. We have heard all the reports of skin cancer scares and sun damage, and we, as a generation have sworn to never leave home without sunscreen. I, too, always wore my SPF 45 while I was working on the farms all those years. In fact, I always headed for the shade at family gatherings and rarely went to the beach without an umbrella and a big hat!

But not anymore. As a nurse, I read a lot (my husband says I read WAY too much!). And I have learned that the scary and deadly melanoma skin cancer is not really related to sun exposure. The less scary and easily treated squamous carcinomas are caused by over exposure to the sun. And get this– sun exposure and the related vitamin D making is a preventive for countless other types of cancers!! Vitamin D levels are also low in people with multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases and osteopososis, to name a few diseases.
Vitamin D synthesis comes from being in the sun, without wearing sunscreen. Optimum exposure is between 10 and 2, the time we are told to avoid the sun! The long UVB rays, the ones that make the vitamin D, are best at these times. This doesn’t mean you need to bake or burn– 20-30 minutes several times a week is sufficient. Then, put on your sunscreen and hat and go about your day.

I have grown to love and respect the sun. I see what it does for my plants, and I feel what it does for my soul. Sometimes I read in the sun for a bit, other times I just sit there and allow my mind to take in the sounds of the birds, or the dogs running through the woods. I try to dismiss all the ingrained negative aspects of the sun I had come to believe, and replace it with thoughts of the sun’s healing warmth, it’s brightness signaling a positive outlook for the world.
Try it. You might like it!