Light therapy Health Article

Alternative light therapies

Chromatherapy may be administered in several different ways. The first step is determining the source or location of the patient's energy imbalance. Some color therapists or chromapaths are sensitive to the colors in the aura, or energy field surrounding a person's physical body that is invisible to most people. Dark or muddy colors in the aura are thought to indicate the locations of energy imbalance. Another technique involves suspending a quartz crystal on a pendulum over each chakra while the patient lies on a table or on the floor. The crystal swings freely if the chakra is open and energy is moving normally, but stops or moves irregularly if the chakra is blocked.

In the second stage of treatment, colored light is directed at specific areas of the body. The chromapath may use either colored light bulbs or may filter white light through a colored plastic filter. The red, orange, and yellow rays are thought to enter the body more effectively through the soles of the feet; patients receiving these colors of light may be asked to sit on the floor with their bare feet 12–14 inches from the light source. The green ray is thought to enter through the solar plexus and the blue, indigo, and violet rays through the crown of the head. Blue light can be used to irradiate the whole body for the relief of physical pain, and violet light can be similarly used to relieve nervous strain and mental disorders.

Another form of colored light therapy involves the use of gemstones in the colors appropriate to each chakra. The crystal structures of gemstones are thought to reflect and transmit energy vibrations, including color vibrations. In gemstone treatment, the chromapath first cleanses the patient's aura with a clear quartz crystal and then places colored gemstones (usually semiprecious rather than expensive precious stones) on the parts of the body corresponding to the location of the chakras while the patient is lying on his or her back or stomach. The colored stones are thought to both cleanse the aura and recharge the energy centers.

A third form of colored light therapy is called color breathing or color visualization. It can be self-administered at home or any other private space. The patient sits in a chair with both feet on the floor, or sits on the floor in the lotus position. He or she then breathes slowly and rhythmically while visualizing being surrounded by light of the appropriate color and breathing in that color. The patient may also repeat a verbal affirmation related to the color, such as "The orange ray is filling me with vitality and joy," or "The violet ray is healing every part of my being."