Thermoregulation Workout

April 19, 2024 Sophia Briegleb

Joseph Pilates didn’t just believe in exercising the musculoskeletal system. He also believed in challenging the systems in your body that maintain temperature. Photos from his life show him often underdressed in cold conditions (see his shirtless ski photo here or his snow Pilates photo shoot here) and his former student John Howard Steel described evening walks with Joe this way: “On the street, Joe looked like a strange old man, wearing nothing more than a pair of skimpy gym shorts…, a white turtleneck long-sleeve cotton shirt…, and canvas slippers.” Meanwhile, John wore “a tailored suit, shirt, and tie… and sometimes a coat. We were a study in contrasts.” (Caged Lion, 2020, pg. 46)

Good Stress

Pilates is a hormetic stressor. Hormetic stress is the just right amount of stress. If our body is understressed, it’s never challenged to grow. If it’s overstressed, it can’t repair and heal well. Good exercise is a stress to our system, which repairs later while we rest to grow stronger and more prepared for that stressor again.

We don’t just want hormetic stressors for our muscles. We can benefit from them in other areas of our lives. One of those is with temperature regulation, and recently it’s become more trendy to challenge our bodies with hot saunas, cold plunges, or cryotherapy.

Why try cold plunging?

I personally became interested in cold therapy because I was always so cold in winter. Living in Colorado and spending a good amount of the winter skiing gave me many chances to realize that I was uncomfortably cold in the cold. While some people might then chose to avoid the cold, live somewhere warmer, choose warmer sports, I decided to train my body to better tolerate the cold. I want to be resilient, not fearful or avoidant!

I began cold exposure with cold plunges. Filling my bathtub with cold water, measuring the temperature (the coldest it’s come out of my tap is 43-degrees), then getting as submerged as I could tolerate for as long as possible.

The first plunge was February 2023. The water was 44-degrees, I made it to my waist, and I lasted less than three minutes. My feet hurt so bad! (We have more bloodflow and sensory receptors on our hands and feet, so they’re more vulnerable to the cold).

I persisted. I aimed for at least 10 minutes a week in cold water. I sometimes laid flat in the snow. Initially I would shiver violently after the cold plunges or stay cold for an hour. My body was definitely not conditioned for this.

Shoveling in the single digits underdressed.

Brown Fat

The body will adapt to cold exposure eventually. It will start changing how the mitochondria produce energy to generate more heat instead of ATP. You’ll start making something called Brown Fat, which is metabolically active fat with much more blood and mitochondria to help you make heat. Scientists used to think only newborns had brown fat (to keep them warm because their muscles can’t shiver yet) until a couple decades ago when they realized adults can have it too. And brown fat not only helps you generate heat to stay warm, it also increases your insulin sensitivity. I’ve never been so excited to put on fat before!

Interestingly, to better increase your brown fat, you need to warm yourself up naturally after cold exposure. That means all the times I laid in the snow but then immediately jumped into the hot tub did not help me develop more brown fat (see Snow/Hot Tub video here). Now when I cold plunge, I wrap in a bathrobe afterwards and wait until my body temperature is back to normal before doing anything warming like sitting by the fire or taking a hot shower.

My Results

Fourteen months after starting my cold plunging journey, I am pleased with the results. I can sunbathe outside when the temperature is only in the 50s—my husband is fully dressed and I’m in a bikini, and it doesn’t bother me! I can submerge in 44-degree water now for three times as long as my first attempt. I can submerge in 50-60 degree water for over ten minutes and need no bathrobe to warm myself up after. When I ski, I’m no longer so cold. I am thrilled!

Physiologically, some interesting things happen with cold exposure too. One of them is an increase in the production of dopamine—the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation. In fact, my regular lab results show my dopamine levels increased over three times after beginning regular cold plunging! It also improves mitochondrial efficiency by bringing proteins closer together in the electron transport chain. Since mitochondria power all reactions in the body, this is no small thing.

I also have come to greatly enjoy the stimulation to my nervous system. The initial plunge stimulates the sympathetic nervous system—the fight or flight system that no doubt is worried about your survival in temps this cold. It’s so intense that you gasp! And hyperventilate. And make the sounds of a dying animal. But then, your nervous system realizes it needs to conserve resources and you switch to parasympathetic—your rest, repair, and digest system. I now drop into this phase within 1-2 minutes. My breathing rate slows and I suddenly feel ridiculously calm given the circumstances. It’s like a nice meditation. I believe that our nervous system benefits from this reset, if you will. It’s almost like restarting an electronic device. Some people swear cold plunging makes a huge difference for their mental health, depression, and addiction. It also can reduce pain and inflammation.

Be More Like Joe

To celebrate my success and enjoyment of cold plunging and to “be more like Joe,” I staged a Pilates photo shoot in the snow. I wore a black swim suit and white slippers like Joe. It was 35-degrees out with a mild breeze and it wasn’t bad. I barely needed to bundle up afterwards to walk home. Kinesis Pilates teacher Jennifer also attempted her own cold exposure Pilates in honor of Joe too.

If you want to get started, here are some suggestions:

You don’t have to be in cold water for it to be cold exposure. Being underdressed when it’s cold outside counts.
The best areas to expose to cold are your forehead, chest, and upper back. The latter two especially help with brown fat production.
If you insulate your feet and hands, you’ll be able to handle more intense cold. Alternatively, just exposing those areas to cold also counts as cold exposure. When my tub is too cold for me, I’ll keep my hands and feet out of the water. Wearing slippers for snow Pilates was a must.
Turning your shower to cold is a good start. However, the water warms as it passes down your body and the ambient air is warm too. So submerging is superior.
You’ll stimulate brown fat production best if the temperature is below 60-degrees F.
Dr. Susanna Soberg, author of Winter Swimming, suggests 11-minutes per week of cold plunging for optimal results.

Enjoy working out your body’s thermoregulatory systems and your newly acquired resilience to the cold!

How to improve the health of your fascia

February 7, 2024 Sophia Briegleb

When I was in anatomy cadaver labs in the 1990s, we always used our scalpel to cut away these cobwebs of connective tissue to get to the “good stuff” like muscles and organs. It amazes me how quickly science can change. Now the connective tissue that we completely ignored is recognized as having enormous value. In fact, Scientific American named it the interstitium and declared it a “newly discovered” organ in 2018 (source). It’s no longer just connective tissue holding things together, but also a vast and fast communication network, is likely the location of the meridians and channels recognized for thousands of years by healing modalities like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, an area that can transport not only information but also electrons/energy/Chi/Prana/life force, and a tissue that can generate energy that can power other areas of the body like organs. We are starting to understand how it’s so much more than just the glue that holds us all together.

Fascia is a connective tissue primarily composed of collagen with some elastin. It is a web that connects from skin to muscle, from muscles to tendons (which really aren’t isolated connectors of muscle to bone but rather areas where the fascia thickens into a bundle), from tissues into the extracellular matrix where the lymph bathes the cells. Fascinatingly, the tubules of fascia go from the extracellular matrix through cell membrane proteins called integrins, and into the intracellular matrix. Once inside the cell, this network connects to organelles like the nucleus where it affects which genes get transcribed into proteins as well as the mitochondria where it affects energy production and the formation of biowater (biologically active water that can hold a charge and power operations). This is remarkable. What it means is that every cell in your body is connected to this network and paying attention to the information it gathers. The movement of your body and therefore fascia has the potential to be registered by every cell in your body. This is undoubtedly one of the mechanisms by which movement heals.

You’ve got to move it

When you keep all your joints moving well often, this fascia stays healthy. Cells in the matrix called fasciacytes generate hyaluronic acid, the infamous HA in many beauty treatments used to try to plump wrinkles. One HA molecule has the ability to hold onto up to 1600 molecules of water, which means it’s incredibly hydrating and plumping. Nice for your skin and even nicer for your fascia. Hydrated fascia is healthy fascia. So when you move, you stimulate more HA which holds onto more water, which keeps your fascia hydrated.

Immobilized fascia is unhealthy. It is stagnant, potentially adhered if the immobilization is significant, and dehydrated. It doesn’t have water to hold a charge and it can’t communicate as effectively. If you experience stiffness, your fascia is likely dehydrated. When you’re sitting for long periods, your desire to get up and move and stretch is partially to nourish your fascia. This movement also helps pump lymph, since lymphatic vessels are threaded through the fascia. Really a multitude of great things happen when you move!

Another benefit of moving your fascia is that it generates electricity in the connective tissue. And through this tissue, the energy can be sent to where it’s most needed if the network is robust and functioning properly. This is one of the reasons you feel energized by your workouts.

What kind of movement is best for the fascia? Slow and controlled lengthening movements. Not the sudden, fast ones of high intensity, but rather the gentle and intentional ones found in methods like yoga, Tai Chi, and of course, classical Pilates. Slower movements with a focus on breath also calm the nervous system, which will then tolerate greater degrees of length in the fascia than if you’re in a frenzied fight or flight state like in a HIIT class.

Stretch with strength and control

Romana Kryzanowska—who studied with Joseph Pilates, ran the studio when he and Clara passed, and who trained my teachers Amy Taylor Alpers and Rachel Taylor Segel—said Pilates is “stretch with strength and control.” Isn’t that interesting?! Stretch comes first. I feel today we emphasize the strength and control. Think about how many exercises Joe called stretch—Long Stretch, Up Stretch, Down Stretch, Long Back Stretch, Tendon Stretch, Knee Stretches, Thigh Stretch, Spine Stretch, Single Leg Stretch, Double Leg Stretch. That’s more than he called Massage. None are called Strengtheners. If every exercise is about the stretch primarily, it really becomes a fascia-supporting movement method!

Like a cat

Joseph Pilates got inspiration for his movement method from watching cats, especially wild cats on the Isle of Man where he was interned. Have you ever paid attention to what cats do? They stretch, sun themselves, and nap. They don’t do a lot of movements we would consider strengthening. Perhaps there is more potency to stretch and length (and sun!) than we ever imagined.

Hydration

If your body is supplied with high quality water, this fascial stretching and deformation will pull that water into its matrix. Exposure of this water to the right frequencies (like infrared light, of which over 40% of the sun’s rays are) can help this water organize into structured water—sometimes also called Exclusion Zone (EZ) water, or the 4th phase of water, coherent water, or biowater. It is a more gel-like water, with the ability to separate charges where it connects to cell membranes, generating a battery. To learn more about the benefits of sun exposure, read our blog post All the Sunshine You Can Get. The best water you can drink to support this is mineral water, as mineral content helps the water be better absorbed by the cells and is more electrically conductive. Mineral water is also more likely to lack chemicals that damage fascia like glyphosate and fluoride.

Exercise isn’t the only movement that helps fascia hydrate, build biowater, and generate energy. Compression like from laying on a foam roller or receiving a massage or receiving fascial work (rolfing, structural integration, the work of Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains) can do it too. But exercise gives the added benefit of strengthening your muscles and motor control, so of course that is my recommendation.

Earthing benefits us because of fascia

It is through this fascial network that electrons from earthing travel. The earth has a negative charge and a high supply of electrons. By comparison, we are electron deficient. When you touch the earth with your bare skin, electrons move from higher concentration to lower, or into you. Then via the fascial network, they can travel to wherever you need them most. Read our Return to the Earth blog post to learn more about earthing/grounding.

Consume collagen

Don’t forget that fascia is primarily collagen, so the consumption of high quality protein helps your body have the resources to expand this network (like when you become more flexible) and regenerate it as needed. Animal protein is bioavailable and ready to be used. Protein with collagen (grisly stew meats, bone broth made from bones with cartilage on them) is your best bet. I do not recommend highly processed collagen powders. The more natural and closer to the original source, the better. Remember that the fascia connects to the nuclear DNA and is communicating what’s going on in your environment with it (aka, epigenetics). Do you want that message to be what our DNA has evolved to get for hundreds of thousands of years or some frankenfood alien message?

Tend to Your Tissues

If you take care of your body, it will take care of you. Give it the building blocks and stimulus it needs to thrive, and you will experience more vitality and energy. Move your joints through their full range of motion regularly—daily if possible. Avoid being stationary. If you have surgery, once you’ve healed, work that scar tissue to help it hydrate and behave more normally. Tend to your tissues. Don’t wait until things start breaking down and hurting. Your body will thank you and reward you.

Return to the Earth

October 8, 2023 Sophia Briegleb

For most of our history, humans have had regular physical contact with the earth either through bare skin or conductive animal hides. Only in modern times do we almost never connect with the earth anymore. Rather than walk barefoot or in leather shoes, we have synthetic soles that separate us electrically from the earth. Rather than live in houses with dirt floors or sleeping on animal hides on the ground, we live in elevated buildings separated from the earth. Rather than ride on horses or walk, we use vehicles with rubber tires. Every creature except domesticated pets, animals in zoos, and modern humans still live in daily contact with the earth (for some, like birds, more intermittent but still regular).

Joseph Pilates was inspired by nature. In particular, he watched babies and animals as he was growing up in Germany and wild cats on the Isle of Man where he was interned during WWI to inspire his movement method. Towards the end of his life, he regularly visited the New York Zoo to watched the caged lions and tigers, lamenting their unnatural and limited movement. Another reason for the poor health of animals in zoos is their disconnection from the earth.

Electrons from the Earth

The earth is negatively charged, possessing electrons that pass into conductive materials that connect with it. This includes trees and plants, dirt and rocks, oceans and lakes, animals and humans. As soon as we touch the earth or something connected to it, our electrical potential matches that of the earth’s. And for as long as we stay connected to the earth, electrons pass from it into us.

Increasingly our bodies are subject to inflammation. Many chronic modern diseases are diseases of inflammation—heart disease, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, etc. Our current health model is that we can reduce some of this oxidative stress from free radicals by consuming or supplementing with antioxidants. It’s one of the reasons why a diet high in fruits and vegetables is encouraged and why supplements like C, E, resveratrol, quercetin, and carotenoids are trendy. But not everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables, or expensive supplements, and the research doesn’t always show that they reduce inflammation like we’d expect (source).

But everyone on this earth has free access to its electrons. Normal physiological processes produce free radicals, like when our immune cells attack a foreign pathogen or when the mitochondria in our cells make energy (ATP) in the electron transport chain. The body needs a steady supply of antioxidants to deal with this oxidation and we can often make our own with the right resources (like glutathione) or we can get them from touching the earth.

Research on Earthing

Touching the earth is called Earthing or Grounding. As soon as you do, your inflammation is reduced (source). Earthing also reduces pain (source), promotes wound healing, increases vagal tone (source), improves sleep, normalizes cortisol levels (source), improves circulation, thins the blood (source), and reduces severity of viral illnesses like Covid (source).

Our current medical model focuses on the mechanical (which we address with surgery, physical therapy, Pilates) and biochemical (using pharmaceuticals and supplements). But our bodies are also electrical, clearly evident in the function of the nervous system, heart, and muscle contraction. Considering our electrical environment is something we haven’t really done, but I believe it will prove to be a potent paradigm for understanding the human body and maximizing health.

Personal Experiences with Earthing

For the past six months, I’ve been exploring earthing while also increasing my sun exposure (see our blog post for more about that experiment). I started by putting my bare feet on the earth while getting sun. Then I would garden without shoes on. When I tried putting my feet on a brick patio for 30-45 minutes before bed while watching the sunset, I noticed huge improvements to my sleep. It motivated me to ground more, which meant using tools to also ground indoors. I began connecting to the earth through the grounding wires in our homes and working up to sleeping grounded (working up because even though grounding is healthy, you may still need to dose it correctly for you and work your way up slowly to doing more—I estimate about 10-15% of the clients I’ve taught this to are in that category). I taught select private clients about earthing and offered the opportunity to try grounding during a Pilates lesson. Here are some of the things we have noticed from earthing/grounding:

Reduced pain
Quicker healing from injuries and surgeries
Improved sleep. Clients who used to wake after a couple hours are sleeping twice as long before waking. I had over a solid week of sleeping 8+ hours/night, something that hasn’t happened to me in decades.
Improved mood
Feeling more “zen”
Reduced swelling
Reduced muscle tension
Increased flexibility
Less emotional stress when grounding during work in a high stress job
Ability to drink alcohol without hangovers (if earthing while drinking, noted by multiple people)
Decreased reactions to vaccines. One person who had ten vaccines in the past few years (Covid boosters, flu shots) went from being “down” for 1-5 days after each shot to feeling perfectly fine post vaccine. She is grounding overnight and also increasing sunlight exposure.
Decreased blood pressure. Having to lower medications because BP is so much lower.
Improved energy
Decreased brain fog
Decreased digestive issues
Faster healing from viruses
Feeling calm, clear and focused after a grounded Pilates session

Before and after 45 minutes of grounding during a private Pilates lesson. Visible reduction in swelling and fingers that hurt to bend before did not after.

One unique improvement relates to me and bodywork. Celia, who offers Moving Manual Therapy at Kinesis Pilates on Thursdays, has been my body worker since 2016. I’ve seen her at least once a month for those seven years. Once I started grounding, she said that her ability to do her body work—organ work, cranial sacral therapy, fascial work—on me improved greatly. She said that previously, it was like watching a TV screen with a poor connection and static. Now with grounding, the signal is clear. She’s so compelled that she is grounding more herself as well as grounding massage clients.

Americans spend an average of 93% of their time inside buildings and cars (source). Ninety-three percent! That equates to less than two hours outside in a 24-hour period and even then, we are disconnected from nature via sunglasses, hats, sunblock, clothing, and synthetic shoes. I believe that more time spent in nature with fewer things separating us from it is important for our health—something we can presume Joseph Pilates thought too by the way he lived his life (often seen outdoors in minimal clothing and footwear).

How to Earth

To earth, simply touch any bare skin of your body, not just feet, to the earth or conductive materials in contact with the earth. This includes dirt, sand, rocks, grass, the leaves of plants grown in the ground, brick and flagstone patios, even concrete (wood decks do not ground you, nor does asphalt). Natural bodies of water are conductive, especially if they’re loaded with salts and minerals like the ocean. You’ll benefit immediately, so even for a minute is better than none. But the longer you do it, the more benefits you’ll reap. Try earthing when eating meals—that’s 30-60 minutes you could be grounded each day without setting aside additional time. Another great time is first thing in the morning when you’re outside getting natural sunlight into your eyes, as is prior to bed. If you toughen up your feet, you may be able to go on barefoot walks (this took me months to do with the use of moccasins first). I sometimes even take my small barrel or chair outside and do Pilates on the lawn.

It is getting cold as winter approaches, but fear not! There are tools to help you ground indoors through the grounding wires installed in every electrical outlet in your house. There are mats to place your feet on, sheets, patches you can connect directly to specific body parts, even grounded socks and shoes. If you’re nervous about grounding through your house’s electrical system, remember that almost all scientific studies were done this way rather than by touching the earth so that the studies could be double blind (participants and researchers didn’t know if they were actually grounded or in the control group ungrounded).

Plumbing fixtures in houses as well as pools, fountains, and hot tubs are also grounded. Maybe that’s one reason why we think spending time in a bath or hot tub is so relaxing and restorative. The tools I use to ground clients in the studio are from earthing.com. If you’d like to try being grounded during your next Pilates private lesson with me, just ask.

Joseph Pilates believed his movement method would return you to life. You’ll reap even greater health benefits if you also return your connection to the earth!

Feel free to email sophia@kinesispilatesdenver.com with questions or to share your experiences. And check out the resources below to learn more.

Resources:

The Earthing Movie (free with ads on Tubi)
Earthing book by Clint Ober
Published articles (PubMed, ScienceDirect)
www.earthinginstitute.net
YouTube channel of Dr. Laura Koniver

All the sunshine you can get

July 17, 2023 Sophia Briegleb

“By all means never fail to get all the sunshine and fresh air that you can… Whenever and wherever possible, wear shorts or sunsuits outdoors, and let the lifegiving ultraviolet rays reach and penetrate into every skin pore of your body,” said Joseph Pilates on page 28 of his 1945 book Return to Life Through Contrology.

Meanwhile, the U.S. FDA suggests avoiding the sun by wearing clothing, hats, sunscreen and sunglasses, and not going out at certain times of the day. We are told that the sun is dangerous and causes burns, aging, and cancer. They say the sun’s UV radiation causes “harmful effects.” If we follow this advice, we get very little sun and end up spending more time indoors.

Joseph Pilates, Edgar Trier (Carola Trier’s husband), and an unidentified third person spending time together outdoors. Joseph Pilates clearly is trying to get all the sunshine he possibly can. Photo taken by Heather Erdmann. Found at The Pilates Transparency Project.

But humans evolved with the sun. Every living thing on this planet evolved with the sun. How could something we’ve co-existed with for so long be so dangerous for us?

D deficiency epidemic

For the past four years, I’ve been testing my vitamin D levels and always had slightly low levels. Below 20 ng/ml is considered deficient, while below 30 is insufficient. A 2011 study found that 42% of Americans are deficient in D (with 82% of Blacks and 69% of Hispanics deficient). We are led to believe by the medical community and government organizations that we can supplement our way out of this problem. However, I was personally taking high doses of vitamin D daily (5000 IUs) and still my blood level was only in the 30s. It is generally advised to aim for levels between 40-60 ng/ml.

More sun, better health?

Interestingly, some research shows better longevity with more sun exposure. In fact, this 2016 study concluded that sunbathers live longer. The authors state that “avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking.” Another 2020 study concluded that “exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation reduces the risk of breast cancer, especially in women over 40.” Many diseases—like cancer, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis—have a higher incidence with higher latitude, implying something in sun exposure is preventative for these diseases (source and MS source).

So is the sun life giving, as Joe called it, or “harmful” (FDA) and “damaging” (American Academy of Dermatology) as many in the medical community claim today? Perhaps the answer isn’t so black or white.

I’ve been following the typical sun avoidance recommendations for 18 years—always wearing hats, sunglasses and sunscreen when outside. But I decided to research the sun and try exposing myself to a little more of it. I had been using various infrared lights on my body but about 40% of the sun’s rays are infrared. So why buy a machine and use it indoors when the sun gives it daily for free? Also, my vitamin D levels were low despite supplementation and I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to increase them through sun alone.

Joseph Pilates in 1958 showcasing the bed he designed. Clearly he’s been getting a lot of UVB. Photo taken by Joseph Costa. Found at The Pilates Transparency Project.

I began by exposing my eyes to sun when I first woke in the morning. Early morning sun is full of infrared rays, increasingly shown in research to be healing to the body. When the weather was cooler, I sat inside next to an open window and as the weather permitted, I would go outside for a morning dose of sun. Earth’s atmosphere filters most UV light in the early morning so this is a great time to enjoy as much sun as you can without worry about getting burned.

So long sunglasses

Getting rid of my sunglasses wasn’t easy. The sun’s rays were initially intense for my eyes. However, early morning sun is more tolerable and within a couple weeks, I found myself no longer needing sunglasses. At midday, I will wear a hat if it is bright, but I don’t really use sunglasses anymore. Sunlight directly into our eyes provides a whole host of benefits—photosensitive cells in the retina connect to various important structures in our brain like the hypothalamus (setting our circadian rhythm which controls many biological processes within the body), pituitary gland (the master gland that controls a variety of hormones), and pineal gland (responsible for making melatonin in the morning from exposure to light and then releasing it at night to help us feel sleepy). Sunlight in the eyes also helps the brain understand the true level of light in the environment and prepare the body appropriately and increases production of neurotransmitters like serotonin. Why cheat yourself of all these benefits by avoiding sunlight in your eyes?

Prior to this self experiment, I didn’t realize that sunlight through a window was significantly altered. So if you think you’re getting natural sunlight when you’re driving in your car or sitting at a desk near a window, you’re not. Open your windows and now the full spectrum of sunlight can enter your eyes.

Ultraviolet light

Sunlight in the morning is good for you, but what about midday sun? Depending on your latitude and time of year, UVB and UVA rays start to hit the earth around 9-10am. This is why we’re often told to avoid the sun from 10am-2pm (or sometimes we’re told 4pm. My phone’s weather app tells me to use sun protection until 6pm!) However, UV rays aren’t all bad! Those are the rays that Joe called lifegiving. We use UVB rays to synthesize “vitamin” D, which isn’t a vitamin at all but rather a hormone. We actually need to make more vitamin D in the sunny months and store it because often we cannot produce it in the winter, again depending on your latitude (latitudes above 40 like Denver will result in no ability to synthesize D from November to March).

This means I had to get midday sun. I downloaded an app called D Minder and started figuring out how much midday sunlight I could handle without burning. I tried 10 minutes initially and began increasing it. To date, I have not burned once, even during a week long trip to the beach. Not disrupting the sunlight’s signal to the body through sunscreen and sunglasses has helped my skin develop a base tan and now I can tolerate longer time in the sun. By mid-July, an hour walk during high UV times does not result in a burn.

Photo taken by Bob East and published in the Miami Herald on April 9, 1961. Found at The Pilates Transparency Project.

Blood tests show that this UVB exposure is increasing my vitamin D production. In just 4 weeks of thoughtful and measured sun exposure, my level went up 6 ng/ml. I’m no longer hovering near insufficiency in the 30s but now have my level in the 40s. UPDATE: I tested again in September, after four months of intentional sun, and my D levels are now in the mid 50s. They rose 60% in just four months, without any supplementation!

Vitamin D isn’t the only hormone to increase in response to sun exposure. Sex hormones—like testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone—also increase in response to UVB light, according to this 2021 study.

And while we think of UVA light as being mostly responsible for aging, it is also highly antimicrobial, found to kill bacteria, viruses, and even influenza and coronaviruses. In the flu pandemic of 1918, hospitals were so full of patients that they began treating some of them outside. The death rate for patients within the hospital was 40% but for those treated outside, it was only 13% (source).

Sunscreen and false security

Sunscreen was developed around the time Joseph Pilates was writing his book and what it’s designed to do is block UVB rays. These are the rays we need to make vitamin D and they are the rays that cause sunburn. However, most chemical sunscreens do not block UVA rays. These are the rays we usually think of as causing aging. UVA also penetrates deeper than UVB. The problem with wearing sunscreen is that it blocks the rays that warn us that our sun exposure is too much (by causing a burn), therefore allowing us to stay in the sun much longer without blocking other rays like UVA. This allows us to overdose on certain rays. Furthermore, many sunscreens contained dangerous ingredients that are known hormone disrupters or that can be destabilized in the presence of sun then sit on our skin exposing our cells to oxidized ingredients. Mineral sunblocks don’t carry the same risks as chemical sunscreens, but they still give a false sense of security in the sun. One final sunscreen/sunblock consideration is that some ingredients like oxybenzone may penetrate past the skin to enter blood, the placenta, breastmilk, and even the brain. Is that something you want to be lathering on your body daily?

Is melanoma reason enough to avoid the sun?

One of the reasons why we use so much sunscreen/sunblock is that we’re worried about melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. This is a huge driver in recommendations to avoid the sun. However, let’s get a little perspective. While 97,000 cases of melanoma are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2023, that is 0.029% of the population. In the meantime, more than 3x that number will be diagnosed with breast cancer, whose risk is reduced by sun exposure. And 42% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D from sun avoidance, which can affect a whole host of health issues (like osteoporosis/osteopenia which affects 54 million Americans—556x more common than melanoma) as well as cancer rates. Higher levels of vitamin D are correlated with lower cancer risk (source and source) so while avoiding the sun may reduce the risk of skin cancer, it may increase the risk of other cancers and illnesses. Of course no one wants to get melanoma, but consider its relative risk and weigh that against the other diseases you’re trying to avoid. Do you avoid driving in a car just because of the risk of a car accident? No, you just take proper safety precautions instead. I’m arguing for the same with the sun.

Joseph Pilates was inspired by animals. I too learn by watching my dog’s movement and behavior. One day, she was in a basement bedroom for most of the day while the house cleaners cleaned. When I got home and let her out, the first thing she did after her confinement was not pee, drink, eat or run in the yard—it was laying on the patio couch in the sun. Of all the needs she wanted met most, it was SUN. If we pay attention, the natural world has a lot to teach us.

A great way to avoid melanoma is to avoid sunburn and a great way to avoid sunburn is to prepare your skin for the sun. The way people tend to sun these days is not optimal. We avoid it all winter, then overdose on it on our beach vacation. Would you ever sit on the couch for six months and then go and run a marathon? Your skin needs training in the same way that your muscles do. To prepare your skin for summer vacations and more time in the sun, make sure to get good doses of healing infrared rays (available in the early morning and before sunset), don’t wear sunglasses (this blocks your brains ability to understand the true level of light in your environment), and slowly work your way up to higher doses of sun. Begin with 10-minutes of midday, high UV sun. Then slowly increase it. Your body’s natural response is to produce more melanin, which is your own natural sunblock. Once you have that, you can tolerate higher amounts of sun. If you have no tan, you have no business spending a full day in the sun on vacation.

Now that we’re not so fearful of ultraviolet radiation, let me share how I get mine. A great way to get a little UV exposure is to eat lunch outside, giving you a brief but effective dose. Try the D Minder app to estimate how many IUs of D you’ll make in your sun session (in mid July at the 40th latitude, the app estimates that a 20-minute lunch on a clear day with shorts and a t-shirt from 12:20-12:40pm would make 5400 IUs of D—so you really don’t need much. If you’re worried about a burn, expose more of your skin so you can make more D in less time). I often sit on the ground to stack multiple healing modalities—sunning and earthing/grounding—and wear a hat because high sun is too intense for my eyes and I’d rather make my D on my body than my face.

But I don’t want to look old

I know a lot of you reading this are worried about wrinkles and aging. We care A LOT about our appearances. But you know what I care about more? My health, how I feel, and enjoying life. I’m not sure if avoiding looking my age is really worth all the sacrifices. That being said, the only place I do continue to use sunblock (zinc oxide) occasionally is my face and I do wear hats midday. So I guess I’ll retain some vanity for my face, and let the rest of my skin make one of the most useful and important hormones for my body.

Evening sun

The end of the day is much like the beginning, with minimal UV light and proportionally more visible red and infrared light. This means at our house, dinners are eaten outside and our evening routine frequently involves watching the sunset. The healing infrared rays are a great way to balance out the midday UV exposure you had over lunch. You aren’t the only one enjoying the dusk—the mosquitos are out too. I just cover up in more clothing if they’re out and about.

What more sun has done for me:

I am sleeping better. After an adjustment period, I’ve fallen into a very consistent routine of getting sleepy at the same time each night and waking up approximately 8 hours later with maybe one night waking to use the restroom. (For sleep, make sure to avoid artificial light, in particular blue light from screens, in the evenings).
It’s easier to get up in the morning. I was a very slow starter, feeling quite groggy for a while after waking. Now the sunlight into my eyes halts melatonin release and I feel more alert and ready to start my day.
Improved mental energy and creativity (as evidenced by this long blog post).
Increased vitamin D levels (measured by a blood test).
Perceived increased sex hormone levels (subjective not measured, and if you really want to know why I think my hormone levels are up, ask me in person. I’ll tell you.)
More time spent outdoors and in nature. Has led me to explore other ways the environment heals, like grounding (blog post on that coming soon).
Increased hair growth. Infrared light improves collagen production and I can tell my hair is growing faster. I mostly notice that I need to shave my legs more often, but my eyelashes, eyebrows, and head hair are also growing faster and thicker without any expensive serums.
Improved healing. When I get sick, I recover so much quicker than before and without the aid of bottles of supplements (my former go to strategy).
I think my vision is improving. This was already the case from regularly practicing Face Pilates for one year (optometrist found improved vision in both eyes compared to two years prior and improved astigmatism in one eye). But now that I no longer wear my prescription sunglasses, my eyes have to work to focus themselves. Furthermore, being outside means I’m looking at greater distances, something shown to improve nearsightedness.
I’m taking more steps every day. A great way to get more sun into your eyes and onto your skin is to walk outside more.
I am more tan and people comment regularly on how good and healthy I look. I find it interesting that we are intuitively attracted to tan skin (as seen by the regular compliments I’m getting—no one said this in prior years when I was quite pale). It’s almost as if the more time I spend in the sunlight, the more of it is absorbed and then radiates out—and others can perceive that and like it.

Doing the Pilates exercise Star on a sunrise walk on the beach. We spent a week on vacation at 21-degrees latitude, didn’t use sunblock, and never burned. We got as much sun as we wanted early and late in the day, then used a lot of shade midday.

Friend or foe?

My conclusion after six months of studying light and four months into my sunning experiment is that with a little knowledge and at the right times of day for the right amount of time, the sun is more friend than foe. I will continue to get as much sunshine and fresh air as I reasonably can, just like Joseph Pilates advised.