We Are Vessels of Light: How Sunlight Moves Through Us and Mends Our Vision

There is a kind of magic in morning light…an invisible cathedral of photons spilling through the bones of your hand, rising through your blood like a prayer in reverse.
You stand in the sun and you do not even realize: you are glowing.

Not metaphorically, not symbolically, but truly.
Radiantly.
The red end of the spectrum (those longer, slower waves) pass through you like a ghost through a chapel wall.
And in their wake, they leave not destruction, but healing.

It’s a truth as old as firelight and as fresh as a newly published paper.
One that neuroscientist Andrew Huberman recently shared, along with a haunting black-and-white image of two glowing hands.
Light, pouring through flesh and revealing something ancient in our design: that we were built not just to receive the sun, but to be transformed by it.

Longer wavelengths in sunlight, particularly in the red and near-infrared spectrum, have now been shown to pass through the human body and initiate biological repair.
They reach the mitochondria in our cells, stimulating healing, boosting energy production, and even…astonishingly improving vision.

This isn't mysticism.
This is physics. This is biology.
This is the kind of real-world poetry where the sun doesn’t just warm us, it tunes us.

Glen Jeffery’s Vision: Seeing with Light

Professor Glen Jeffery, the senior author of the study Huberman shared, has been exploring the intersection of light and vision for decades.
His research peers into the retina and asks a deceptively simple question: what happens when we give the eye the kind of light it truly needs?

The answer, as it turns out, is clarity.
Restoration.
A kind of cellular remembering.

Jeffery’s studies have found that exposing the eyes to longer wavelengths of light (particularly around 670 nanometers) restores function in aging retinal cells.
It’s like giving the mitochondria in your eyes a long drink of water after years in the desert.
They begin to function better, process energy more efficiently, and reduce oxidative stress.

In one of his most striking studies, just three minutes of red light exposure improved vision in people over 40.
Not just theoretically. Not just microscopically.
Tangibly.
Letters on a chart that were once blurred became sharp again. Colors deepened.
The world came back into focus.

And all of it…from the same red light that pours through your hand every time you reach toward the sun.

Mitochondria: The Tiny Engines That Drink Light

The body is not a machine.
But if it were, mitochondria would be the spark plugs.
These microscopic structures, once ancient bacteria, now serve as the power plants within nearly every cell in your body.
They’re the reason your heart beats, your muscles contract, your thoughts form.

And they respond to light.

More specifically, to longer wavelengths…like those found in sunlight at dawn and dusk, or emitted by specific red-light therapy devices.
These wavelengths penetrate tissue and are absorbed by a mitochondrial enzyme called cytochrome c oxidase.
When that happens, the mitochondria produce more ATP…the energy currency of life.

In essence, light feeds the cell.

And if light can feed a single cell, it can feed a system.
If it can feed a system, it can feed a life.

This is what researchers are now uncovering: that aging, fatigue, inflammation, even degenerative conditions like macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s, may be slowed (or in some cases, even partially reversed) by strategically applied light.
Red light.
Infrared light.
The kinds of photons we once bathed in every morning before the screens and fluorescents took over.

Why Vision Improves

The eye is an exposed nerve, wrapped in pigment and miracles.
It is the only part of the brain we can look at directly.
And it, more than almost any other organ, suffers as we age.

Retinal cells, like the rest of the body, lose mitochondrial efficiency over time.
The older we get, the more oxidative stress accumulates, and the more our vision dims…not just metaphorically, but biologically.

What Jeffery’s research suggests is that a simple, non-invasive exposure to red light can begin to undo some of that dimming.
The light essentially recharges the retina’s batteries.
Even low exposures (just a few minutes a day) have been shown to improve contrast sensitivity and color detection.

Imagine: a treatment that doesn’t require injections or surgery or side effects.
Just a bit of sunlight at the right angle. Or a diode glowing gently in your living room, mimicking the ancient light of a morning sun.

The implications are vast.

The Forgotten Language of Light

We have always known light was healing, even before we had the words for it.

Ancient cultures built temples aligned with the sun, marking solstices with stone and ceremony.
Egyptians used sunlight as a therapeutic agent.
Greeks built solariums for healing.
Even in the modern era, heliotherapy was used to treat tuberculosis before antibiotics were discovered.

Somewhere along the way, we forgot.
We cloistered ourselves indoors. We buried ourselves in blue light and windowless rooms.
We bathed in LED glare and told ourselves it was enough.

But the body remembers.

There is a deep, cellular recognition in the way skin warms under morning sun.
In the way vision feels sharper after a walk at golden hour. In the way depression lifts when we sit beside a window for too long and don’t understand why.

This is not coincidence. This is not placebo. This is biology: ancient and elegant and newly re-understood.

Applications Beyond Vision

If red light can restore vision, what else can it do?

As it turns out…quite a lot. Research into photobiomodulation (PBM), the fancy term for healing with light, is rapidly expanding.
Studies have shown that near-infrared light can:

Reduce inflammation in joints
Speed muscle recovery
Improve cognitive function in aging brains
Aid wound healing
Mitigate symptoms of depression and anxiety

Athletes are using red-light saunas.
Biohackers are using near-infrared masks.
Dermatologists are using red-light panels for skin rejuvenation.
And perhaps most intriguingly, neurodegenerative researchers are exploring transcranial infrared therapy…shining light into the skull to help the brain heal itself.

Quiet, peer-reviewed, slowly expanding…ike the soft unfolding of dawn.

The Image That Changed My Morning Walks

After seeing that image Andrew Huberman shared (two hands, glowing with internal rivers of light) I haven’t looked at sunlight the same way.

Now, when I walk in the morning, I turn my palms to the sun like an offering.
I feel the warmth not just on my skin, but in my bloodstream.
I imagine the red light weaving through me, waking up cells I’ve forgotten how to care for.

I no longer think of the sun as something to shield against, but as a kind of medicine.
Ancient. Available.
Free.

Of course, we must be careful with UV. But the red and near-infrared ends of the spectrum?
They hold a different kind of power. A healing hum in the waveforms.
A quiet mending.

Light as Language, Light as Love

If you think about it long enough, you begin to wonder…maybe the body isn’t just built for light.
Maybe it is made of light.

Photons interacting with electrons.
Wavelengths stored in skin.
Mitochondria drinking color.

We are not solid. We are not still.
We are light made slow.

And perhaps the reason red light heals us is because it reminds us of what we are.
Not machines. Not minds in meat suits.
But harmonies.
Tuning forks for the sun.

We are music in matter. And light plays through us like song.

Practical Guidance: How to Use Light for Vision and Health

If this idea sings to you, here are a few ways to explore it gently:

1. Morning Sunlight

Spend 5–10 minutes in early morning sun, if possible. Let it touch your eyes (without looking directly at the sun). Near-sunrise light is richer in longer wavelengths.

2. Red Light Devices

Look for red-light therapy panels with wavelengths around 660–670 nm (red) and 810–850 nm (infrared). Use them with eyes closed for retinal benefit, or on skin for mitochondrial support.

3. Reduce Blue Light at Night

Limit bright, blue-heavy screens in the evening. They disrupt circadian rhythm and don’t offer the healing benefits of red light. Use blue light blocking glasses like me!

4. Follow the Research

Follow scientists like Glen Jeffery or Andrew Huberman. Their work is illuminating the path back to what our bodies instinctively know: light is medicine.

Fading Light

When the day ends and the sun slips behind the horizon, I often think of those quiet waves still moving through the world…long, gentle, undetected by most, yet echoing in the deepest parts of who we are.

We are not sealed shut.
We are transparent in places.
And when light enters us, it doesn’t just illuminate, it restores.

So next time you reach your hand into the light, remember: you are not just receiving.
You are being rewritten. Cell by cell. Vision by vision.
Wave by wave.

We are beings of biology, yes…but we are also beings of light.

Recommended Tools for Embracing the Light

If this article stirred something in you (a memory in your cells, a curiosity in your spirit) these red light therapy tools may help you begin your own journey into the wavelengths that heal.
I’ve handpicked a few gentle, beginner-friendly options below.
Each one supports the science shared above while honoring the body's natural rhythms.

Full-Spectrum Red Light Panel (660nm + 850nm)

A powerful, no-nonsense option for targeting mitochondria throughout the body.

Compact Wand for Face & Eyes

Perfect for gentle use around the eyes (with eyes closed), face, or smaller targeted areas.

Infrared Light Therapy Face Mask

Combines wellness and beauty in one wearable form, great for skin and cellular healing.

Sunrise Simulation Lamp

For those mornings when the real sun is hiding, this lamp mimics the gentle glow of dawn.

Source

Jeffery, G. et al. (2024). Longer Wavelength Light Enhances Mitochondrial Function and Visual Performance in Humans. University College London.