Keke Palmer Says She Damaged Her Retinas While Sun Gazing, Urges Fans to 'Protect Those Eyes'

Vanessa Etienne
·2 min read
Keke Palmer
Keke Palmer

Roy Rochlin/WireImage Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer is known for keeping it real with her fans, and the actress is doing just that by sharing her recent experience sun gazing.

In a recent video from Wired, the actress answered the internet's most searched questions about herself, which included one that asked if she wears glasses.

While responding, the Nope star revealed that her vision has been impaired after sun gazing recently during a visit to Joshua Tree national park.

"I wear glasses, and now I've been walking around lately wearing two glasses," Palmer said.

"For all my spiritual heads out there that's always looking for a different meditation vibe, don't ever do the sun gazing, honey," she continued. "I did sun gazing in Joshua Tree and I sunburned my retina playing around trying to be Gandhi and s— !"

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Sun gazing is a form of meditative practice where an individual stares directly at the sun during off-peak hours — sunrise or sunset — in hopes of clearing the mind and connecting with energy of the sun. Proponents of sun gazing say the energy of the sun can promote healing.

But ophthalmologists urge people to avoid sun gazing as staring at the sun can cause severe or permanent damage to an individual's eyesight. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, too much exposure to UV light can result in eye cancer, cataracts, sunburned eyes, or growths on or near the eyes.

"So be careful with that sun, the UVs, the global warming. You gotta protect those eyes because now I'm seeing double and stuff. My astigmatism is going left," Palmer added in the clip. "The doctor said he can't even promise me it'll heal. So I've just been praying, because damn."

"My eyes have been bad since I was 8 and everybody in my family wears glasses. Hopefully I didn't do too much to mess it up," she said. "Pray for me."