For sure there's more than meets the eye... I've had some interesting experiences, which I'm partly drawing upon for the vagabond stories :)

Belief is indeed the key!

Ha yes, the sun gazing. I tried that as well for a while ;) The problem where I now live is that I am on the west side of a slight hill, so the sun is already too high in the sky to be safe to look into when it breaks through the trees here in the morning. The sun gazing is rumored to have health benefits but I have no personal proof of that.

Another thing I tried is to go first thing in the morning outside and stand barefoot in the cold snow (or wet dew, depending on the season). That experiment didn't last too long, I'm a creature of comfort...