Reflexions
on Earthing
By Robert Ross, CHZT
“I have been walking
barefoot all summer, for two-tenths of
a mile back and forth to work, a few times a day, and pretty much anywhere else where
I can go barefoot. I also walk around a big grassy field. I love being barefoot. I love, love, love it, and I can’t believe
what a difference it has made in how I feel! More alive, more toned, more articulation
in my feet, more settled emotions,
and greater overall well-being,” states Eileen McKusick a
recent convert to Earthing, from Johnson, Vermont.
— From the book Earthing, by Clinton Ober, Stephen T. Sinatra M.D., Martin
Zucker
It is
called Earthing or Grounding. In a nutshell,
it’s connecting to the earth. Or perhaps, reconnecting to the earth
would be a more appropriate description. The proponents of Earthing claim the simple act of connecting, by walking
barefoot on grass, dirt, or shorelines can, and does, have benefits that are
nothing short of miraculous.
Connecting
to the earth; feeling the pulse of the planet; ‘settled
emotions, a greater overall well-being,’ what’s not to like?
A one-month trial period for me was in order.
The earth’s crust is teeming
with negatively-charged free electrons. According to noted physician Joseph Mercola M.D.:
“When you ground to the electron-enriched earth, an improved balance
of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system occurs.”
And, according to some
experts, one of the major advantages of Grounding or Earthing is the reduction of inflammation and pain. The negatively-charged
electrons migrate up from the ground into the body to the positively-charged
free radicals. They effectively cancel each other out, creating nature’s own
anti-inflammatory.
My Earthing kit arrived, via
UPS, from Earthing headquarters in Palm Springs, CA. Opening the box felt like
Christmas. The kit included an Earthing bed
sheet, a sheet crisscrossed with four-hundred yards of silver thread woven into
it, and an Earthing pad, for use at a desk or when
sitting, an electrical socket tester and a grounding tester. The
grounding tester can test the sheet, pad or anything, to verify the presence of
electrons from a grounding source. Also, in the box of goodies was an Earthing Ground Rod, to be
placed in the ground with an attached wire, if one were not
able to locate a grounding source. Finally, I received the book Earthing, a
DVD on Earthing, titled: The Grounded, and
a booklet titled Going Barefoot.
Time to
reconnect with Mother Earth!
Placing one’s bare feet on the ground? I think I can handle that. I started my
thirty-day test program by walking around the house in bare
feet whenever possible. Although one doesn’t get the benefits of Earthing while
walking on carpets — the carpet blocks the electrons
from the earth — it still achieved some positive results,
like greater muscle and bone articulation. Carpet walking quickly evolved into
walking at the beach a couple of times
a week. Immediately, I noticed one positive result from my foray into Earthing; my feet were happy.
The
foot keeps us upright and balanced, takes us places, likes comfy shoes, and loves foot massages. Information from the foot is
transferred into ankles, knees, hips and spine, all the way up to the brain.
Feet contain twenty-six bones, over a
hundred ligaments, muscles and tendons, and more than a hundred
thousand nerve endings.
And feet, like thoroughbred
horses, like to get out and run, jump,
and feel the soil beneath. My feet were no exception.
Freed from those stuffy shoes, they now walked the shoreline, feeling the initial chill of the ocean water as it rolled over them, and then the loosening sand beneath as the water receded. They felt the minute, uneven
nuances of the land, and temperature changes
of the surface beneath. Bare feet, I was eight again,
running like the wind across a damp lawn in
the spring.
After a
few days of walking on the beaches, I felt more
emotionally settled and my sense of balance
had improved. Those bones, ligaments, tendons and
muscles were relearning what they were designed to do.
Feet liberated, it was time
to figure out how to absorb some electrons via my new Earthing half-sheet. Our
house built in the 1950’s rendered most of the outlets ungrounded, except the kitchen outlets — as a
result of a recent upgrade. Options? Sleep outside on the ground or run a
sixty-foot thick orange extension cord from
the kitchen to the bedroom; wife not too happy, but I had to do what
I had to do.
After
testing to see if my sheet was grounded, this writer was ready to do
some serious sleeping.
The first thing I noticed
was, going to bed was a big event. There was an anticipation involved in this
test. After all, I would be receiving some almost magical electrons from the
earth while sleeping. After a few nights of using the sheet, I noticed that I went to sleep faster
and felt an improvement in overall energy during the day.
Testimonials
about the Earthing sheet are abundant. “I was slated for
surgery and now that is not going to happen” declared
Carol Snyder after using an earthing sheet. Carrie McDonald was
delighted that her son, who had been diagnosed
with ADHD, no longer needed to take his medication. And regarding sleep:
eighty-five percent said they went to sleep
more quickly. Ninety percent reported sleeping better throughout the
night. And one-hundred percent reported feeling more rested when they woke
up.
The earth is a living
electrically-charged body. Free negatively-charged
electrons are on the surface, in search of a home. That ‘home’
is all living plants, trees, shrubs, creatures, and most importantly we human
beings. Walking barefoot allows easy access to these electrons.
In the last fifty years though, rubber and plastic-soled
shoes, which don’t conduct electrons, have replaced leather soled-shoes, which
are conductive for electrons. The result,
some experts say, has led to a dramatic rise in inflammatory type
diseases.
Clint Ober, founder and
co-author of Earthing, is no stranger to adversity. In 1993, the then highly-successful electronics entrepreneur
had experienced a near fatal disease. During the healing process, Clint looked
at his wealth and possessions and said: “I don’t want
any more of this life.” He
sold his business and went on a search for new meaning. Crisscrossing the country in an
RV, Clint was determined, often asking for guidance from above. In 1998 the
proverbial light bulb went off in his head. He was watching a parade and
noticed that everyone, including himself was wearing thick rubber soles. He concluded that all of these
people were insulated from the ground, the very ground that can and does
nourish them. It was during this time period he discovered that when people had
direct contact with the earth, with feet on the ground, or through conductive
materials, their health was better; they slept
better and experienced more energy. He dubbed his discovery
Earthing. He’s
been on a mission ever since to research* and promote this concept.
My
one-month trial period on Earthing was coming to an end. Reading the
book, pamphlet, watching the DVD, and visiting various websites was a bit
overwhelming. There were anecdotal testimonies, scientific studies, and information on atoms, electrons and
free radicals to understand.
With my research and testing
complete, there was a bottom line: the earth is a magnificent round sphere that
nurtures life through food, water, and energy from its depth. And there are
unseen forces that support all living things. But, as a consequence of our
modern lifestyle with freeways, high-rise buildings, and rubber-soled shoes,
that physical connection, that support from the earth, in many cases has been
broken.
My thirty days was a wake-up
call. I’ll be spending more time touching the
ground, walking the shorelines, swimming in the oceans, and most of all:
marveling at this planet’s often unseen gifts.
Khalil Gibran, author of The
Prophet, expresses these sentiments best with his
statement: “And forget not that the earth delights
to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
*Earthing
research can be found at www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/291541 and at
www.earthinginstitute.net
For those interested in
learning more about Earthing products, visit: http://www.earthing.com
Robert Ross can be reached by e-mail
at: SanDiegoRoss@Yahoo.com
Copyright
2015 by Robert Ross, all rights reserved
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