- General

Earthing: This May Be the Best Discovery of the 21st Century!

People of yesteryear came literally to love the soil. They sat on the ground with the feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the Earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with their bare feet on the sacred Earth. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing.

Ota Kte (Luther Standing Bear)

Throughout evolution, humans walked barefoot and slept on the ground and received from the Earth a natural, nurturing, and gentle electric energy. You may have felt this while walking barefoot on a sandy beach – a sense of well-being. That sensation is the ground’s electric energy rising up into your body, the result of the skin of your conductive body making contact with the “skin” of the conductive Earth.

Our modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from this flow of subtle omnipresent surface energy. Today we wear insulative rubber or plastic-soled shoes that block the flow unlike in the 1960s when we all wore leather-soled shoes. In other words, we lose the good negative electrons when we wear rubber soled shoes. Our ancestors and those people living in third world countries were/are grounded – they wore/wear no shoes and they ate raw food. The good thing is our body stores electrons (from the soil) and will deliver electrons from damage. Research now indicates it’s our Telomeres (at the bottom of our DNA) shortening that creates ageing.

Dr. Gerald Pollock states that Grounding/Earthing ourselves structures the water in our body so there’s a negative transfer of electrons in the cell membrane. This is why maintaining good hydration is so important, for when we are dehydrated we are electron deficient. Water rids a headache, not a painkiller. The supplement CoQ10 is an electron donor. When flying in an aircraft it’s a good idea to remove your shoes and socks and put your feet on the seat struts – this will ground you.

Research is now revealing that this energy creates a distinct and uplifting shift in our physiology. It promotes health, vitality, and better sleep; harmonises and stabilises the body’s basic biological rhythms; knocks down (and even knocks out) chronic inflammation; and reduces/eliminates pain. The disconnection from this natural resource right under our feet may likely be a totally overlooked – and major- factor behind the alarming rise of chronic disease in recent decades, and inflammatory-related conditions in particular.

These revelations are the central themes of a new book “Earthing”. Studies were done over many years by Stephen Sinatra, MD, the well-known integrative cardiologist, and Clint Ober, an amazing individual who discovered the health benefits of reconnecting to the Earth.

Darkfield microscope images of blood taken from three individuals in attendance at Dr. Sinatra house just before and after forty minutes of Earthing showed the before and after images. Pictures clearly show a dramatic thinning and decoupling (no aggregation) of blood cells.

Low LDL cholesterol thickens the blood and this is why raising one’s HDL is important because it thins the blood. We need both types of cholesterol in our body (although doctors may say otherwise) for brain function, healthy prostate, etc.

Dr. Sinatra, was skeptical about Earthing at first. He now describes this discovery as the most exciting health breakthrough that he has encountered in his 30-plus years in medicine. It’s a profoundly simple, practical, effective, and cost-cutting way to combat common illnesses and pain problems, and make people healthier. In the field of cardiology, Sinatra says it has great promise for improving arrhythmias, lowering blood pressure, blood viscosity (Earthing thins the blood by improving its zeta potential i.e. it improves the energy between your red blood cells), flow, and energy production of heart cells. And Earthing increases zeta potential by an average of 280%; an incredible discovery states Dr. Sinatra because if we can increase thinning of the blood naturally by Grounding, you can fight off disease. (i.e. any illness that requires good oxygenation to tissues).

It takes around 80 minutes for the free electrons of Earth to reach your blood stream and transform your blood. High blood pressure is thick blood so Earthing/Grounding is of great benefit for the brain. A high sugar diet, smoking, radio frequencies, other toxic electromagnetic forces, emotional stress, anxiety and high uric acid make your blood hyper-coagulable (i.e. thicker and slower moving ) with increased risk of having blood clots or stroke. So when blood doesn’t flow well, oxygen can’t get to the tissues. So one can see how beneficial it is to be Earthed if you have suffered a stroke, have alzheimer’s or other neurological issue.

If children are disconnected from the Earth it disrupts human sugar metabolism, and this may be the cause of a dramatic rise in diabetes in children. Those kids get no exercise, have lots of sugar (soft drinks, bread, pasta, noodles, etc.) and we’ve taken away the ground (many live in high-rise apartments).

Ground yourself on the Earth when doing yoga or your exercises/squats, sprinting, etc. as this delays the onset of muscular soreness (caused by inflammation). Being Earthed allows abundant free electrons to enter the body, which is electrically conductive. Earthing, which enhances ATP (like good nutrition), was found to be the best method to relieve pain in a controlled study. Whenever we provide electrons to make ATP (energy) it allows ATP to not only rejuvenate cells, but revive and repair cells with the raw materials. However fructose (lots in fruit) and high fructose corn syrup (in commercial foods) annihilates ATP.

Lift your heals and near your big toe is acupuncture point K1 – this is most beneficial for receiving free electrons. Dr. Sinatra stated tradesmen would be wise to remove their boots for the first 30 minutes of the day and they would not get pain in their bodies. Concrete is a good conductor but not gravel. The best is bare feet in the sea water, on wet sand, or the dew on the grass of a morning as they push the electrons up the body.

Earthing refers to the discovery of significant health benefits resulting from contact with the Earth’s natural surface electric energy. Contact is as simple as walking barefoot outside, or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors on an earthing sheet which incorporates carbon or silver threads to conduct the Earth’s energy. This allows you to sleep “Earthed” in your bed. Floor or desk and keyboard pads allow you to work or relax grounded (thus preventing carpel tunnel or tendonitis in the wrists); and Velcro body bands and standard medical EKG patches, with a Grounding connection, applied to body parts are used to address local pain and inflammation. If you have knee pain, simply kneel on the grass for 30 minutes.

The wires around our bed, in the wall behind our bed, even if the bed lamp is turned off, is irradiating us with electricity and electric blankets electrify you. There is a rotating magnetic field in the refrigerator which is not healthy for our body. So just as we need Grounding so do our indoor pets. Ensure you are at least five feet away from cooking in a microwave oven and don’t let the children watch it.

Thousands of people – adults and children – have benefited from these Earthing devices. Victorious American-sponsored cycling teams at recent Tour de France competitions used Earthing “sleeping bags” to recover dramatically faster than normal from injuries and grueling competition.

We are a collection of dynamic electrical circuits. In our complex bodies, trillions of cells constantly transmit and receive energy in the course of their programmed biochemical reactions. The movement of nutrients and water into the cells is regulated by electric fields, and each type of cell has a frequency range in which it operates. Your heart, brain, nervous system, muscles, and immune system are prime examples of electrical subsystems operating within your “bioelectrical” body.

If you sustain a light injury your immune system sends white blood cells (neutrophils) to the site. We now understand inflammation markers as: 1) pain 2) redness 3) heat 4) loss of range and motion 5) swelling.

Earthing research demonstrates that connection to the Earth initiates an immediate electrophysiological shift inside your body indicative of improved blood, nervous system, immune system, and muscular function.

When we’re connected to the Earth, the body receives an electric signal that normalises and stabilises its many biological systems. This signal also appears to be the source of negatively charged free electrons, present in unlimited quantity on the surface of the Earth. The hypothesis put forward by scientists involved in Earthing research is that the transfer of electrons into the body quenches/neutralises positively charged, electron-seeking free radicals that drive chronic inflammation activity at the core of many common diseases. So it appears that the mightiest anti-inflammatory on the planet may be the very planet itself!

Just as sunlight provides us with vitamin D, the Earth provides us with another essential ingredient. It may be regarded as an overlooked factor in disease causation – a missing link. Gary Schwartz, PhD, a professor of psychology and medicine at the University of Arizona, suggests that “Earthing may be as fundamental as sunlight, air, water, and nutrients.”

Cultures around the world honoured connectedness to the Earth and described the energy of the Earth as Qi (or ATP/energy) in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Prana in Ayurveda (India).

The distinct health benefits of this energy have remained largely unknown. Thanks to the curiosity and persistence of Clint Ober, a pioneer of the cable TV industry, the benefits are now surfacing. At the age of 49, he became deathly ill – the result of an abscess that nearly destroyed his liver. Ober recovered from the ordeal and decided to look for a higher purpose in life.

It occurred to him one day, when observing people’s footwear, that almost everyone was insulated from the electrical surface charge of the Earth. Knowing the body is conductive, i.e. it conducts electricity, he performed a simple experiment on himself. He rigged up a crude conductive grid to fit on his bed. He took an alligator clip and attached it to the grid, connected a wire to it, ran the wire out the window, and fastened it to a ground rod outside. He then lay down on the grid and measured the voltage on his body. He found that when he was “Grounded,” the EMFs (which are magnetic) on his body had disappeared. The next thing Ober knew, it was morning. He had fallen asleep and slept soundly for the first time in years – and without a pill. This was a big deal for him. He had suffered with constant back pain and disturbed sleep. His friends also had better sleep and less pain.

Ober has inspired and brilliantly organized a dozen studies with scientific experts that have thoroughly validated his initial personal observations of better sleep and reduced pain. They clearly show that Earthing has a powerful influence on the delicate balance between health and illness, with the prospect of longevity and a better life.

One person experienced an immediate cessation of annoying restless leg syndrome. It’s a good idea to sleep Earthed at home and when travelling (preferably with no PJs). Recently introduced is a Blue Shield product which one can use when out of the home, in the car or wherever which is no larger than an iPhone which covers 3m in all directions (it’s recommended not to be used in the bedroom). The annoying need to get up at night to pee, can be substantially abated, to once a night then to nil visits to the bathroom. One lady with asthma found that after she started sleeping Earthed, she rarely used her puffer. Another lady was “absolutely amazed” saying she had not a single flare-up of her fibromyalgia pain.

To quickly experience Earthing for yourself, walk or sit barefoot on the grass, sand, gravel, or unpainted concrete – ground surfaces that conduct energy (wood, asphalt, and plastic do not conduct) for 30 minutes and you should feel calmer and perhaps have less or no pain.

Biophysicist James Oschman, PhD, a leading expert and author on energy medicine, sums up Earthing this way: “The moment your foot touches the Earth, or you connect to the Earth through a wire, your physiology changes. An immediate normalisation begins. And an anti-inflammatory switch is turned on. People stay inflamed because they never connect with the Earth – the source of free electrons which can neutralise the free radicals in the body that cause dis-ease and cellular destruction.”

People with auto-immune (low vitamin D) diseases benefit from Earthing, and those with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease, are stronger when grounded.

Here is a short list of the feedback from people who have Earthed themselves, primarily while sleeping at night:

• Improvement or elimination of the symptoms of many inflammatory-related disorders

• Reduction or elimination of chronic pain

• Better sleep and faster getting to sleep

• Increased energy

• Lowered stress, more calmness by cooling down the nervous system and stress hormones

• Normalisation of the body’s biological rhythms

• Thinner blood, improved blood pressure and flow

• Muscle tension and headache relief

• Accelerated recovery from intense athletic activity

• Lessened hormonal and menstrual symptoms

• Dramatically faster healing and reduction/prevention of bedsores

• Reduction/elimination of jet lag

• Protection against potentially health-disturbing environmental electromagnetic fields (EMFs), e.g. phone towers, high tension wires etc.

High tension wires are chaotic electrical forces coming from electricity that are causing children to get leukemia, and people working with electrical machinery (motors, etc.) have had much higher rates of stroke and CVD. Small motors like a high dryer, a clock radio put out an electrical field which can travel 12-50 feet. Sleeping on a water bed – that’s electricity.

Clint Ober said this electrical pollution/charge goes into the body – he’s talking 60AC. Cordless phones (RF), mobile phones and microwave ovens are another spectrum which are evil chaotic vibrations that destroy the pineal gland, shuts down melatonin, and also disrupts the internal electrical climate of the body, and these all affect the mitochondria (inside every cell). The mitochondrial DNA, unlike nuclear DNA has no defense mechanism. Also, the mitochondrial DNA don’t have the antioxidants glutathione, SOD, etc. to fortify them. That’s why Dr. Stephen Sinatra gives the fertiliser of Magnesium, Ribose, Carnitive, and CoQ10 which breathes in a defensive mechanism Without mitochondrial support we are very vulnerable. The U.S. processed food diet is a mitochondria killer he says. Our mitochondria needs a little zinc, copper, chromium, definitely CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, plus vitamins C and E to get inside the mitochondrial membrane.

The studies to date show sleeping Earthed normalises cortisol levels and improves sleep. Ghaly M, Teplitz D. J Alt Comp Med. 2004;10(5)767-776.

We live in toxic times emotionally, physically and spiritually and our nervous system has become unbalanced. Clint Ober showed Earthing ourselves calms the sympathetic nervous system showing an improvement in heart rate variability (HRV), so improving the organism.

Alpha blockers used in prostate problems and one for asthma affect HRV so increasing cardiovascular events and the heart is more likely to go out of rhythm. Panic, fear and anxiety also affect HRV. That’s why people have more arrhythmias. Also, blood viscosity is a forgotten risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Linus Pauling knew we need vitamin C because when the red blood cells (RBCs) loose vitamin C the velocity of the RBC became less. Pauling knew that when RBCs went down normal functioning did not happen. This can be caused by cigarette smoke that raises fibrinogen that clots the blood. If one, however, carries the gene for hemochromatosis one can’t have high vitamin C because that’s going to enhance the absorption of iron (Fe).

It’s recommended we give blood every 3-4 months because this reduces blood viscosity.

Earthing raises our melatonin because we sleep better. The sicker you are, the more you need to Earth yourself. For high blood pressure it is recommended one gets 12 hours of Earthing. Also, with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, severe angina and heart problems, ground as much as you can to get the blood moving. To this end walk with bare feet, sleep Earthed and use an Earthing pad with your computer, or watching TV. Go bare feet when you walk the dog.

Adding a pinch of Celtic or Himalayan salt in a glass of water twice a day will conduct the body even better.

Given that 99% of us have thick blood it behooves us to Earth ourselves every 30 minutes.

Create your perfect day.