http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/index/ en martinzucker@sbcglobal.net Copyright 2012 2012-05-16T23:02:03+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_inflammation_and_aging_something_to_think_about/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_inflammation_and_aging_something_to_think_about/#When:22:02:03Z Gaétan Chevalier, Ph.D., Director, Earthing Institute Type the word “inflammation” in the search box at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (Pub Med) website and you’ll get more than 377,000 medical research articles to consider. The very first one goes back to an 1813 paper on inflammation in the eyes. It’s been since 2000, however, that the relationship between inflammation and disease has really taken off and specifically the relationship between chronic inflammation and chronic disease. Hitherto, inflammation was largely thought of as the body’s response to injury and infection. That, to be sure, is what acute inflammation is about.  But now, researchers have become preoccupied with the chronicity factor, that is long-term, and the nitty-gritty details of how chronic inflammatory underlies many of the most common health disorders, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative conditions. More than two-thirds of the 58,000 or so articles on chronic inflammation have been published in the last 12 years. Why is there such a big and growing interest in chronic inflammation research?  In the 1980s, medical investigators started to take notice that immune cells congregate at sites of diseased tissue in the body in a wide variety of apparently unrelated disorders. One of the earliest observations involved atherosclerosis, where the lining of arteries become inflamed and damaged, and develop into a potentially life-threatening witches’ brew of fat and debris, the basis of plaque. Russell Ross of the University of Washington identified the presence of macrophages in atherosclerotic tissue, white blood cells known to flock to sites of inflammation. During the next twenty years, arterial disease became increasingly linked to an inflammatory process. By 2000, ongoing studies by Harvard researchers led to the breakout conclusion that cardiovascular disease was inflammatory in nature. By 2004, “smoldering” inflammation had been incriminated as the silent menace behind multiple diseases. The chronic inflammation revolution took center stage worldwide on magazine covers, page one in newspapers, and TV news headlines. Inflammation research became a dynamic growth industry in mainstream medicine. Everywhere they turn, researchers uncover evidence that inflammation ignites and feeds chronic illness.  Our Earthing book focuses a good deal on inflammation.  In it, we suggest that the ground beneath our feet is the “original anti-Inflammatory.” In other words, the biggest anti-inflammatory on the planet is, well, the surface of the planet itself. If proven true, that’s a pretty neat design-by-nature. In the book, as you’ve probably read, we make a strong argument about how contact with the Earth, either by being barefoot outside or sleeping or sitting on Earthing products indoors, quenches inflammation by allowing the Earth’s infinite supply of negatively-charged electrons to rise up into the body and snuff out the hitmen of chronic inflammation, the free radicals. The theory of the Earth as an anti-inflammatory had never been mentioned before in research. It is still just a theory but we don’t know how else to explain the way that Earthing knocks down inflammation.  But what about aging? Could chronic inflammation be the main cause of aging or a major factor accelerating aging?  Can Earthing slow the aging process due to its obvious and remarkable impact on inflammation? Improving the health of older people can – and must – be one of the goals of modern gerontology, the study of aging. It is imperative in order to decrease the alarming rate of hospitalization, risky and frequently injurious administration of multiple medications, and soaring age-related disease-care costs. Physiological functions naturally decline with age and negatively influence the absorption and/or metabolism of nutrients, a degradation process further compromised by drug side effects and interference.  The natural slowdown occurring in cells and tissues with advancing age are responsible for an increased risk of disease and death. Part of this process involves the aging of the immune system – called immunosenescence – characterized by a chronic low-grade inflammatory status of the whole aging organism.  This process has been referred to by some researchers as inflamm-aging. More than 300 theories have been put forward to explain the reduced functionality associated with aging but none fully explain the immunobiology (physiological functioning of the immune system) of senescence. So what are some of the current recommendations of researchers to delay the process? 1) Healthier nutrition and maintaining a robust population of beneficial bacteria (microflora) in the gut, a major element of the immune system. Part of a healthier diet has to include caloric restriction.  People tend to overeat, particularly the wrong kinds of food, and put on belly fat, an actual source of increased inflammation in the body.  2) Exercise.  You’ve heard this many times before, so I won’t dwell on the subject.  Exercise, even a minimum, is good for your body and spirits. 3) Antioxidants have been heralded as having the potential to increase longevity by curtailing the effect of oxidative stress on the body. Oxidative stress means rampant free-radicals that damage healthy tissue throughout the body. Such damage creates chronic inflammation.  Aging researchers are largely unfamiliar with Earthing. It is still a new concept.  However, as someone who has participated in numerous Earthing studies, it is obvious to me that routine contact with the Earth offers a powerful intervention against chronic illnesses by decreasing or eliminating inflammation, among other benefits, and will likely one day be recognized as a profoundly simple, natural, and effective way to improve health and healing. There is much support in the research community about chronic stimulation of the immune system leading to exhaustion and for the free radical theory of aging as the leading explanation of the aging process. Earthing has a big impact on both. Earthing counteracts free radical damage by providing the body with an abundance of electrons. Electrons are the power behind antioxidants, and so they consequently prevent or reduce inflammation. Such effects produce a relaxation of the body, and thus a reduction in physiological stress. Stress resistance = ability to survive, and by reducing stress, Earthing improves the ability of the body to survive. One of the factors in this overall equation is chronic antigenic load, meaning the lifelong exposure to a variety of infectious agents for a period much longer than previously encountered during human evolution (because people are living longer than ever).  Acute inflammation is how the body neutralizes dangerous/harmful agents, but later in an extended lifespan, such inflammation fails to become effectively countered by an aging immune system. One reason for this could be a lack of connection with the Earth’s supply of electrons.  Modern lifestyle and footwear separate us from the ground’s electron supply. We refer to this common reality as an “electron deficiency” and suggest it is an overlooked cause not only of chronic inflammation but perhaps the ravages of aging itself.  Can Earthing reduce the severity and incidence of chronic illness and extend the quality and quantity of life?  We seriously think so. Earthing has produced major health improvements in thousands of cases. What Clint Ober first observed, and described in the Earthing book, is now being reported to us by health professionals around the world. Such improvements were also reported during a back-to-Nature movement in Germany that started in the 1880s and featured being barefoot outdoors and even sleeping on the ground.  We will write about that movement at a later time. Earthing studies and feedback indicate that inflammation and stress decrease substantially, and sometimes dramatically. Contact with the Earth appears to dynamically boost the body’s own self-repair and healing mechanisms.  This suggests to us that inflamm-aging may be the result of long periods without contact with the electrons of the earth.  Our simple solution for the disconnect is pretty obvious: just reconnect to the Earth.  It is not a panacea, but it sure may be a difference in how long and well we live. 2012-05-16T22:02:03+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing/#When:02:24:33Z Earthing in Swedish       Earthing in German       Earthing in Korean   Earthing in Italian Coming in 2012:  Earthing book to be published in French, Spanish, and Dutch 2012-03-12T02:24:33+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/multiple_benefits_the_holistic_impact_of_earthing/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/multiple_benefits_the_holistic_impact_of_earthing/#When:23:57:54Z Many different systems in the body are affected when we reconnect with the Earth.  Earthing is truly a holistic concept.  People who start Earthing because of a sleep problem or a pain problem are often surprised to experience a broad array of relief. Here are two stories we’ve received along those lines: Lynn Deene, 65, Milo, MI “In November 2010, when I started Earthing, I had been looking for some kind of relief for bilateral swollen and painful Achilles tendons and plantar fasciitis for over a year.  I had tried different exercises, ice packs, massage, and finally physical therapy, all with little or no relief and none with lasting effect. At the end of each day, my feet were so painful and sore, as well as my calves, that it felt like every step was torture.  It didn’t matter if my day was more or less active. Also, with the fasciitis, getting out of bed in the morning, even with doing foot and ankle exercises before putting my feet on the floor, it felt like I was standing on blocks of wood. It took several slow steps to loosen up my feet.  I also had left shoulder and upper arm pain from a fall six months earlier, which, again, had minimum relief from therapy, pain relievers, and stretching exercises.  I was also experiencing urinary frequency, headaches, fatigue that sleep didn’t relieve, other muscle aches, and a feeling of heaviness in my legs that came after a few minutes of my daily walks, and chronic knee pain from a twenty-year-old injury caused from a horse kick. “I have led a healthy lifestyle all my life – no alcohol, no tobacco, eat well, drink lots of water, take supplements, have regular adjustments, daily exercise, and love the outdoors.  “I first heard of Earthing when Dr. Sinatra was interviewed by Dr. Christiane Northrup. I was very intrigued, so I got the book, and then an Earthing mat. I put the mat on the floor at my computer. After a 10-hour day in front of the computer, I noticed after just a couple of days that I didn’t have the ‘normal’ headache after a few hours at work, and also, that I wasn’t nearly as fatigued at the end of the work day.  I had more energy for my after-work walk. “I was so excited that I got a half-sheet for our bed. My husband was willing to give it a try.  After 2 weeks I had less muscle pain. After 3 weeks, I noticed that my Achilles tendons were less swollen and that they didn’t hurt at the end of the day. After 4 months, I was like a new person. My tendons looked and felt normal. The fasciitis was completely gone. The knee pain, ‘creakiness,’ and heaviness in my legs were gone. My mobility became stronger, quicker, more flexible.  I wasn’t fatigued at 10 am, as I was before.  The shoulder and arm pain was greatly relieved.  And the urinary symptoms were gone.  I didn’t have to plan my life around the availability of bathroom facilities!  Moreover, I’ve been able to lower my blood pressure medication – from 20 to 5 milligrams – with a consistently-lower reading that I haven’t seen since starting on medication more than ten years ago. The best yet is that my husband has very little muscle pain, sleeps more sound, and with less snoring, and has more energy.   “Looking back, almost a year-and-a-half later, did I believe all this could happen? That my pain and fatigue would be gone?  No, I didn’t. The best that I had hoped for was some relief from the tendon pain.  I was afraid that my active life was going to be severely compromised, but instead, I am able to not only enjoy more, but to do more physically.” Karen Ball, 60, massage therapist, Beaverton, OR “In July 2011 I was in terrible shape.  At 244 pounds, I was 80 pounds overweight. I had been suffering with serious insomnia for 22 years, sleeping maybe 2 -3 hours on average per night. I had developed an inability to break down carbohydrates and had other digestive difficulties, mild depression, bloating, 15 years of hot flashes, bone density issues, and severe arthritis and muscle contracture in my right hip that caused pain and restricted movement. Sleeping pills, mega-doses of melatonin, antihistamines, supplements, hot baths, herbs, teas, meditation, breathing exercises, relaxation CDs, and so many more things were not making much of an impact on my problems. I read everything and tried everything I found, many times over. I checked out every book the library had on insomnia, and read anything I could find on the web. “In July 2011 I got the Earthing half-sheet and started sleeping on it. The first three nights I didn’t get any sleep, but I had massive amounts of energy from laying on it 7-9 hours per night. Within the first 2 hours I lost considerable inflammation so that my ankles which had been severely swollen now appeared normal.  I weighed myself and found I had lost 4.5 pounds of swelling those first three nights. Not real weight loss; just a very noticeable decrease of swelling. It took 6 nights before I got a good night’s sleep.  But since August of 2011 I have had 4-8 hrs of sleep every night except for 2 nights. I have had 11 nights where I have been able to sleep the night through without getting up to urinate. “My ankles first and then the knees became normal size without the swelling. I could actually see my kneecap for the first time in five years. My pain was reduced. The contracture in my right thigh (my body trying to protect the hip) went away. The position of the femur corrected itself, and was no longer pressing against the side of the hip socket. This meant a greater range of movement, less pain, and for the first time in years, allowed me to start exercises to reverse the muscle atrophy that had developed over the last decade. Walking and other forms of exercise had been very painful. I can do those things now. “In recent years, my hip pain and restrictions had increased to the point where at times I couldn’t manage anything greater than a four-inch stride (I am a tall woman with a 36-inch inseam). I was barely able to get my leg over the side of a tub, and had to lift my leg with y hands to get into bed or to get into a car.  My stride is 16 inches now. That’s not much for a woman of my age with very long legs, but it is so much better, and it is getting better all the time. I still walk with a cane most of the time, but when I don’t my side-to-side hip sway is less than half of what it was before. The sway increases pain so I use the cane to minimize the sway and therefore the pain.  It provides support as I get better.  My ability to bend my knees has increased.  I can cross either leg over center now and I could not before. I can lift things now that before would cause severe pain in the hip. “My night sweats stopped.  Then my hot flashes diminished, and stopped completely in December 2011. After 15 years, it was such a relief to have them gone. “I had a few nights of detoxification symptoms in the beginning. I drank additional water and the symptoms quickly went away. “I had also developed arthritis in the distal joint of my right pinky.  It was swollen and bent, and painful when I put pressure on it during my work as a massage therapist. The joint has straightened dramatically (not completely yet) and is much smaller now. I can now put maximum pressure on it without any problem. I had pain in one wrist and that went away as well. “I hadn’t realized how depressed I had been until I started having this incredible sense of well- being and return to health. It is a wonderful feeling. With the sleep I have started to lose weight (19 pounds now) for the first time in a long time.  I can do so much more now.  My capacity keeps growing and the improvements continue. It’s been a process but clearly the more time I spend Earthed, the better I feel.”  2012-03-09T23:57:54+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_direct_finnish_style/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_direct_finnish_style/#When:20:48:37Z Thanks to a hardy Erja Pauninsalo (“a bit above zero C”) 2012-03-07T20:48:37+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_one_dentists_experience/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_one_dentists_experience/#When:20:25:22Z Chuck Munier, DMD, Augusta ME “I was trained as a mechanical engineer before I went into dentistry and normally take an engineer’s show- me attitude to new things.  So when Earthing first came to my attention as a suggestion from an enthusiastic patient, I was naturally skeptical that the concept actually worked beyond a placebo effect. However, I suspended my skepticism the first day after my first night sleeping on an Earthing sheet. “I had been suffering for a few years with a chronic foot infection that had not responded to repeated medication. After the first night I already noticed a healing process underway. By the end of the week the infection was gone, and to this day, one year later, it has never returned. This was truly a remarkable effect. “I decided I better read the book to find out what happened and how this thing actually worked as well as it did.  After reading the book and with my background in health and science it made perfect sense.  It resonated a lot with what I had been studying about inflammation and cellular biology as the basis of most disease. The Earthing book made the connection for me of the actual electrical effect on the inflammatory process and the ability to approach healing on an electrical as well as a biochemical basis. “I have been treating dental patients for 39 years now and during that time have always looked at the condition of the teeth and mouth as reflective of the health of the rest of the body. Often the mouth is the first place that changes are noticed. I have learned the value of treating the total patient not just his or her teeth. During this time I have learned by observation from countless patients that the key to avoiding and treating disease is to manage inflammation. I have seen through the years an alarming increase in the use of drugs to manage disease and although there are some good drugs that address inflammation most of my patients with ongoing problems are overmedicated and then that becomes the main problem.  Earthing added an electrical approach to the dietary, lifestyle, and exercise model that I had been using to address inflammation. “With this in mind I decided to try Earthing in my busy practice to help patients looking for relief from acute temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or jaw pain and others experiencing problems with snoring, sleeping, bruxism (teeth clenching and grinding),sinus, and headaches. To date we have had a very positive response back with reduction of acute symptoms of TMJ responding to an Earthing patch placed directly over the offending joint. Chronic problems have not responded as quickly as acute. This would be expected since they are of a long-standing inflammatory nature with adaptive changes. We are also using Earthing bands on the head at night and they have been working remarkably well with better sleep, less bruxism, more dream sleep time, less snoring and headaches, and an opening of the passages during sleep so that nasal breathing is enhanced. “From my own results and that of friends, family, and patients, Earthing works extremely well in an overall program that addresses total health and well being, and why it does so makes perfect sense to me. Earthing reconnected me personally to the Earth and to an exciting healing factor.” 2012-03-07T20:25:22+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_going_global/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_going_global/#When:22:12:31Z Earthing in Swedish       Earthing in German       Earthing in Korean Coming in 2012:  Earthing book to be published in French, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch 2011-11-23T22:12:31+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/Earthing_Nervous_System_Heart/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/Earthing_Nervous_System_Heart/#When:00:18:54Z Perhaps one of the most overlooked Earthing dividends – and so beneficial in these stressful times – is the rapid calming influence that takes place within the autonomic nervous system (ANS) that regulates functions like heart and respiration rates, digestion, perspiration, urination, and even sexual arousal. The effect begins pretty much instantly when you connect with the Earth. The ANS shifts from a typically overactive sympathetic mode, associated with stress, into a parasympathetic, calming mode. To help you appreciate this benefit, we would like to share details on a heart rate variability (HRV) study that we previewed briefly in the Earthing book in 2010. The study, published recently in Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, was conducted by electrophysiologist Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D., and cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M.D. Click here to read the full study. You may not be familiar with HRV, so here’s a quick synopsis, courtesy of Dr. Sinatra: “In cardiology, a balanced ANS supports good HRV and is an indicator of better heart health.  Conversely, the presence of disturbed ANS and HRV means an increased risk of arrhythmias, coronary artery spasm, and sudden cardiac death. HRV has also become a reliable clinical tool for measuring survival potential after a heart attack. HRV is not the same thing as heart rate. Your heart beats faster when you exert yourself or become stressed, and it slows down when you relax — but that’s not HRV. HRV refers to the imperceptible variations in the heart’s beat-to-beat interval that result from the basic breathing process. We refer to it technically as respiratory sinus arrhythmia. You can’t feel the difference, but when you breathe in, your heart rate increases just ever so slightly. When you breathe out, it decreases every so slightly. We can see these fluctuations on an electrocardiogram, and we’ve learned even more from sophisticated computer analyses of beat-to-beat intervals. “Let me give you an example here.  Have you ever had an electrocardiogram exercise stress test on a treadmill?  If so, you may recall that you remain hooked up for a bit of time after the test. The reason is that your doctor wants to see what your heart rate is doing after exertion on the treadmill. Your heart rate may rise to 150 beats a minute during the test.  Afterward, it should drop down into a de-accelerated zone of say 100 beats or less in about six minutes.  If not, and it stays higher, you have a classic indicator of disturbed HRV, and increased likelihood of cardiovascular trouble. You may, for instance, have a beat rate of 112. That’s not good enough. I remember as a young cardiologist years ago waiting even a half-hour or so for some patients’ heart rates to drop down sufficiently.” Surrounded as we are these days by constant psychological arousal from stressful news and a volatile world, anything that can improve ANS and HRV function is of great benefit for overall health. Exercise, tai chi, yoga, and meditation are examples of activities that improve ANS and HRV. You become more relaxed and you sleep better. This effect is precisely what many people report after they start Earthing. The Chevalier-Sinatra study involved monitoring test subjects before, during, and after 40-minute grounding sessions while seated comfortably in a recliner chair.  It confirmed a balancing effect on sympathetic and parasympathetic function and a restoration of normal tone that reduces the stress response. These improvements go beyond basic relaxation and may explain in part the repeated feedback from people experiencing lower blood pressure and improved arrhythmias after they start Earthing.                              Medical research has made it clear also that HRV is a superb indicator of your ability to cope with both internal and external changes. It is, in fact, “the most accurate predictor of sudden death and the most accurate reflector of stress,” according to Paul Rosch, M.D., president of the American Institute of Stress in New York City. “If you can alter your HRV, that is, increase it, you can reduce the likelihood of stress-related disorders, including cardiovascular disease.” For individuals who experience anxiety, emotional stress, panic, fear, and/or symptoms of involuntary muscle contractions and spasms, including headaches, cardiac palpitations, and dizziness, Earthing appears to represent a genuinely promising strategy. Such individuals often see positive changes within 20 to 40 minutes. Dr. Sinatra says this about stress: “As a cardiologist, I have repeatedly treated the human wreckage that stress — acute or chronic sympathetic overdrive — can exact. In trying to rebuild and restore the wreckage, I have applied the best tools that both conventional and alternative medicine has to offer. Reconnecting the body to the Earth offers perhaps the most natural tool available anywhere.  I’ve seen this simple remedy do some amazing things.” Dr. Sinatra shared these recent examples: ● After 10 weeks of sleeping grounded, a 73-year-old woman reported that her blood pressure went down by 10 points and she sleeps much better. ● A couple started sleeping grounded.  Her snoring stopped and he sleeps better.  Her blood pressure went down from 150/90 to 120/80 after one night! ● One woman was experiencing benign but distressing PVCs (premature ventricular contraction), a form of arrhythmia characterized by racing of the heart or extra or skipped beats). She said that sleeping grounded eliminated them.  No only that, her husband’s atrial fibrillation episodes also stopped.  He had been taking Coumadin for his condition and, in conjunction with his doctor, was able to reduce the dosage. (Coumadin is a popular blood thinner medication.  Earthing also has a blood thinning effect.  Anyone on blood thinning medication who wants to start Earthing must consult with his/her physician and keep close track of their INR, a widely-used measurement of the blood’s clotting tendency). Previous Earthing investigations have demonstrated a marked alteration in a variety of biological parameters after about 20 to 30 minutes. Others in several days.  Some show even a dramatic change immediately at grounding (in less than a second or two). The HRV study showed an instant change in HRV that kept improving all the way to the end of the 40-minute period of grounding, suggesting a greater benefit with time. We believe that the ANS may be one of the first, and possibly the first, of the major body systems that react to Earthing.  The HRV study offers additional proof that connecting to the Earth creates a calmer nervous system and increases its efficiency. Earlier experiments are posted in the research section of our website.  A recent article published in the journal Medical Hypotheses by a neurosurgeon and cardiologist in Poland suggests that the Earthing likely plays a primary role as a neuromodulative factor enabling the nervous system to better adapt to the demands of the organism and the environment. 2011-11-16T00:18:54+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/how_not_to_ground/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/how_not_to_ground/#When:22:39:22Z News reports recently described a growing practice among Indonesian villagers west of Jakarta claiming relief from a variety of symptoms by sitting on or straddling busy railway tracks.  The practice apparently caught on last year after a man suffering from the consequences of a stroke decided to commit suicide on the tracks but instead jumped off after feeling rejuvenated by the electric current of an oncoming train. According to one Indonesia newspaper account, the so-called “railway therapy” involves placing one’s hands and feet on the steel tracks. “By touching both sides of the tracks at once in this manner, one receives a low-voltage electric shock, which locals believe is a potent cure for many diseases,” the article said. One enthusiast told reporters that she has gotten more relief for symptoms of high blood pressure and sleeplessness than any doctor since she was first diagnosed with diabetes more than ten years ago.  “If your body aches, have it cured here,” she told amused reporters. “Try it, it doesn’t hurt.”  Another advocate said, “I have wasted all my money on proper medication. Now I prefer coming here, because it is free.” One local doctor was quoted as saying there was “no official research that had determined the true effects of railway-induced electric therapy. However, he added, the therapy was widely seen as questionable as it did not conform to medical norms.” Concerned railway officials are obviously alarmed at the prospect of someone being killed by a train and so dispatch agents to expel locals from the tracks.  We don’t know whether there’s something special about railway track energy. To us this seems like a variation of being barefoot on the ground, but for sure NOT a variation we would ever, ever recommend.  2011-11-15T22:39:22+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/the_earthing_chronicles_grounding_and_awareness_of_groundedness/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/the_earthing_chronicles_grounding_and_awareness_of_groundedness/#When:18:12:43Z Now and then, feedback from the growing global Earthing community includes some thoughtful comments regarding an increased inner state of groundedness. In this brief report, we would like to share a few of these comments with you, along with a personal note at the end from Clint Ober. ● From Cat Saunders, Ph.D., author of Dr. Cat’s Helping Handbook: A Compassionate Guide for Being Human “Connecting with Mother Earth through grounding allows me to experience the planet’s massive support in a literal, physical way. This is much different from ‘keeping my energy grounded’ the way I’ve been taught by healers and body workers. That’s important as well, but it’s like the difference between thinking about water and actually having a drink.  “Earthing is like mainlining an ocean of pure, unadulterated energy. Plugging into the endlessly sustainable ‘power plant’ called Earth has not only improved my physical health, it has also improved my psychological functioning and deepened my spiritual sense that ‘all is well’ no matter what’s happening in my world or in the world at large. “Being physically sustained by Mother Earth has also given me a sweeter and safer experience of ‘mothering’ than I’ve ever known. Although many people have positive connotations of the word ‘mother,’ I can’t say the same has been true for me. Now that I’m experiencing constant support from the electrical field of Mother Earth, the word ‘mother’ no longer strikes a note of fear in my heart. Somehow, grounding did what many years of therapy couldn’t do by putting those old ‘mother’ fears to rest at last.  “At home, I sleep grounded and I wear Earthing bands on my feet during the day.  I use an Earthing mat under my feet at the computer, and I keep an extra set of Earthing bands in my office for counseling clients, so we can both be grounded when we work together.  For me, Earthing bands are like umbilical cords to connect with the Great Mother that sustains us all.  What could be better than that?”  ● From Rabbi T’mimah Ickovits, Los Angeles “After several months of Earthing, I feel a greater sense of well-being and of inner tangles less tangled. I settle in and rest more deeply. I am simultaneously experiencing a greater feeling of connectedness to the Earth and to community, and, as a result, a greater ability to share.”  ● From Anders Blomqvist in Sweden “There is something not mentioned in the book that intrigues me. I have experienced increased body awareness. My body speaks more clearly to me. The signals are clearer. I feel a big difference. Two young and very healthy friends of mine say the same thing. It appears that there are effects on the spiritual level as well as the physical. Increased awareness in general seems to be an effect of reconnecting back to Mother Earth.” ● From Gerard Bechard, a cranio-sacral therapist in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts “I feel more ‘grounded.’ I am more on task and focused with an incredible sense of wellness. I have more of a detached look on others and situations and still maintain a high level of compassion. I have to say that in over 40 years of experimenting and practicing numerous spiritual and alternative health techniques along with energy work that I have never felt so complete and peaceful. My core feeling is that everything is and will continue to be alright with myself, others, and the world. I’m still blown away that this is from being Earthed but in observing my disconnection with the ground that has occurred for most of my life, it all makes simple sense.” ● From Rhonda Whittaker, a massage therapist in Fairfield, Iowa “I sleep on the bed pad. Simply laying down on it brings great relief. I love how it feels cool with a tingling energy. It is not just a pad. There is ‘something’ moving thru it when my body touches it. I have noticed something else after sleeping on the pad all night: I wake up before dawn, then go back to sleep, and have dreams in Technicolor. This happens often. I have been flooded by amazing dream awareness and thoughts. So, today, I stopped laying on the pad when I awoke before dawn, just to see if there was a difference. I felt calmer with less thought activity, and dozed with no dreams. I suspect that the intense dreaming may be caused by the energy of the Earth waking up at dawn. I believe that the Earth is alive with energy, and the Earthing ground picks up on this. There is a growing liveliness that happens when the sunshine is coming closer to generating electromagnetic currents with the part of the Earth where my ground connects. Because my sleeping body is in the loop and tapping into this amazing current of activity, I am having more happen in my background field of energy, too. The Earthing pad has given me an easy way to heal and balance my electromagnetic field. I feel it brings equilibrium after the day’s activities, soothing my physiology, my mind, my emotions, ...and ‘naturally’ puts me into a more spiritual way of being. This is such a humble, but great product that unites us with Heaven and Earth energy for a healthy life!” ● From Clint Ober, who has grounded thousands of people for more than a decade “I grew up in a farming and ranching environment. Surrounded by Earth. I was exposed a good deal to the Native American culture around us, in which everything is connected to Nature, to the planet, and the universe. “Many people become more sensitive and aware of their being after spending some time sleeping grounded. I believe that part of this inner development comes from reducing environmental noise on the body. It’s kind of like being in the woods and hearing the birds sing. Birds are everywhere. They carry on in all environments, but the noise of the city drowns them out. Furthermore, when you are connected with the Earth you are electrically connected with all animals and plants that live on the Earth with you. “I strongly believe there is more to Earthing then reducing inflammation and improving sleep. There is perhaps a parallel conscious intimacy that grows with Nature and the living planet.” 2011-07-31T18:12:43+00:00 http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_tips_feet_too_cold_on_the_earthing_mat/ http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/site/earthing_tips_feet_too_cold_on_the_earthing_mat/#When:17:41:38Z With winter approaching in Australia (summer in the Northern Hemisphere), Earthing distributor Linda McNair began to feel the chill in her feet. “I love using the Earthing mat and my feet are planted on it every day while I’m at my computer,” she says. “However, with the chilly winter weather I need to put socks on to keep my feet warm.  I could move the mat to under my hands, but I’d rather not. I feel more strongly grounded when it’s the bottom of my feet that are connected.  So I decided to do a little experimenting with socks to see how much conductivity would be lost by wearing them. It made sense to me that socks may be more conductive if they have a small amount of silver or copper in them. I did a quick search on the Internet and found both silver- and copper-threaded socks.  With a click of a button they were on their way to me. I then did a little test with my voltmeter and included ‘everyday’ socks and stockings to see which ones conducted the best.” Here are Linda’s results: Situation & voltmeter reading (in volts) Ungrounded Standing on carpeted floor in office   1.260 Grounded Standing on mat barefoot         0.016 Standing on mat with an “everyday” sock   0.420 Sitting, with feet on mat with “everyday” sock after half-hour 0.100 Standing on mat with nylon stockings       0.100 Standing on mat with silver-fiber socks     0.030-0.016 Standing on mat with copper-fiber socks   0.023 What Linda was doing was testing the induced ambient alternating current (AC) voltage on her body while wearing a variety of socks. She conducted her test in her office where she has a variety of computer equipment, phones, and lamps. Such electrical equipment, as well as the wiring in the wall, emits electromagnetic fields (EMFs).  As Linda’s experiment reveals, wearing silver and copper socks reduced the AC charge on her body nearly as well as being barefoot. However, wearing nylons and “everyday” socks, as she describes them, permits significant reduction, too.  The important issue here is how well grounded you are so that your body receives the electrons from the Earth.  The readings she obtained show that the socks and nylons permit the necessary conductivity, some a tad better than the others. The differences, in the cause of Earthing, are unimportant. Linda correctly points out that bare feet are best but she offers some practical options for folks who need to wear socks at work or keep their feet warm. The options: 1)  Wear silver or copper socks.  Our preference would be silver, if you choose to go this route. 2)  Use thin, “everyday” socks. Your feet will naturally sweat and will hydrate the socks making them conductive enough for Earthing purposes. 3)  One of Linda’s recommendations is to cut a small oval hole out of each sole around the K1 point (the area where the ball and instep meet).  “You still basically have your bare feet on the mat and the rest of your foot is kept warm.” Thanks to Linda for sharing her experiment and suggestions with us.  If you have any good tips related to Earthing, let us know with a message to info@earthinginstitute.net 2011-07-31T17:41:38+00:00