What is Earthing?

Up until a few hundred years ago, our ancestors lived in direct contact with the Earth's surface. They walked barefoot upon the ground, slept close to the earth, or perhaps were separated only by the thinnest of animal skins and plant based bedding materials. ur ancestors were constantly grounded, and lived in intimate contact with the earth. !n "hina, the ancient #aoist yogis intuitively felt that the earth possessed energy, called earth chi. !n many places the chi was strong$ near flowing water, near ocean beaches, in the rocks ? and it was easily absorbed through the soles of our feet. Today, we have adopted a very different lifestyle from our ancient forbearers$ we wear shoes with rubber soles and sleep in beds and houses that are insulated from the ground. We also e%perience diseases and maladies that were very rare for our ancestors. !s there a correlation? "ould cutting ourselves off from the surface of our planet somehow be a cause or a contributor to many of our modern ailments? !f there is such a thing as earth chi, are we chronically deficient? !nflammation and #isease !nflammation comes from a &atin word, which means, 'to set on fire.' (mmm, doesn't sound like a good thing. )nd yet, when our body is damaged, we respond by inflaming that area. Why? The inflammation response allows us to mobili*e resources needed to protect the body. +welling occurs and a blockage, a pouch, is created to seal off the damaged area from the rest of the body. White blood cells are mobili*ed to attack any invaders. ne way we destroy an invading microbe is to attack it with free radicals$ these are molecules ,usually o%ygen molecules- that the mitochondria in our cells create that are missing a few electrons. These electron.starved radicals are now free to steal electrons from the cell walls, organelles and even the #/) of the invading microbes, effectively killing the invader. This is part of an acute inflammation response. Unfortunately, some of our free radicals leak outside the pouch and escape the damaged or infected areas of our bodies$ they leak into healthy areas. With no bad guys to attack, they start to draw electrons away from our healthy cells. The body senses that we are under attack and responds with more inflammation, leading to a never.ending cycle of chronic inflammation. "hronic inflammation has been implicated in a host of diseases and ailments from heart disease ,which has been recently considered to be mostly an inflammation problem-, to many immune system disorders. +ee the table for a more e%tensive list. !t is the persistence of these free radicals that cause the chronic inflammation. 0eyond our own immune system, there are many environmental sources of these free radicals1 too much U2 radiation from the sun, microwave and other kinds of radiation, smoke, pesticides, and to%ins in our air and food. )ntio%idants !t is for very good reason that we have been urged to consume foods high in antio%idants. )ntio%idants have the ability to neutrali*e free radicals by binding to them and allowing our body to discharge them. 3resh veggies and fruits can be high in antio%idants but you may be pleased to know that dark chocolate is one of the most effective antio%idant sources. ,+ee the table for a listing of the top antio%idant foods.- !f you are not getting enough of these foods, then supplements are recommended, especially 2itamin " and E, however there is some debate over whether supplements can really provide the antio%idants we need.4 We are not sure if the supplemented antio%idants get into the blocked off inflamed areas. #r 5ames schman, the author of two books on energy medicine, speculates that bodywork ,massage and physiotherapies- helps to break open the pouches that contain the inflamed areas of our body, which allows antio%idants to get at the free radicals doing the damage.6 ne of the most common types of bodywork being performed today is yoga7 ur yoga practice may be instrumental in helping our antio%idants flow into the inflamed areas of our bodies. r course, our ancestors did not have access to supplements and vitamin pills. (undreds of years ago, only people living in +outh )merica had access to the cocoa plant1 no dark chocolate in medieval Europe or )sia7 +o, how did our forefathers cope with their chronic inflammation? )nd, while we

are talking about our ancestors, how come they did not suffer from so many of the disorders listed earlier as we do today? What were their secrets? ne secret we already mentioned1 yoga and other e%ercises and massage therapies that mobili*ed the tissues and enhanced the flow of energy throughout the body. The other secret was a source of powerful and abundant antio%idants that did not come from our food. The 8lobal Earth "ircuit To neutrali*e all those free radicals being produced by our chronic inflammation, we need a source of free electrons. 8uess where the biggest supply of the free electrons are? 9ep . you guessed it . right beneath our feet7 We've been walking on 2itamin 8 ,8 for ground- and never knew it. The surface of our earth is electrically negative relative to the upper atmosphere. !n clear weather, electrons leak from the earth to the atmosphere, fortunately in tiny amounts, so we are not *apped when we walk on the earth. !n stormy weather, lightening discharges electrons from the bottom of thunderclouds and they end up back in the earth. The whole cycle is called the 8lobal Earth "ircuit. The electrons can travel along the surface of the earth and water1 these are called telluric currents. When our skin is touching the surface of the earth, these electrons are drawn into our body. Where do they go? (mmm, well, where in our body is there a deficit of electrons? The electronics neutrali*e the free radicals, helping to reduce and even end the cycle of chronic inflammation. )ll it takes is to touch the earth, and we can reduce or stop inflammation. This process has recently been named earthing.: 9ou can read much more about the way this works and the medicals studies proving its therapeutic benefits in any of several articles written by #r schman. Earthing ;ade Easy /ot everyone has time to get outdoors, take off her shoes and walk barefoot upon the earth, but there is another way to soak up these free.radical.busting electrons that the earth provides in endless supply. "lint ber, a retired cable.T2 e%ecutive, noticed one day, while sitting on a park bench, that everyone he saw was wearing shoes. (e wondered if this simple fact had an effect upon our health. (e convinced several medical researchers to study this <uestion, and discovered that, indeed, the earth is a source of natural medicine for all of us. ber went further and started to design simple products that would allow us to spend hours each day connected to the earth, without having to walk barefoot everywhere. (e created pads, bands and sheets that connect to the ground wire of our household electrical outlets, or to a wire that you push into the earth outside your window. 0y connecting us to the ground, we are able to soak up free electrons from the earth even while we sit reading a book, typing on a computer or while asleep at night. #r schman cites many case studies and e%periments performed with "lint ber's products.6 The results are impressive1 improved sleep, reduced pain, increased range of motion, decreased symptoms from allergies, asthma, osteoporosis and many other problems. (ere is an e%cerpt from one of #r schman's research papers1

!n some cases the clinical changes took place within => min of the first use of the earthing patch$ in others steady improvement took place during multiple treatments. "onditions treated included acute sprains, chronic myofascial pain syndrome, muscular strains, ligamentous sprains, peripheral neuropathies, carpal tunnel syndrome, inflammatory ?oint conditions, &yme disease, chronic sinusitis, and a variety of other maladies. Up to @>A improvement took place in over B>A of the cases within 6.C weeks of half.hour treatments given 6.= times per week. These results are summari*ed and discussed in schman ,6>>D-.

#r. 5effrey +pencer is another person who was convinced of the benefits of earthing. #uring several Tour de 3rance victories of the U+ "ycle Team , #r +pencer connected the cyclists to the earth while they slept and when they were in?ured. The results were enhanced healing and speedy recoveries. 5et &ag and Earthing The earth is not only a source of free electrons$ it also provides a daily rhythm to our local electrical fields. This diurnal rhythm helps to control the cycle of cortisol levels within our blood. "ortisol helps regulate our sleep cycle, ?ust as melatonin does. !f our cortisol levels are out of whack, or if we have too much of this stress hormone, insomnia is ?ust one problem. Elevated cortisol levels can contribute to many disorders including hypertension, mood disorders, decreased bone density and reduced immune responses. The local electrical field of the earth, right where you live, can help regulate your cortisol levels ? if you are connected to the earth7 !f you are disconnected, you lose this natural regulation. #r schman notes several web sites where research is posted showing that 4: minutes of barefoot connection to the earth can reduce or eliminate the effects of ?et lag. Eeconnecting to the earth in your new location helps to reset your inner cortisol clock. 0ody Workers We now know that providing antio%idants can reduce inflammations and their associated problems. We also know that the body can absorb free electrons from the earth and from others7 0ody workers, including yoga teachers who touch or ad?ust their students, may be one source of free electrons. There are many body workers who feel totally drained after performing their practice. !t may be that in the process of touching an 'electron.deficient' client, the body worker is literally drained of her store of free electrons. Traditionally, a body worker is advised to wash her hands in cold water after a practice. This is a great way to recover electrons. Water is connected to the earth. )nother practice a body worker or yoga teacher can adopt is to walk barefoot on the grass for 4: minutes after each session. ur )ncestors and Earth "hiF2itamin 8 ur ancestors touched the earth intimately and continuously. They walked barefoot or had shoes made of animal skins, which allowed an electrical connection to the earth. The ancient #aoist yogis felt that the Gidney 4 acupuncture points, located at the bottom of our feet, were the entrance for earth chi. ur ancestors slept close to the earth$ either on the ground itself or on plant.based bedding that also was a good conductor of electrons. (omes were low levels and often made of stone or some other conductive material. )ncient yogis did not use rubber ,insulating- yoga mats as we do today, but rather they used animal skin rugs ,conducting- or they practiced right on the earth's surface. +ome places have better 'earth chi' than others1 the ocean shore, wet grass, minerali*ed rocks. Even today, these places naturally energi*e us. ;ost people love to swim in the ocean, walk barefoot in the sand or kick of their shoes and wiggle their toes in the grass. 8ardening is such a therapeutic pastime for more reasons than the mental break we get. When we garden, we get our hands dirty ? we touch the earth. /o one likes walking on blacktop, and for good reason . it is an electrical insulator. "oncrete, however, can conduct some electrons, depending upon the minerali*ation of the concrete. #o 9our wn Earthing E%periments "heck it out for yourself. Try earthing yourself for 6> minutes everyday . it may be all it takes for you to start sleeping better, feeling better and loving life again. )nd if you don't have time for even this amount of vitamin 8, then check out the products mentioned earlier. !f earthing, if walking on the grass for 6> minutes each day helps you, then pass this information along to others. +pread the vitamin 8 7http1FFwww.waterfallnaturals.comFcategoryHsF:=.htm