A few weeks ago, I came across this interesting book. Earthing is a book about the health benefits of a deceivingly simple process – grounding ourselves to the earth. It was written by a retired cable TV executive, Clint Ober, who wondered what would happen if we weren’t so insulated from the earth. He conducted some simple experiments on himself and his friends and confirmed that, in fact, he and his friends felt better. He later funded some simple basic science research at a sleep lab to show that earthing or grounding normalized the rhythmic secretion of cortisol as part of our normal sleep/wake/activity cycle.  Another small study conducted by cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, MD indicated that earthing decreased the clumping of red blood cells, in essence thinning the blood.  Infrared thermal images of people who grounded themselves show less inflammation when compared to thermal images of non-grounded subjects. There aren’t large multi-center studies on this phenomenon because after all, you can’t patent mother nature so one has to make do with these few studies and the various anecdotes mentioned in the book.  The beneficial effects are most likely do to the flow of free electrons from the ground into our bodies and the anti-inflammatory effects these electrons have on many illnesses. The book has reports of improvement of sleep, relief from jet lag, stress, autoimmune diseases, arthritis pain and swelling among other conditions. Grounding is the biological equivalent of walking barefoot on the beach or on your lawn – its pretty obvious, has no downside and doesn’t cost anything. I am writing this in the middle of winter and many of you live in NYC so you’re probably wondering why I am even putting this in my blog. Well, there are other ways of getting grounded. There are grounding bed sheets, mats and ankle/wrist bands that plug into the ground port of your electrical outlet ( the round hole, not the two slots!). There is a website, course, it is www.earthing.com.  Here you will find a free booklet and a place to shop for various earthing products.  There are also some videos to watch as well.
The least expensive way to try this is to buy a wrist/ankle band and wear it to bed. The cord is long enough so you won’t end up with your feet tied together. Once you have confirmed the benefits, you can explore some of the more expensive options such as the fitted bed sheets or the half bed sheet. I tried it for a few weeks and after one night I noticed more vivid dreams, more refreshing sleep and relief from those little age-related aches and pains so I believe the effects to be real. I have a bit of arthritis in one big toe which sometimes aches when the weather changes and within minutes of strapping on my ankle band, the pain stopped. Pretty impressive. Last week I had to shovel some snow and instead of being sore for 1-2 days, the soreness lasted only about 8 hours. I think this would be a great tool for headache or gout sufferers. When the pain starts, strap on, plug in and sit quietly while the pain recedes. Meditators should try it as well. Put on the ankle strap, plug in and meditate. Your meditation will be a little closer to that of the spiritual masters who meditated in nature, grounded to the earth. Â This is not meant to be a cure all or a replacement for my services or those of any other physician. It is just another health supporting measure that you can use on your own like getting enough sleep and eating a healthy diet. Â Try it and see what happens after about 40 days. If nothing happens, you’ve just spent a little money and you can always give it away to a friend to try. If you feel better, then continue to ground yourself every night.
We evolved walking barefoot on the earth which is a repository of energy transmitted from the cosmos to the ionosphere and then to the surface by lightning strikes. Our bones are made strong by walking in earth’s gravitation field as evidenced by the osteoporosis suffered by astronauts weightless on the International Space Station. Likewise, our health is maintained by touching the surface of the earth for our “daily bread” of free electrons and by free I mean unattached electrons but also cost free electrons! Â Go get grounded!
