I Would Love To Walk Barefoot Down This Path! Stay On The Path And You Probably Don't Have To Worry About Ticks
According to Dr James Oschman in the video below...."Inflammation is caused by a lack of electrons in the tissues. He says something to the effect that negative electrons neutralize the free radicals which cause the inflammation. In the video below Dr. Mercola interviews Dr. Oschman on the subject of Earthing...or connnecting to the earth's negative electrons and how this connection can prevent or stop inflammation. As a result...many diseases , such as heart disease, cancer, etc...which involve inflammation may be able to be reduced in incidence by grounding or earthing. The video starts out a tad bit slow but please stick with it because it gets very interesting. Connecting to the earth's negative health giving electrons can be as simple as walking barefoot like our ancestors did...like I did as a child and teenager. Our rubber soled shoes and wooden or carpeted floored houses shield us from this beneficial balancing energy There are studies which show that this connection to the earth does improve our health.
I have read the book Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? and found it so fascinating that I have been trying to implement as many of the natural suggestions as I can. This past summer I would walk a mile barefoot around our yard each day and then sit for at least half an hour , reading , with my barefeet firmly planted on the ground. It was totally relaxing and at the same time I found it energizing...in a healthy way. I actually looked forward to doing these things every day. It was almost addicitng. Since winter has come however, I am only using my earthing sheet at night and alternate between using an earthing pad at the computor and an earthing wrist band. I'm still trying to determine which is the most convenient to use. I have been using the earthing sheet for about three months now and I can't say that I have noticed any miraculous difference but I have noticed that I've had no night leg cramps since I have begun using it. I have found that using the grounding technology at the computor has allowed me to be at the computor for much longer periods of time without feeling weak and fatigued. That has been a very huge improvement for me.
With that said though...I'm sure that being outside with barefeet on the ground...or other areas of skin touching the ground...may give us an even better balance of electrons.....being out in the sun and all. However, with winter upon us, I have not been outside barefoot.I have finally found shoes with natural soles (Soft Star Shoes)which supposedly conduct the negative electrons from the ground.This shoe company does not claim that their shoes conduct negative electrons but soft sole shoes are much healthier for us for many reasons. I have bought several pairs and am so happy with them that I have placed their advertising on my blog.Check out their video in the sidebar. I was also reading an out of print book called The Ion Effect : How Air Electricity Rules Your Life and Health which has gotten me even more excited about this subject. It is a bit discouraging that the military appears to be altering the electric nature of our atmosphere but perhaps with more attention to this subject there will be better laws controlling this aberrant activity. The book...The Ion Effect has alot of good information and is written in an interesting manner. I learned from this book that even our clothing has an effect on our health. I always heard about wearing natural materials and that it was healthier to do so. In the past I have noticed that wearing cotton clothes was always more comfortable for me but never understood the reason why.Now I have better insight into this issue and more of my clothing will now be made from natural fibers. Below the video are two of the earthing products they speak of in the video. Earthing may just be "The Most Important Health Discovery Ever". However...as with most things concerning health, it is always a combination of factors and we shouldn't just focus on one aspect.
Yesterday I went for a walk with my Trifield 100XE EMF Meter (more about it in the post below) to try and determine if I was exposed to any level of electric magnetic frequencies when going on my daily walk on the road. I was shocked at the levels I measured while walking along the road below the wires. The range was between 20 and 50 milligauss...depending on how low the wires were in a specific location, how close you were to a transformer...etc. Because the telephone poles were placed alternately on both sides of the street and the wires crossed over the road at certain points, one would have to walk zig zag on the road to avoid the highest frequencies. Supposedly a safer amount of EMFS is under 3 milligauss which I didn't encounter on the whole walk...except when I entered the woods. It could have been psychological but I felt such a peace and serenity in the woods, compared with walking on the street. I live in the country....so anywhere there are telephone and electric wires...there are problems.The conclusion I have come to is that if you have an area near you where there are no electric wires, phone polls and transformers....that you should try and spend more of your time there...or if you have a few acres...to walk around your yard away from the electric wires. Usually one of the purposes of going for a walk or a run is to improve health and wellbeing. If that is your purpose for walking then it might be more prudent to walk in the park or in nature ....away from the wires.
Another suggestion is to walk barefoot or wear leather soled moccasins which are suppose to allow the negative electrons from the earth up into your body , which reportedly creates a type of shield around your body and protects you from radio waves, cell phone tower radiation...etc.
The two audios at the link below are interviews with Dr. Klinghardt and Dr. Thomas Rau where the dangers of EMFs are discussed and they even talk about the connection with microbial infections....including Lyme disease. http://electromagnetichealth.org/audio-archives-and-more/
Below are some photos I took of ice patterns in the brook which I came across when leaving the EMFs on the road. There are many benefits of walking in nature.....no car pollution, noise and distraction, no emfs (that could be measured) and the beauty and peace of simple things.
Ghostly Patterns
Glistening Droplets
Amazing Curves
Never Ending Patterns Of Beauty
Swirls and Twirls
Afternoon Sun.....A Sense Of Contentment and Warmth
More studies need to be conducted concerning the health effects of electromagnetic frequencies(EMFs) on the human body and wildlife in general. The planet earth is being bombarded with an ever increasing amount of many different chaotic frequencies. The more gadgets we invent that depend on cell phone tower usage, the worse this problem is going to become.
I first began getting more interested in this serious issue when I saw an article on "Earthing" in The Journal of Health and Healing from The Price Potteneger Nutrition Foundation http://www.ppnf.org/ . This article spoke of a new book out called Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever. I speak more about this book here http://tinyurl.com/35zu83j One of the findings in this book talked about sludgy blood and how electromagnetic pollution appears to act as one of the forces that clumps the red blood cells together. Of special note to Lyme disease patients...grounding may improve the sludgy blood often found in this disease population. Experiments have been conducted which show that grounding oneself to the earth...almost immediately reverses this blood cell clumping effect. What the authors called "zeta potential" is returned to the blood cells which then causes them to keep a healthy distance from each other. This action thins the blood which can then flow more easily thoughout the body carrying oxygen and nutrients.You can ground or earth yourself simply by walking barefoot on the ground. There are also products available which help you to be grounded within your homes. I have a grounding band at my computor. I find that I can work at the computor now ...for hours...without getting weak and tired.
The authors of Earthing claim that the safest way to use your cellphone is to use it when you are barefoot on the ground...recieving the negative electrons from the earth, which cancels out the positive charge from your phone and the atmosphere.The book also tells us that when we are intimately connected to the earth, the negative electrons that we recieve from the earth , create a shield around our bodies which repel or cancel out any disturbing energies or frequencies in the atmosphere.
In my email today I received a message about a older study conducted by high school students in Germany. Here is the study:
Red blood cells lump by mobile phone 22. March 2005 16:59 Two students of the Gymnasium high school in Spaichingen (Germany) have investigated the influence of using a mobile phone on the red blood cells. With a microscope they made 255 pictures of the blood of 51 testees. The students, Maria Ritter and Wasgan Wolski, received a regional award for young researchers, reports the Schwäbische Zeitung of March 7, 2005. The testees were not allowed to use their mobile phones for 24 hours. Afterwards the researchers took blood from a finger tip and earlobe. Then the testees had to use a phone for 20 seconds. Immediately after that the researchers took blood again and ten minutes later again. The result: after using the mobile phone it was clearly visible that the red blood cells lumped together in 'rolls of coins'. Also ten minutes afterwards the 'rolls of coins' still were clearly visible. The lumping raises the risk of thrombosis. Moreover the cells take up and transport less oxygen, report Ritter and Wolski. The research was directed by their teacher Dr. Markus Ziegler.
It's really a shame that we cannot depend on government agencies/corporations to untertake honest studies on products that they are making money from. We really must pay attention to the experiments and studies of those who have no conflicts of interest. Let's begin supporting young people and encourage their inquisitve minds by promoting such studies as the one above.
I am almost finished with another book called Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn't Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution
I am thoroughly enjoying this book.It is packed with helpful information....and lots of references.The author talks about the dangers of hairdryers, cell phones, cordless phones, gas vs electric stoves, the benefits and dangers of the different types of lighting......baby monitors and even plumbing. But most importantly she tells us what we can do to protect ourselves from the invisible hazards of electropollution.The author even includes foods and supplements (with a few recipes sprinkled in) that can help protect us from the free radical damage of these technological emissions. Gittleman also stresses the importance of zap proofing your children...who are even more sensitive to EMFs than adults are. Also included and of great importance...is how to measure for these emissions. When we know how strong the EMFs are and how far they radiate, this helps us to either change the technology that we are using (example: different types of light bulbs and fixtures) or helps us to decide how far away we need to be from certain appliances or "hot" walls. We can then rearrange our furniture to accomodate for a healthier inside environment.
I've learned from several readers that the most simple detection and cheapest method of determining the strength of EMFs is to use a transistor radio. I believe they said you tune the dial to static and then move the radio towards an electronic appliance to see if the static increases.
I like to be a bit more precise so I ordered aTrifield Meter...about a month ago... from Amazon and have been playing with it ever since. I have been measuring the lighting fixtures (dimmer lights put out very strong EMFs) TVs, humidifier, computor,keyboard,mouse, refridge, stove, walls where the head of beds are located....etc. It has been very enlightening and I have changed certain light fixtures, have stopped using the dimmer switch light fixtures and have place certain lamps farther away from chairs...but close enough where I can still see well. I am using some grounding technology similar to this earthing mat Earthing Connection Universal Mat at my computor and it really seems to help the fatigue and weakness that I used to experience without being grounded. Here is a picture of the Trifield Meter I bought Trifield 100XE EMF Meter I took the meter to my computor and measured the EMFs coming off of my keyboard.(while holding the meter) The meter registered 3.5 milligauss, which is in the danger range, and when I attached myself to the grounding device, the meter immediately went to 0 milligauss. Similar readings resulted when I tested the mouse and the computor screen. So...the grounding definitely does something . However, I am still trying to wrap my mind around how that is working.
Below is a video where Dr. Sinatra explains the blood thinning effects of grounding
Having dealt with Chronic Lyme disease and associated problems...for over 20 years, I have learned...and am still learning about the many different factors that can affect our overall health. Taking care of our feet isn't just about focusing on an isolated part of our body but proper foot care plays a role in relieving the stress on other parts of the body as well as on the foot itself. See http://lymesentinel.blogspot.com/search/label/EARTHING I am finding that the more I realign myself with nature's laws, the healthier I become. It's not an overnight process but I am finding it to be a fascinating and exciting journey....and even though I'm getting older in years....I feel as if I am becoming younger. We don't have to get sicker, duller and more boring as we age. I am seeing it as a chance to spend more time learning, growing and sharing with others Three Ways Wearing Shoes Harms Our Feet And What We Can Do About It By Podiatrist Dr. Michael Nirenberg
Our feet need to be healthy and strong to endure high impact activities, such as aerobics, running or other sports, and the daily abuse of walking. When our feet weaken, they are at risk of injury, such as a fracture, tendonitis, or plantar fasciitis.
The purpose of shoes is to protect feet and provide warmth. Beyond these basics, some shoes are a fashion accessory, while others supposedly help us run faster, walk better, tone our legs, or even alleviate foot ailments.
Comparing the feet of people who did not and currently do not wear shoes with those who wore shoes and currently wear shoes provides insight into the consequences of wearing shoes.
1. Shoes Weaken Bones in Our Feet
According to renowned anthropologist Erik Trinkaus of Washington University, humans began habitually wearing shoes 40,000 years ago. He reached this conclusion by examining the toe bones of people who lived in the range of 10,000 to 100,000 years ago and found that at 40,000 years ago, the bones became less robust. That is, when humans began wearing shoes the bones in our toes (digits 2 to 5) became less thick and strong; or in other words, the toe bones became more delicate and smaller.
Bones adapt to the loads placed under them. In response to increased loads (or forces), bones become stronger and thicker. Conversely, if the loading on a bone decreases, the bone will become weaker and thinner ( Wolff’s Law ).
Wearing shoes changes how we walk and how weight (or the ground’s loading force) spreads out across the bottom of our feet. Trinkaus describes our toes as being large and robust for most of human history, but suddenly with the wearing of shoes, they became “wimpy.”
Essentially, shoes limit the peak force on our toes by distributing loading across the entire forefoot and shoes eliminate the traction role of our toes. The result is weaker bones, leaving them at increased risk for fractures or other problems.
Shoes don’t just limit the peak forces on toes, they change the way our feet work. The actually working of our feet is referred to as the foot’s biomechanics and within shoes, our feet function differently. Essentially, shoes alter the foot’s natural motion.
2. Shoes Limit and Alter the Normal Motion of Our Feet
Changing the way our feet work, can lead to problems. Earlier we discussed how supportive shoes obviate the need for many foot muscles to the point where, during normal walking, they are not used. Muscles that are not used weaken. Weak muscles on the bottom of our feet increase pronation motion (Headlee et al). Up to a point, foot pronation is normal. Too much pronation or over-pronation can cause foot pain, problems, and deformities.
Sebastian Wolf at the University of Heidelberg compared foot motion of children 8 years old when barefoot and in shoes and found significant differences in biomechanics. Wolf found that shoes impaired the foot’s normal motion and shoes limit the normal widening of the forefoot while walking.
Interestingly, Wolf found that the foot’s need to widen while walking was more limited in the average commercial children’s shoe than in a much thinner, more flexible shoe even though the width of both shoes in the forefoot was identical.
Previously, the culprit for many foot ailments (such as Morton’s Neuroma or hammertoes) has been the tight-fitting shoe. Based on Wolf’s findings, perhaps we need to add to add to “tight-fitting,” the inflexible shoe and the thick-soled shoe.
In October of 2009, foot and shoe data from the prestigious Framingham Study of 3,378 subjects over the years 2002 to 2008 found past shoewear use in women was associated with hindfoot pain. Meaning, even if a woman’s shoe is not causing foot pain now, it could later—even after the woman has long stopped wearing the shoe.
Specifically, the Framingham study states:
“Young women should make careful choice regarding their shoe type in order to potentially avoid hindfoot pain later in life.”
The Framingham study faults the use of high heel shoes and encourages women who persist in wearing these types of shoes to perform stretching exercises to decrease the likelihood of foot pain occurring later.
Beyond altering the normal motion of our feet, wearing shoes can actually change the normal structure and shape of our feet.
3. Shoes Deform Our Feet
Overwhelming evidence shows that wearing shoes deforms our feet. Foot deformities can potentially cause pain and other problems.
Udaya Rao at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kasturba Medical College, Karnataka, India compared flatfoot deformity in children (age 4 to 13) who wore shoes with those unshod. He found the incidence of flatfoot was 8.6% in those who wore shoes and 2.8% in those who did not wear shoes.
Further, Rao discovered that flatfoot occurred most often with children who wore closed-toe shoes and less often when children wore sandals, slippers, and least in those children who walked barefoot. He concluded that shoe wearing in childhood is detrimental to the development of the foot’s normal arch.
Simon Mays in the Physical Journal of Anthropology published a study on bunions. Bunions are painful protrusions of bone on the inside of our feet and are associated with the big toe drifting toward the other toes. Mays states that the majority of bunions result from wearing shoes; few are hereditary.
Mays says bunion deformities are rare in non-shoe wearing populations until the people start wearing shoes. Then the incidence of bunions rises sharply.
Further, Mays says that incidence of bunions in a population is related to the type of shoes worn. In populations wearing more constrictive Western-style shoes as opposed to loose-fitting footwear, the incidence of bunion deformities increased.
Kristiann D’Aout compared barefoot and shoe-wearing populations and found differences in both foot shape and the peak pressures under the foot. Barefoot peoples have wider feet and exhibit more equally distributed peak pressures. Shoe-wearing peoples had narrower feet and showed higher focal pressures at the heel, big toe and ball of the foot. These higher peak pressures put the foot at more risk for injuries, such as metarsalgia, capsulitis, fracture or tendonitis.
Further, Dr. Bernhard Zipfel at the University of the Witwatersrand has dedicated his academic career to the evolution of the human foot. Zipfel’s research paper “Shod versus unshod: The emergence of forefoot pathology in modern humans?” concluded that shoes were a factor in the development of foot pathology.
Ways to Protect Our Feet from Shoes
Dr. Lynn Staheli, Director of Orthopedics at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle asserts that, optimum foot development occurs when barefoot.
Clearly, in general, shoes are not good for the development of our feet. The best shoe merely protects feet from the environment.
When it comes to toddlers and children, the best advice I can give parents is try to have their children go barefoot as much as possible. I cannot emphasize this enough!
Of course, going barefoot is not without risks. Parents must find areas where it is safe to walk without shoes. Further, when possible have your child walk barefoot on uneven terrain to encourage his or her feet to use as many muscles as possible.
During times when children must wear shoes, choose the most flexible, barefoot-like shoe you can find. If my child had to wear a shoe, I would put them in a soft shoe or even a sandal or flip-flop before a big, stiff well-padded running shoe.
For the shoe-wearing adult who has healthy feet and no concomitant medical problems (i.e. diabetes or poor circulation), to stop wearing shoes suddenly, would likely cause foot pain and problems.
These adults should start by SLOWLY transitioning to less supportive, more barefoot-like shoes. They should look for shoes with a wide toe-box (wide around the toes) and less stiff, more flexible shoes. Some shoes that help simulate barefoot activity while providing some degree of protection include, Vibram Five Fingers, Nike Free and Terra Plana’s Vivo Barefoot.
In addition, adults transitioning out of stiff, supportive shoes should do foot strengthening and stretching exercises. Years of wearing supportive shoes will have weakened many of the small muscles in the arch, ball and toes of the feet, and these muscles need to get strong again. Gradually, these adults should begin barefoot activity.
Lastly, persons with foot problems, such as impaired sensation (i.e. diabetics), poor circulation or other problems or deformities should not go barefoot or try barefoot-like shoes without first checking with their podiatrist.
Where Do Podiatrists Stand on Shoes?
The American Podiatrist Medical Association (APMA) has issued a statement on going barefoot, entitled “Podiatrists Urge Americans to Think Twice Before Going Barefoot.” You can read the APMA’s statement by clicking HERE.
Final Thoughts on Shoes and Foot Problems
Podiatrists are quick to point out that there are people who have never worn shoes and suffer from foot pain and problems, including flatfeet, bunions, hammertoes and other problems. This is true.
Foot deformities and problems are not always due to wearing shoes, and can occur due to a myriad of reasons: congenital, ligamentous laxity, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, structural factors within the foot (metatarsal head shape, first ray hypermobility), over-pronation, trauma, diabetes, polio, vascular problems and the list goes on.
When it comes to foot deformities and foot problems, shoes are one possible factor. Shoes may be part of the problem for a particular person or the whole problem
See the following link for article references and live links http://tinyurl.com/2vrd3ys Dr. Nirenberg's websitehttp://www.americaspodiatrist.com/
Soft sheepskin innersoles. Keeps feet warm in winter and the natural wicking properties of sheepskin keeps feet cool in summer and shoes stay odor free.It's the next best thing to being barefoot. There are a few other brands of barefoot shoes but so far Soft Star Shoes are the only ones I have tried . I bought my first pair a couple of months ago and I like them so much I have already ordered another pair http://www.softstarshoes.com/index.cfm?aff=53391 They have different styles and sizes for adults, toddlers and older children.
Traveling the road through chronic illness and back to health, is rarely a quick process. Vibrant health and a joyous sense of wellbeing is the result of obeying nature's laws. We are intricately intertwined with the natural environment and the further we distance ourselves from it, the more consequences we suffer. Often what is presented to us as a new health discovery, is only a rediscovery or turning back to ancestral wisdom. Fermenting our foods, walking barefoot, eating more foods raw and unprocessed, spending time working and playing in the sunshine, listening to and making harmonious music, are just a sample of low tech healthy living that used to come naturally to everyone.
In our modern world technology has given us many benefits...but at what price? Many are becoming very concerned....and rightly so....about the ever increasing electromagnetic smog we are immersed in. Humans and other life on earth is meant to live and thrive within a matrix of natural balanced frequencies. We really have no understanding of how the cell phone electromagnetic frequencies (EMFS), radio waves, military frequencies...etc...interact with the frequencies of the human body. A growing number of people are becoming extremely sensitive to these unnatural frequencies. Recently I read a book called "Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? The simplicity of its main concept has captured my attention and continues to fascinate me. This book puts forth the idea that shoes with plastic or rubber soles are a main cause of ill health. They insulate us from the earth's protective energy. So...what is the solution? Part of the solution is to go barefoot as often as possible and or buy shoes with natural minimal soles which conduct negative (helpful) electrons to and through your body. Can't get much simpler and cheaper than that.
You are also grounded when swimming
I'd like to share with you several paragraphs from the book which mention the shielding from EMFS which occurs when grounding the body.
" Now imagine that you are grounded. If your body is somehow coupled to the earth, no matter where you are, you are at the electric potential of the ground. That means all of you, from head to foot. Your electric potential is zero and no positive charge can charge you up. You are a part of the ground. You are shielded from whatever happens in the atmosphere. If positive charges are present in your environment and "stick to you", the earth will provide the electrons to cancel the positive charges and maintain your electrical potential at the same level as it is! Zero Volts. If EMFS hit your body, their effect is cancelled by the electrons within your body, supplied by the ground. Nothing can change your electrical potential, except uncoupling yourself from the Earth.
Being grounded means your body's internal organs are shielded from any electrostatic or electromagnetic interference in the atmosphere. This provides for a very quiet electrical "milieu" inside the body where no external electric or magnetic fields can disrupt the internal functions maintaining homeostasis and health. This includes digestion, internal repairs, wound healing, and all metabolic activities. Keep in mind that all chemical or biochemical reactions are electrical in nature and so are susceptible to being disturbed by external electric and magnetic fields. Grounding prevents these disturbances. This is how living beings evolved on the Earth."
For the past several weeks I have been trying to spend at least an hour a day outside barefoot...either walking or reading with barefeet on the ground. It feels incredibly soothing to me and I'm a bit sad that colder weather is coming. I have just ordered all leather and sheepskin moccasins which supposedly do not block the beneficial negative ions from flowing into your body from the earth. I feel that this type of shoe has several benefits for our health. One benefit is the one I just mentioned and the other is the proper excercising of one's feet. Our ligaments , bones and muscles do not get the movement they need when we wear hard soled shoes. This can affect the strength of our ankles and feet and it can also affect the posture of our whole body. I have been walking barefoot periodically each day for about two months and I notice a huge difference in the stability of my sense of balance and of my ankles and feet. When I was recovering from a sprained ankle earlier this spring, the reflexology the physical therapist used on me produced amazing results. My quick recovery, due to the reflexology and foot excercise was one of the main factors that got me interested in all facets of this subject.
Reflexology also relates to this discussion. When we walk barefoot many important pressure points are being stimulated...especially when we walk on uneven ground. I bought a book on reflexology that has been very helpful......you can view the book and the interactive reflexology charts in the sidebar of this blog . So...when we don't have the opportunity to walk outside, for both the negative ion benefit and the stimulation of the foot through barefoot excercise, we can use reflexology and grounding or "earthing " technology. There are several very interesting videos in the sidebar which will tell you more about earthing and reflexology.
The authors do have a product they are selling but they also advocate just walking barefoot. The science of it all makes sense to me. For my review of this book...go to this link http://tinyurl.com/35zu83j The review briefly goes over 3 of the main benefits of earthing that have been validated by scientific testing
EARTHING Authors: Clinton Ober, Stephen Sinatra MD., Martin Zucker
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most profound. If the revolutionary concepts and research presented in the book "Earthing" prove to be consistently true, through further research, clinical experience and personal testimony, we may be one step further towards understanding, preventing and alleviating chronic illness.
The more technologically advanced our society becomes, the further we separate ourselves from the rythmns and sustenance of nature. The authors of "Earthing" reveal one of the most fundamental ways that we can reconnect with the environment which our bodies were designed to interact with.
The authors' hypothesis states that the more time we spend outdoors with our bare feet planted firmly on stone, earth, grass, sand or cement, the healthier we will be. The ground is one of the main sources of negative electrons which neutralize free radicals. A free supply of negative electrons is essential for optimal health. A quote from page 92 elaborates on this idea. " The living matrix, as one of its main biological functions, is set up to protect tissues from free radical damage. It represents a natural built-in antioxidant defense system. The matrix is all-pervasive, reaching into every corner of the body. If your matrix functions properly, and if you are connected to the earth, any free radical formed anywhere in the body will be neutralized by mobile electrons from the Earth. This idea alone should motivate anyone to connect with the Earth as much as possible, day and night. By understanding that the living matrix is a conductive fabric extending throughout the body, and that grounding connects this system to the Earth and an infinite supply of free electrons, one could see that Earthing could prove to have far-reaching anti-aging, antioxidant, and anti-inflamm-aging effects. Longterm, controlled animal studies will enable us to verify or refute this profound hypothesis."
The authors tell about several different types of studies which have been conducted, that show the benefits of earthing or grounding to the earth's electrical matrix. Microphotographs and thermography images are also included. They have found that direct connection to the earth's negative electrons changes thick sludgey blood to blood that is more the consistency of wine. The explanation given is that the conductance of negative electrons into the body re-establishes the zeta potential of the blood cells and this "zeta potential" helps to keep the blood cells at a healthy distance from each other.
Another documented benefit is the lessening of inflammation. Infrared imaging shows the vast differences in the degree of inflammation when comparing a patient's inflammation before grounding and after grounding.
A study done by Dr. Maurice Ghaly and published in the 2004 issue of The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, concluded that "Earthing during sleep resynchronizes cortisol secretion more in alignment with its natural normal rythmn....highest at 8:00 AM and lowest at midnight. Subjectively, the participants reported improved sleep along with reduced pain and stress. Even more impressive was the fact that the improvements often occurred within the very first days of sleeping grounded." Other improvements reported by the participants were ...falling asleep faster, waking fewer times during the night, feeling more refreshed and less fatigued in the morning, reduction in depression, anxiety and irritability. Some participants reported improvements in gastrointestinal health, PMS, hot flashes and TMJ.
It is the contention of the authors that because of our modern living, we have almost totally insulated ourselves from the earth's healing energies. We don't have to be "New Age" disciples to understand that we are electrical beings which were created to live in harmony and balance with the energies around us. Cell phone towers and other sources of electromagnetic frequencies may be causing havoc with our human electrical systems. The book Earthing claims that by connecting to the earth through walking barefoot or by using simple technology, we can shield ourselves from this possibly harmful sea of electromagnetic frequencies that surrounds us. One of the main offenders which insulates us from the protective negative ions of the earth......are our rubber or plastic soled shoes. The authors feel that while walking barefoot is most likely best...that leather soles or some other yet to be invented shoe technology could help to reconnect us with these negative electrons. There is grounding technology currently in use in the electronics world which prevents a person with too much static electricity from charging or shocking and thereby damaging the electronics they are working with. One of the authors of the book, Clinton Ober, has develped some useful technology to help people reconnect or ground to the earth even while sleeping, working at their computor, etc. These inventions are described in the book and are pictured in the sidebar of this blog. They are available from Amazon or from http://www.earthing.com/
Athletes in the Tour De Francesuccessfully used this technology to help recover from injuries and the physical stress they encoutered in this grueling race. While the authors feel that Earthing is a groundbreaking concept, they realize the need for more study into this area. This morning I was made aware of another study which is described in the video below. The basic idea is that the massive amount of electromagnetic frequencies in our atmosphere is actually increasing the growth of harmful bacteria and mold. Could this be a piece of the puzzle concerning our growing pandemic of infectious and mold related diseases? Could grounding or "Earthing" help us to offset the effects of this electromagnetic pollution?
For more information....there are several interesting videos about Grounding here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4WPdIsBtQ " The book Earthing is very interesting and easy to understand, with several personal testimonies included. We may think that the idea of acquiring health benefits from grounding to the earth, is a bit far fetched but the explanations and scientific evidence presented in the book sound very reasonable. It has convinced me to walk around barefoot outside...and it does feel wonderful. Its too soon to notice any longterm benefits but I will report any further interesting experiences in future posts. I may be a sucker but I have ordered one of the grounding sheets so that I can sleep connected to the earth. Time will tell if my sleep and overall health improves.
Please watch the video below which talks about an experiment which shows that bacteria and mold increase in numbers when exposed to ambient electromagnetic frequencies.
and found it so fascinating that I have been trying to implement as many of the natural suggestions as I can. This past summer I would walk a mile barefoot around our yard each day and then sit for at least half an hour , reading , with my barefeet firmly planted on the ground. It was totally relaxing and at the same time I found it energizing...in a healthy way. I actually looked forward to doing these things every day. It was almost addicitng. Since winter has come however, I am only using my earthing sheet at night and alternate between using an earthing pad at the computor and an earthing wrist band. I'm still trying to determine which is the most convenient to use. I have been using the earthing sheet for about three months now and I can't say that I have noticed any miraculous difference but I have noticed that I've had no night leg cramps since I have begun using it. I have found that using the grounding technology at the computor has allowed me to be at the computor for much longer periods of time without feeling weak and fatigued. That has been a very huge improvement for me.
which has gotten me even more excited about this subject. It is a bit discouraging that the military appears to be altering the electric nature of our atmosphere but perhaps with more attention to this subject there will be better laws controlling this aberrant activity. The book...The Ion Effect has alot of good information and is written in an interesting manner. I learned from this book that even our clothing has an effect on our health. I always heard about wearing natural materials and that it was healthier to do so. In the past I have noticed that wearing cotton clothes was always more comfortable for me but never understood the reason why.Now I have better insight into this issue and more of my clothing will now be made from natural fibers. Below the video are two of the earthing products they speak of in the video. Earthing may just be "The Most Important Health Discovery Ever". However...as with most things concerning health, it is always a combination of factors and we shouldn't just focus on one aspect.
(more about it in the post below) to try and determine if I was exposed to any level of electric magnetic frequencies when going on my daily walk on the road. I was shocked at the levels I measured while walking along the road below the wires. The range was between 20 and 50 milligauss...depending on how low the wires were in a specific location, how close you were to a transformer...etc. Because the telephone poles were placed alternately on both sides of the street and the wires crossed over the road at certain points, one would have to walk zig zag on the road to avoid the highest frequencies. Supposedly a safer amount of EMFS is under 3 milligauss which I didn't encounter on the whole walk...except when I entered the woods. It could have been psychological but I felt such a peace and serenity in the woods, compared with walking on the street. I live in the country....so anywhere there are telephone and electric wires...there are problems.The conclusion I have come to is that if you have an area near you where there are no electric wires, phone polls and transformers....that you should try and spend more of your time there...or if you have a few acres...to walk around your yard away from the electric wires. Usually one of the purposes of going for a walk or a run is to improve health and wellbeing. If that is your purpose for walking then it might be more prudent to walk in the park or in nature ....away from the wires.
at my computor and it really seems to help the fatigue and weakness that I used to experience without being grounded. Here is a picture of the Trifield Meter I bought 
