Reconnecting With The EARTH
Our Body And Earth: Both our body and the Earth run at the same frequency of 7.83 Hertz, also known as the Schumann resonances. This portion of the Earth’s electromagnetic field spectrum is an alpha brain wave that works as a timing signal for the human body, helping to coordinate complex internal functions with our circadian rhythm. Our Modern-day lifestyle has put our Neurology in starvation on physical and electrical level and feeding our body with EARTHING is very much needed for healthy balance of our body’s system.
What is Earthing? Humans evolved to be in nearly constant direct contact with the earth. When connected to the earth, our electric potential equalizes with the earth’s electric potential. Our body voltage becomes near zero and it becomes stable, unchanging with fluctuating electric fields around us in our environment. Nobel prize winner Richard Feyman termed this the “umbrella effect”.
Modern Society’s Harmful Practices: In the modern world, We humans have increasingly insulated ourselves from the earth over the last century. We have created a lifestyle that starves our neurology on both a physical and electrical level. When comparing the developments of today with primitive lifestyles, you notice our interaction with the outside world has been muted. We live in raised houses and walk around in thick insulated shoes, minimizing out contact with the natural world. When we do make it outside into the elements we usually get around in cars and rarely walk or run. Our exercise usually takes place in a gym or on a flat paved surface in thick rubber shoes. This lack of interaction with our natural surroundings both physically and electrically affects our body’s ability to perform at its natural abundant state. In a modern society we have developed weak physical conditioning where most people don’t practice the full mechanical capacity of their bodies. Conventional fitness shrinks everything down to simple, repetitive, and predictable processes that lack the stimulation needed to maintain healthy nerve function. By compartmentalizing our exercises into non-engaging regular activities deprives our nerve receptors of stimulation, and as a result, hinders their ability to send proper impulses to the brain. This disconnect may contribute to disease, including poor sleep, imbalanced autonomic nervous system, chronic stress, and inflammation, and that there may be health benefits of earthing, spending more time connected to the earth’s electric potential. “Earthing,” or “grounding,” is the process of connecting to the earth’s electric potential, either by spending more time in nature by walking barefoot on the ground, or by using an earthing device.
Nervous System: Our nervous system is composed of a constantly evolving web of electrochemical sensors we must stimulate and exercise regularly to maintain their proper function. By walking around our entire lives in over cushioned shoes and confining our movement to domesticated processes limits stimulation to our nerve receptors in the joints, tendons, and muscles throughout the body. This lack of stimulation can lead to joint complex dysfunction that slowly deteriorates motor control by weakening reflex muscle activity, affecting joint and muscle mobility, and later on can lead to compromised spinal function and all sorts of disease. We have some 1,300 nerve ending per square inch on the bottom our feet which makes one think we were designed to plug into the harmonizing effect of the Earth, by walking barefoot. When barefoot on a natural surface we are grounded to the zero potential of the Earth, this is also known as Earthing. Earthing is believed to allow the body to achieve greater physiological stability by coordinating diverse bodily rhythms with not only with the light and dark cycle, but with the natural rhythms of the environment. Studies have shown an immediate reduction in skin conductance when grounded, indicating a rapid activation of the calming-mode of the parasympathetic nervous system. Grounding our body’s electricity essentially restores our natural state by synchronizing our biological clocks, hormonal cycles and physiological rhythms.
Balanced Autonomic Nervous System by Earthing : The autonomic nervous system is a branch of the nervous system that controls our physiologic state. The sympathetic branch is our “fight or flight” response. It increases blood pressure, elevates blood sugar, decreases digestion and healing. The parasympathetic branch decreases heart rate and blood pressure, diverts blood flow to our internal organs, and promotes digestion and healing. We are designed to spend the majority of our time in in a parasympathetic state. However, modern life stress can cause chronic sympathetic activation. It has increased parasympathetic activity and balance. A ‘grounded’ human being is someone who is connected to and receives direct benefit from the infinite free electron source generated directly from our planet earth. We’re grounded when we hold the same electrical potential as the Earth’s surface. Electrons are absorbed or discharged via the skin, mainly through our feet in contact with the ground. This is an ancient and profound yet hugely common sense principle of well-being that’s currently resurging amidst enthusiastic stories of its success. It’s well accepted that electrical systems of our homes or sophisticated electrical equipment must be grounded to function safely and effectively. But, the human body as being fundamentally bio-electric in nature, also working more optimally with grounding, and is suffering adverse effects from the lack of it.
Earthing Equalizes Us with the Electric Potential of the Earth: All our body’s trillions of cells function electrically. Each cell is like a battery; it runs at a specific millivoltage and frequency. Our nervous system uses electrical signals to control every aspect of our bodies. Generally speaking, disease is caused when cells have too little voltage and are running at too low a frequency. Ultimately our health depends on the electrical charge maintained within and around our cells and our organ systems. The body seeks to maintain homeostasis– a state of balance. This delicate balance and flow of electricity in our bodies is disrupted by the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in our environment. Electrical appliances, power lines, cell phones, and radio waves all emit EMFs that alter cell function, especially brain and heart cells, causing poor sleep, depression, anxiety, and oxidative damage to our cells and DNA, and contributes chronic pain, inflammatory diseases and diabetes. Unstable, highly reactive free radical molecules (caused by tobacco smoke, sugars, x-rays, pollution, etc) have unpaired or ‘stray’ electrons so they ‘steal’ electrons from healthier cells to regain stability. But this causes oxidative damage to those cells that then also turn into free radicals and thus a chain reaction of damage begins. Inflammation, disease and aging are attributed to this free radical damage. Antioxidants help reduce damage from free radical reactions because they donate electrons which neutralize the radical without forming another. The influx of electrons from grounding provides an externally sourced natural antioxidant effect, and gives the body another raw material to heal itself. We benefit from earthing while sleeping, including significantly improved sleep, pain, and well-being.
Universe And Its Influence On Us: The universe is all about energy. Simply, energy is universal information in motion within and around everything. Our universe is alive due to interactions of energy. All our thoughts including perceptions, beliefs, wants and needs, all our emotions and feelings, our sensations and movements, and our anima or spirit are the outcomes of this essential substrate of energy. Surrounding and each living thing– from this living, breathing planet down to the smallest single cell organism – is a bio-electromagnetic field. This field is a function of the vitality present in that being. In another’s presence you may sense this as radiance or a glow. Or you feel a charge of electricity when approaching someone with whom you share a mutual attraction. We’ve all felt surprise due to shocks by static electricity; at those moments we’re a conductor for that excess charge. On a much grander scale, the more than 5,000 lightning strikes per minute globally constantly refresh the Earth’s almost unlimited supply of free electrons. To illuminate how immensely powerful this force is, a single lightning storm can contain more energy than ten atomic bombs. We perceive only a very small percentage of it through our five senses; usually, we can notice only its effects (think radio signals, ultrasound, or even love). Its electrical charge is that spark of life that animates us, and has been well regarded for thousands of years primarily by eastern and indigenous cultures – who’ve actually studied its properties and called it by many names – Chi, Qi, Ki, Life Force energy, prana, mana, orgone, electrons, Shakti, kundalini, and more.
Broken link with our ROOT system: Remember the barefoot joy you felt running around outside as a child? Where did that joy go? Collectively we’re driven almost nonstop to be acquisition motivated by consumerist mentality, constantly pressured by high living costs and economic disparity, and are ill from effects of degraded air, water and genetically and chemically modified, irradiated, pesticide treated foods. Megacorporations trump rights of individuals while depleting precious natural resources. The needs of the many are preempted by and for the wants of a few. We’ve insulated ourselves from Nature. We live mostly indoors, and walk in synthetic footwear and high heels on asphalt and carpets. We are swimming (drowning?) in an ever-growing and pervasive invisible sea of harmful electromagnetic fields and frequencies (EMF). Face it – we’re stressed out. Unlike all other species ever to have lived on this planet, it seems that overall our human race has lost our way, our essential connection to this paradise, and our ability to live sustainably. We often forget or ignore that it’s only by this grace and generosity of the Earth our original and true mother, that we may sustain this physical life at all. Our survival as a species is intimately linked to a healthy relationship with our environment.
Feel GRATITUDE for mother soil and nature: Are you communing lovingly with Nature? Do you feel gratitude as She feeds you, quenches your thirst and washes you, clothes you, breathes life into you, soothes your soul with Her beauty, Her breath, Her songs? Do you feel a healthy respect and awe for Her enormous elemental powers of creation, sustenance, and destruction? Do you have a direct, up close and personal relationship with Her? How do you feel Her, touch Her, smell Her, taste Her? When last did you lay your body down on this Earth and exhale a sigh of relief?.. Perhaps now in this eleventh hour, after so much worldly suffering, stress and angst, we will personally activate change by taking a step or two – barefoot steps – onto the living earth, to simply be present to the enormous power we stand upon. Such a basic action of a single human being reverberates throughout the entire cosmos. Imagine how we may create a larger shift when we get grounded by the millions.
Celebrate nature and its flow of life: Earthing or grounding eliminates excess electrical charge and thus helps inflammation, by bringing the body into electrical balance with the Earth. For energy-depleted persons, grounding helps by uploading vital electrons, reenergizing the body’s’ electrical state. Its energy continuously works towards our body homeostasis by either delivering or absorbing electrons. Grounding balances us and helps us feel whole again. Who wouldn’t want this infinitely huge vital life force on her or his side, available 24/7 towards greater health and a sense of well being? Our ancestors lived much more closely to the earth on dirt floor dwellings, often slept on the ground perhaps under stars, and worked daily barefoot or shoed with minimal foot coverings. Here’s the easiest way to ground yourself: Go barefoot on Earth – walk, lie down, stand, or sit in a chair with your feet on the ground for awhile each day. You could begin with just twenty minutes daily…longer and more often is even better. On damp earth or at water’s edge is best, as moisture enhances conductivity. Our tissues know how to ‘soak up’ and use these electrons so that, over time, our bodies may recharge and heal. There was an awareness and respect for influential cycles of nature and flow of life. Seasonal rituals and ceremonies were hallmarks of celebrating Nature.
– Manimozhi Ilango
My Fatty Brain Cell 