What is Earthing?
Earthing is coming into skin contact with the earth.
Sometimes people refer to it as grounding. In a more New Age sense, it’s a way
for reinforce your connection to the Earth Mother and to feel her healing
energies.
In a more scientific sense, it is coming into contact with the
free electrons in the ground helping to neutralize free radicals (having some of
these are good, having too many is bad), which damage healthy cells by stealing
electrons and eliminating static electrical charge. This can cause things like low grade
inflammation throughout the body. Although, we can fight this inflammation with
the proper diet that is rich in vitamins, coming in contact with the earth can easily
help us to remove these free radicals.
The Earth naturally has a negative charge and over time
our bodies build up a positive charge. Direct skin contact with the earth can
neutralize the charge in our body.
There have been devices, like mats, sheets and shoes that
have been made to transfer the energy from the ground into your body.
Upcoming
scientific research supports the concept that the Earth's electrons may have
multiple benefits including reduced pain, better sleep, a shift from
sympathetic (fight or flight) to parasympathetic (rest and digest) tone in the
autonomic nervous system (ANS), and a blood-thinning effect.
Some Science on Earthing, Sleep and Pain
Evidence for Earthing is controversial, but there have been
a few small studies that address sleep and pain (chronic and acute).
When 60 people
were given either a grounded or faux grounded mattress to sleep on the majority
of people who received the grounded mattress reported improvements in time to fall asleep, quality of sleep, waking
up feeling rested, reduced muscle stiffness and pain, reduced chronic back or
joint pain, and an improvement in overall wellbeing.1
A second study2
of 12 people slept on a conductive mattress pad for 8 weeks and it was found
that cortisol secretion levels normalized
after 6 weeks.
A study looking
into Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which is the muscle soreness that is
common after a workout, found that in men sleeping on a grounded mattress,
their white blood cell count indicated lower
levels of inflammation and they reported feeling less pain. 3
Ways to Connect to the Earth
The easiest way to try earthing is to go outside barefoot..
obviously. But for those of you who this may not be possible, there are a few
products out there that can let you do your earthing inside:
An earthing mat can be
used while you’re sitting at your desk to limits the amount of EMFs that your
body is exposed to.
Earthing mats also come with different uses:
On top of your mattress
Yoga Mat types for on
the go naps
An Earthing sheet can
be used on your bed.
Earthing Shoes, which
have a small conductor in the sole, provide an electrical path to the ground.
Or shoe straps, which may be more
affordable or fashionable for you.
Conclusion:
Earthing and grounding can be a great way to reduce stress.
Although a lot of the health benefits are controversial at this time, the
stress relief that you feel from just getting outside and taking off your shoes
can’t be matched.
References
1. Ober C. Grounding the human body to neutralize
bioelectrical stress from static electricity and EMFs. ESD Journal, http://www.esdjournal.com/articles/cober/ground.htm, January
2000.
2. Ghaly M, Teplitz D. The biologic effects of grounding
the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective
reporting of sleep, pain, and stress. Journal
of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2004;10(5):767–776.
3. Ober
C, Sinatra ST, Zucker M. Earthing: The Most Important
Health Discovery Ever? Laguna Beach, Calif, USA: Basic Health
Publications; 2010
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