Grounding

Well, those are my feet. I warned you! Fortunately, Marmaduke came in for a snuggle so I was at least able to soften the blow a little with the addition of a cute kitty. As for today's sunrise, one might say we're pushing it scoring one for sun. Indeed, it seems to be getting a little hazier each morning, and there was even some rain overnight and into early morning (I knew it!). But the intention is there, and it's my blog.

So what's the deal with grounding? Technically, the term in the biz is earthing. Because of it's mass, the earth is considered both an infinite source and sink of electrons. Grounding typically refers to it's capacity as a sink; think lightning bolts and electrical appliances in our homes. What we're going for here is receiving electrons from the earth, hence the distinction from the term grounding. Personally, earthing sounds a little to woo woo for me, so I may stick to grounding until I can come up with my own term. Ungrounding? Nah...

Why do we need it? Our bodies are electric. Forget glucose and fat and ATP. At our core, we run on electrons. It's not just energy, either. Electrons reduces inflammation by neutralizing free radicals. We get electrons from our food and the resultant processing, but that's not enough. Fortunately, we are standing directly on a treasure trove of seemingly unlimited electrons. Imagine if we could harness them for all the energy needs of our modern society? On second thought, never mind. I think that might be how we got "The Matrix".

The reason grounding has become a thing is that we didn't used to have to think about it. Not too long ago, people were regularly barefoot and outside most of the time. Heck, houses even had dirt floors! Even as we adopted things like rubber-soled shoes (which do not conduct electrons), we were still outside a lot with our hands in the dirt. That is, until we started making our homes more comfy, and developing technology that kept us inside both for work and play, such as radio, television, computers and the internet. What's more, those technologies emit additional EMF that tend to sap electrons from us. So it becomes a double whammy where we are no longer connected to Ground AND subjecting ourselves to electron sinks.

Fortunately, people adapt, so it's not a huge problem for everybody. But it can be for some, and is probably at least a small problem for all, just so insidious that we don't notice it. For people with eczema, ulcerative colitis or other severe inflammatory conditions, it may be life-saving. I have seen a few cases where increasing grounding and drastically cutting exposures to non-native EMF (eg wi-fi, cell phones, even running electricity in the home) has produced significant improvement in symptoms. For the rest of us, it may be just pervasive enough, developing over time that we don't notice. We may also not need to go to extremes such as living in a grass hut without electricity. But it might be worth keeping our cell phones out of our pockets, unplugging the wi-fi router at night, and spending a little time outside barefoot.

I have a bum ankle from a snowboarding injury sustained years ago. It hurts regularly and seemingly randomly. The cure every single time is walking on the lawn barefoot. Our lawn is pretty lumpy so I used to make the case that it was a form of PT where I was engaging all the little stabilizer muscles to the foot and ankle. That may be part of it, but the improvement is so immediate I think there might be something to this grounding thing. Whatever it is, I guarantee you will feel better if you give it a try for a week. Start small; 5 minutes a day barefoot on earth. Dirt or grass are best, but in a pinch wet concrete works too. You can even literally hug (or just touch) a tree. It is about the closest thing to a free lunch in Nature that you will ever get.

As always, this blog is for general information and entertainment purposes only. Please talk to your doctor before walking barefoot or hugging a tree.