Earth

The Greatest Medical Discovery Since Penicillin

One of the best ways I have found to create a state of homeostasis is so simple it makes you scratch your head on how we could have missed this for almost a century. The practice is called Grounding and according to Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S., Grounding ranks right up there with the discovery of penicillin. It is considered the most important health hack of the twenty-first century.

First, let’s talk about what homeostasis is. It is a feeling of well-being, a state of complete relaxation. When in homeostasis you feel safe and happy with your life and environment. Sounds good so far right! The more frequently you can put your body into a state of homeostasis the better. From this state of peace, your body’s systems will be working in harmony and minimal amounts of energy are wasted. Neural connections between the heart and brain will be functioning in an optimal and balanced manner. When you are in this state of peace and tranquility you give your body a chance to restore and repair. Your entire body will be able to repair on a cellular level to include your energy field, your endocrine system, and sympathetic systems.

Starting your day off with meditation in a state of gratitude, could be the most important thing you ever do for yourself and why this is your LifeSpanners number 1 health hack! Meditation as you have learned has a large array of benefits besides just creating a state of homeostasis. But as you are now about to find out, there are also other ways to put your body into this blissful state.

The first time I had heard about earthing was at a wanderlust yoga festival in 2015. One of the festivals yoga teachers was wearing a really cool, Jesus looking, kind of sandal. I asked him about them, and he told me they were Earthing sandals. Being ignorant to what earthing was at the time, I thought he was referring to the brand of sandal. He saw the confusion on my face and tried to give me a 5-minute education on grounding and the benefit of wearing Earthing sandals. But I was to focused on how cool they looked and how cool I would look in them, his words went in one ear and right out the other. My ego hard at work! I went online to buy them, but they were sold out, darn it! So, I forgot about them for the time being. The next year at the same festival, I started to notice several yogis wearing this particular type of sandal. They wore them everywhere. On hikes, jogging, paddle boarding and even out that evening to the much-anticipated nightly festivities that one looks forward to at a Wanderlust festival. Now I had to have them! So finally, after checking the website again, they had them in stock. I was in luck! When the sandals arrived at my house, the first thing I noticed about them is that they had a round copper metal plate on the soul of the shoe. It was about a quarter size of a penny. That is weird I thought, but I could not wait to wear them to the next festival and around town.

Later that summer at “Marymoor Park” in Redmond Washington, was the first Wanderlust festival of the year. I could not have been more excited because Seane Corn was going to be a guest speaker and yoga teacher at the festival, and I just love her! As I got ready for this yoga event, I got my gear together and put on my new Earthing sandals. The first thing I noticed is how good they felt on my foot when I was walking with them in the fresh cut grass of the park and what a great mood the festival put me in! Or was it the sandals? All I know is that I was ear to ear smiles all day. My yoga flow was one of the best I could have hoped for. There was even a Wanderlust photographer that asked me if she could photograph me for the wanderlust website. I was overjoyed! As the event came to a close, I put the sandals away for the next yoga event and forgot about them.

The next time I heard about Earthing was in the book Boundless by Ben Greenfield. It was one of the thousands of rabbit holes that you run into when you read his book. The Idea that touching the ground with your feet can give you positive health benefits, was something, at the time, I could not wrap my mind around. But as I researched further into this phenomenon, I started to realize just how simple and basic this was to life. How could we all have been so blind! We all know somewhere deep down, that being in nature is good for us. We are all drawn to the beach, to the parks, the woods, or the outdoors in general. Our computer screens have pictures of mountains, nature scenes and of oceans beaches. Have you ever wondered why hearing sounds of nature like ocean waves, or rainstorms, katydid or crickets brings you peace and calms the mind? Why is that? The answer is simple. The earth is our mother. Our connection to her is real and profound. We all came from her. We are all drawn to her Just like the salmon are drawn back to their place of birth and like birds are drawn to fly south for the winter. It is our basic instinct to be in nature. We have all heard the term ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  Our basic building blocks and the fundamental materials that make us who we are comes from nature, IE mother earth. We have a real symbiotic relationship to our beautiful blue planet, Earth. It’s more than just a good feeling we get when we are outside and connected to her and there is real science behind it now on why we do. The simple exercise of putting our feet on the ground creates a balance of positive and negative electrical Ions in our body’s. Earthing is one of the most natural and safest things you can do to improve your health. In these next few chapters, we are going to show you how you too can incorporate the ancient practice of Earthing into your life.

What is Earthing?

This planet is extraordinary. While mankind has been advancing in technology with computers, cell phones, space travel and new fancy electric cars, we have forgotten a timeless practice that our ancestors have known about for thousands of years. The earth gives us food, water, air, and sunshine yes, but as we have now discovered it also brings us healing power. Astonishing healing power! With the invention of modern-day shoes and rubber soles, we gradually as a society have moved away from this forgotten practice. So, what is this new craze called Earthing? It’s pretty simple actually. Earthing, also known as grounding, is the act of putting your bare feet on to the earth. That’s it! Sounds way to simple right? There has to be more involved like a candle, or chant, or maybe you need a Mala, right? Nope, just stick your feet on the ground. That’s it. Each time you take your shoes off and stick those little piggies of yours in the grass or sand, go for a swim in a lake or the ocean, that is when the magic happens. Earthing is an inherent part of who we are. This is your birthright.

Here is how it works

Humans are mostly bodies of water much like a cloud. And much like a cloud as we move thru the atmosphere, we pick up alternating currents (AC) from ambient electromagnetic fields that surround our planet. Have you ever wondered how lighting is created from a cloud? Clouds are bodies of water that move through our atmosphere collecting static electrical charges. When two clouds that have more positive or negative ions then the other get close to each other, they naturally discharge the imbalances in the form of a spark known as lightning. The same thing happens with us as humans. Just not on such a powerful display but wouldn’t that be cool! So just by walking around and moving through the atmosphere just like a cloud, you are building up an electrical charge. When you touch the ground with any part of your body, that now built-up charge within you is released. You instantly balance out and tune into the same frequency as the Earth.

The Science behind Grounding

What actually happens when we touch our feet to mother earth gets a little techy but it’s easy to understand. You see, we humans are pretty much like a battery. We have a positive and a negative charge in us. These electrons move freely from the earth to the body and vice versa when the body is grounded. This effect is good enough to maintain the body at the same electrical frequency as the Earth. Grounding significantly reduces the alternating current (AC) that we pick up from ambient electromagnetic fields that naturally and artificially (cell phones) occur in our environment. Grounding to the earth is as necessary as getting vitamin D from the sun. We can take a supplement for vitamin D, but what can we do if we cannot be grounded outside all the time? (We go into detail on this later in this chapter). Most of us can go days, weeks, months without ever touching our feet to the ground and by not doing so we build up a large amount of positive electrons. These positive electrons will cause a direct effect on our blood.

In 2008 an experiment was conducted by Clint Ober himself. The experiment involved taking a drop of blood from 12 people before and after 40 minutes of grounding. Both the before and after blood samples were put in slides. The blood samples they took before the grounding showed blood cells that had a ketchup like look to them. The blood samples they took after grounding for the 40 minutes showed a shocking difference. The blood cells that had been grounded show considerably fewer formations of red blood cells associated with clumping and clotting. The blood appeared to be thinned out. Any cardiologist will tell you thinner blood is easier on the heart to push and there is evidence suggesting that people with thicker (or more viscous) blood have a higher chance of developing heart disease or having a heart attack or stroke.

When we are grounded, instantly our body goes into homeostasis. It can then start to balance out our other systems such as our digestion systems, our immune system, our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous symptoms. Here is the rub. As soon as we are not grounded, we immediately start to build up electromagnetic ions in our bodies once again. So bottom line, the more you are grounded and the longer you are grounded, makes a big difference.

“When I am grounded, I am resetting my entire biological clock so that it is in harmony with universal, cosmic rhythms and that is the basis of healing”

–DEEPAK CHOPRA, M.D.

Chronic Inflammation the Silent Killer

To understand Earthing and how it can benefit you, first you have to understand what inflammation is and how devastating it is to our heath. There is a strong link between Inflammation and virtually all chronic disease including the diseases of aging and the aging process itself.

Everyone is susceptible to inflammation. From world class athletes to the average gym rats and a regular joe, we are all going to experience inflammation at some point in our lives on some level. Inflammation comes from the Latin word inflammare meaning to set on fire with passion. It is the body’s response to harmful stimuli such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. It is a protective attempt for our body to remove these threatening agents and start a healing process. The body can heal itself, which is miraculous when you really think about it! You suffer a cut or infection, or if a disease, allergen, or virus finds its way into your body, your immune system goes into quick action. It does this by utilizing inflammation.  Inflammation is necessary because without it wounds and infections would never heal. Problems occurs when the body does not have a way to turn off this natural healing process and it becomes chronic.

There are two forms of inflammation: acute and chronic. Acute inflammation is the response to the harmful stimuli in the body. This is good because it involves the mobilization of plasma into the injured tissue. You want this to happen! Chronic inflammation is the one you don’t want. This is the type of inflammation that does not go away. It traps the free radicals at the site of the injury causing destruction of heathy tissue. Think of it this way. Picture the harmful stimuli in our body as an attacker and picture Inflammation as a guard dog.  Now picture that attacker (stimuli) pinning a woman down trying to kill or rape her. Now, picture a policeman releasing the guard dog (inflammation) on to the attacker. The attack dog will go after the attacker to subdue him. In a perfect scenario the officer calls off the dog, apprehends the attacker, and then lock him away forever. This scenario is just like what acute inflammation does and this is very good! Now let’s take that same scenario. The attacker is being aggressive and threatening the life of that same lady. The police officer releases the guard dog to subdue the attacker and the dog does just that. But this time when the police officer goes to call off the dog, instead of stopping, the dog turns on the woman biting and killing her. The policeman tries to stop the dog, but it then turns on the officer biting him and killing him as well. Out of control the dog looks around and then turns on everyone in the vicinity killing everybody. This is chronic inflammation at work destroying everything around it and this is very bad! There are many things that cause chronic inflammation and many drugs that are prescribed every year to fight off inflammation. Has anyone ever taken an Advil?  Inflammation is quickly becoming known as the root of all evil when it comes to health.

Here are but a few diseases that are directly caused by chronic inflammation

• Stomach Ulcers –Barry Marshall won the noble prize with proof that inflammation caused ulcers by triggering bacterial infections and not spicy foods
• Heart Attacks & Strokes –In the arteries, inflammation eats at the tissue weakening the tissue and leads to eventual rupture that triggers a heart attack or stroke
• Allergies – Inflammatory messengers stimulate the release of histamine
• Alzheimer’s disease – Inflamed brain tissues develop plaque and kill brain cells
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ASL) – Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Inflammation kills motor neutrons of the spinal cord that control voluntary muscle groups
• Anemia – Inflammation messengers attack red blood cell production
• Arthritis – Chronic inflammation destroys joint cartilage & lubricating fluids in the joints
• Asthma – Inflammation aids to the blocking of the bronchial passages
• Autism – Brain inflammation is present in most autistic children
• Cancer – Inflammation contributes to free radicals & tumor growth
• Diabetes types 1 & 2 – Inflammation destroys the immune system and leads to insulin resistance
• Fibromyalgia -Inflammation compounds this disorder to an elevated level
• Common intestinal disorders –Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel, and other intestinal problems
• Kidney failure -Inflammation restricts circulation and damages kidney cells
• Pancreatitis –Inflammation induces pancreatic cell injury
• Psoriasis and Eczema –These are both inflammation-based skin disorders

Does Earthing really work?

The answer is a resounding YES! Ground every day and you will 100% see results in some form or another. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. It really is that simple and its free!  We are all electrical beings, and when we don’t ground, free radicals have no place to go. So, they attack our electrons creating inflammation. The outcome is pain, disease, rapid aging, poor sleep, digestion issues and sadness. Everything we do from thought, digestion, sleep, movement and the simply act of breathing is done with electricity.

Here are my top 5 reasons to start grounding.

1 Boost your spirits- and mental health from the ground up! We all know about Vitamin D. We have a basic understanding that we get this vitamin through our skin via sunshine. Vitamin D is best known for bringing out the happy dance in our lives. Well, there is another vitamin that is just as, or maybe even more critical to have each day. That is vitamin “G”. If you are one of the millions of Americans that suffer from depression. You owe it to yourself and everyone that you love to try this. Earthing literally changes the mood you are in. Your spouse, kids, friends, and co-workers will thank you for doing this.

2 Back Pain. Some 16-million people suffer from back pain and as a result are limited in certain everyday activities. Back pain is the sixth most costly condition in the United States.  There are many testimonials about waking up one morning after grounding for a few weeks and not having the normal back stiffness or pain they were accustom too. I am one of those people that suffered from a large bulging disk in L4. I started yoga years ago and that was a game changer for me. But in the morning, there was always that morning back stiffness. I was just looking into buying a new mattress when about 6 weeks into my grounding I noticed I was getting out of bed with no back stiffness at all. I mean 100% gone. Zero. Nothing.  Mariel Hemingway the actress and granddaughter of the late Erle Hemingway, suffered from back pain as well and swears by this.

3 Antiaging Benefits-Humans that ground simply function better. They are different than someone that does not ground. We walk a very thin line between being healthy and being ill. Earthing restores vital energy throughout the entire body. There are many theories out there on why we age. The most accepted one is the concept of free-radicals oxidative damage to the body. Free radicals damage our DNA and harm mitochondrial function. It is impossible to avoid free radicals. They are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, even our own body’s natural ability to create energy has a byproduct that are free radicals. When you ground, any free radical formed anywhere in your body will be neutralized by the mobile electrons from the Earth. This alone is the strongest reason to run outside and bury your feet in the grass!

4 Now let’s talk a little ego- What if I told you that by connecting to the Earths energy through the simple act of grounding, you will burn fat and tighten your skin reversing the aging process? Let’s face it, we all like to look our best. If we are honest with ourselves there is a little bit of narcissism in each of us. Narcistic tendencies regarding our looks in small quantities is not a bad thing. It just means we care about our appearance. Many people have noticed that their face looks different after grounding for 6 months. Their skin color is better, and it looks firmer and plumper. If that is not enough to get you excited check this out; Studies have shown that after 6 months there is a reduction in triglycerides and excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen. A 200-pound person can average 5 pounds in 6 months. Now that sounds trivial but over a lifetime that number could grow even larger. The test showed that grounded individual’s function with a higher metabolic efficiency then an ungrounded individual. Imagine losing weight without doing anything else. It’s a dieter’s dream!

5 Sleep- We all have a biological clock. It controls virtually all our bodies functions, including your wake and sleep circadian cycle. Grounding normalizes your day and night cortisol and your circadian rhythm. In 2000 a study was published grounding and the effects of E.S.D. (electrostatic static discharge) and sleep. The results were nothing less than extraordinary. Here are the results when a grounded group, were compared to an ungrounded group. (Study found in the book “Earthing)

• 85 percent went to sleep more quickly
• 93 percent reported sleeping better throughout the night
• 82 percent experienced a significant reduction in muscle stiffness
• 74 percent experienced elimination or reduction of chronic back and joint pain
• 100 percent reported feeling more rested when they woke up
• 78 percent reported improved general health

For years I had trouble sleeping. I started grounding while I sleep when I received my first grounding pad in August of 2020. I have had some astonishing things happen to me since, but the most profound change that I have had is how well I sleep now.

I had a prescription for Ambien going on 10 years. I had not slept straight through a night in years. I would usually wake up 2 or 3 times in a night to go pee or simply be wide awake staring at the ceiling. Not only am I sleeping straight through now, but not needing any medications to do so has been so profound for me that I cannot recommend this health hack enough. How would you like to go to sleep, stay asleep and wake up, refreshed, looking great and more importantly feeling great after the best sleep you have ever had? Well, I am here to tell you friends, that this shit really works! And I am just one of thousands of testimonials on the effects of grounding on your sleep. The best part about this is you don’t have to do anything but lay on your bed. The grounding pad does all the work by putting your body into a state of E.S.D. (electrostatic static discharge).

6 Better Blatter’s- The second phenomenon I have noticed in my life is that I don’t have to urinate as much. I have orbited the sun 60 times and anyone in this age category knows that knowing where a bathroom is always becomes part of your lifestyle. I was not one of the people you read about that saw instant results from grounding. In fact, for the first 4 weeks, I did not think it was working at all. Then one night I went to sleep around 10:30 as usual and woke up at 6am. That was the first night of full sleep I had had in years. Today, I am now sleeping deeply straight through, not every night but when I do have to get up to pee, I am able to go back to sleep. Furthermore, I do not have an overactive blatter and I don’t have that need to always be looking for a honey bucket on hikes or long road trips like I used to. To me that is freedom! By incorporating a grounding routine, you will gain life force, energy, and vitality back into your life.

“The world is in sympathetic overdrive. That means so much stress. The purpose of our existence is to maximize the experience of innate joy, to maximize our capacity for love, to unleash our creative potential, and to be healthy. When you take off your shoes, and just walk on the grass or on the sand at the beach or even on dirt, negative ions come from the earth into your body, neutralizing the excess free radicals that build up every day as a result of stress.  So, your inflammation goes down. And by connecting with the earth directly you reset your biological rhythms.”

–DEEPAK CHOPRA, M.D., The Today Show, April 8^th, 2012

LifeSpanners Aging Forward- “EARTHING” Quick Tips:

Quick Tip #1 – Now that you are aware of how connected we are with planet earth, take your shoes off as much as possible when you are outdoors.

Quick Tip #2 – Invest in a pair of earthing sandals for those times you can’t take your shoes off.

Quick Tip #3 – Find alternative ways to ground.  If you are a like most of us. We work, we go to the gym, we spend most of the day and evening inside some type of building. We simply don’t have enough time to be outside with our toes in the grass every day. Well, there are barefoot alternatives. If you cannot connect with the ground outside, you can still get in your grounding for the day by using an Earthing or Ground Therapy product found at www.earthing.com.

Here are some other benefits of Earthing

• Reduction of inflammation (I cannot stress this enough)
• Electrical stability in the body
• Calming of the Nervous System
• Aiding in glucose control
• Lower blood pressure
• Arrhythmias (Irregular Heartbeats) correction
• Promoting the body’s energy fuel or (ATP)
• Arthritis relief
• Pain relief. If you get injured lay on the ground
• Lowers CRP C-reactive protein
• Increased libido and fertility
• PMS Relief
• Faster Recovery from your workout and “DOMS”

Earthing could be the most important health discovery ever made! As we learn more and more about inflammation and how it’s the root of practically all diseases. Earthing is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to combat this insidious killer. The profound effects that connecting to the earth has on our health makes Earthing your LifeSpanners # 7 Health Hack!