The simplest earthing method is to take off your socks and shoes and connect with the grass or ground.

Last week I looked at the origins of earthing. Today I will look at simple changes we can all make to our lives to help earth us.

The simplest earthing method is to take off your socks and shoes and connect with the grass or ground. Clinton Ober recommends we try to connect with the ground for at least 30 minutes a day.

This involves walking with bare feet and earthing our body. You could sit and just connect with the ground, or lie down, making sure some part of the body is connected. Ober feels that if we get into this habit, after some time we will feel the health benefits.

Even if we do not have a health problem, most of us get a natural buzz when we walk barefoot on the grass or along a beach.

Last week, I attended a pilates and stretching class held on the grass in the countryside. It was an amazing experience and everyone felt the difference.

The earth is alive with free electrons generated by solar activity and lightning strikes that stabilise all electrical equipment and circuitry. It is the negative ground or reference point for all electrical power grids.

As the body is a natural conductor, it too needs regular contact with the earth to stabilise and rid itself of excess electrical interference, according to Ober.

Biophysicist James Oschman has developed his Living Matrix model to explain how this happens and why energy-healing systems such as reiki may work.

Earthing harnesses the earth’s primordial energy and restores the body’s natural electrical state. Oschman explains that barefoot contact with the earth and several touch and non-touch therapies stimulate the migration of electrical charges to areas of the body where there is acute or chronic inflammation.

Most of us get a natural buzz when we walk barefoot on the grass or along the beach

Earthing can prevent collateral damage to healthy tissues around an injury and allow electrons to replenish the body’s own charge (J. Body Mov. Ther., 2009).

Oschman says that electrons from the earth act as natural anti-inflammatory agents and neutralise positively-charged free radicals.

Also consider domesticated pets. These spend more time indoors with their human owners, so they too can benefit from earthing. In one experiment, medical researcher Dale Tallit designed a prototype grounded pad for dogs, and received response from 16 owners whose dogs had unresolved chronic health problems such as pain, fatigue, hip dysplasia and chronic injuries.

The trial, which took place in 2007, lasted from four to six weeks. During this time, the animals were not allowed outdoors other than to relieve themselves. The feedback from the owners was positive, and they reported improvements in energy, stamina, joint mobility and limping. One research also proved that not only dogs can benefit from earthing. A rescue shelter for cockatoos and parrots found dramatically changed behaviour after their cages had been earthed.

As I have already mentioned, going to ground merely involves putting your bare feet on the grass, sand or earth for, ideally, 30 minutes each day. However, busy lifestyles do not always allow this. So here are some interesting products that can be incorporated into our lives to help earth us.

Universal earthing pads are for daytime use and can be placed on a chair, desk or on the floor while you work. The pad has a metallic fibre mesh and conductor and is earthed via an electrical socket or to an outside ground rod.

Earthing sheets are available in half and full-size sheets and can be earthed into an electrical socket or to a rod placed in the ground.

Research has suggested that the best time to earth is while we sleep. This can improve sleep patterns and even insomnia.

Earthing pet pads are a small, cushion-like version of the earthing throw, a plush cotton conductive semi-blanket which can be taken anywhere.

Other products include earthing shoes, which are not a new concept, as they are routinely used in the electrostatic industry to prevent the build-up of static electricity, earthing mattresses and earthing body bands and patches.

Our feet have more nerve endings than any other part of our body. Ask any acupuncturist or reflexologist. Traditional Chinese medicine states that one of the most important acupuncture points is located near the ball of the foot and links to the kidney.

It is a major entryway for absorption of the earth qi. The bare foot is an important portal to health-giving electrons or chi. An American chiropodist declared that footgear is the greatest enemy of the human foot.

kathryn@maltanet.net

www.earthing.com

www.earthinginstitute.net