Are you a fan of walking around barefoot? Do you water your plants or check the mailbox shoeless about as much as weather permits? After playing in the yard with your kid or your dog, do you feel any different? And do you think a person could benefit from spending a lot of time barefoot in the grass or sand?
Listening to the Inspire Nation podcast interview with Clint Ober got me thinking: I like to be barefoot, might even prefer that to all else, and I’ve been wanting to learn more, bit by bit, about just how much we humans are not superior to nature but a part of it. Also, I really wanna develop multiple practices for daily discharging, recharging, etc.
I’ve spoken about this before in recent posts, but why not use this time to actively dig into a variety of little things I can add to my life to feel better, function better, consistently sleep well, and pass those ideas on to other people just in case they’re interested? Y’ know? So. Here’s the interview and here’s what it prompted me to start planning…
As part of the new chapter in my life, I’m shifting my thoughts away from some repetitive worries, and earthing practices and products would factor into my daily or weekly routines. Right now, as has been previously stated, a daily essential has been those meditations that, for the time being, I rely on heavily twice a day. They help me to focus and to spend a few minutes or half an hour thoroughly imagining how I’m gonna feel in the new career, new apartment, having friends over for a meal who are psychics and mediums and writers and meditators. Or I imagine watching a movie with a pet. For those who haven’t tried it, I warn you: After a manifesting session, it potentially could leave you feeling elated, giddy, trying not to get others thinking you’re high. I’m laughing as I write this, but seriously. At least the elation doesn’t actually render you unproductive.
Of
all the months, of all the seasons to start consciously “earthing”, ain’t it
great that I chose October? I don’t live in an area that has warm or mild
weather year-round, and I doubled down on the poor timing by briefly sitting
barefoot on the lawn in the early evening, risking the chance of getting chilly
in a temperature that was fifty-something degrees Farenheit, reconnecting
briefly with the natural stuff with which my body communes. During that time, I got a call from my mother and made the mistake
of answering honestly about where I was, prompting an archetypical monologue calling
for an end to the experiment “before you get a chill”.
(Before
I went inside, I snapped photos of a couple of the headstones in my neighbor’s yard,
because they always have an elaborate, fun display for Halloween)
I’ve loved grounding before ever hearing of a term for it, believing simply and quietly that it was somehow good for my wellbeing. A Shannon who’s barefoot inside the house or on the grass is one who feels more like the real me. With this in mind, I watched a documentary on the subject, Earthing: The Movie by Josh and Rebecca Trickell, which included helpful quotes like one from Stephen Sinatra, M.D., a cardiologist/integrated medicine specialist: "Grounding is literally putting your bare feet on the earth…you’re in contact with the earth and Mother Earth is endowed with electrons and these electrons are literally absorbed through your feet; it’s like taking handfuls of antioxidants!"
- “It sounds absurd,” said Clint Ober in an interview with the filmmakers, “’How can I just take my shoes off, put my feet on the ground and reduce inflammation?’
A lot of the naysayers…say, ‘Well, if this were true, I would’ve known about this…This can’t be something new’, and I just say, ‘I’m sorry, it is something new; We accidentally disconnected from the earth’.” Grounding “specifically
supports organ systems down to the tissues and the cellular function of the
entire body," according to Laura Koniver, M.D., physician/general practitioner. Ms Koniver had an interesting story about the effect that a lack of earth connection had on her baby daughter. I loved that a voice was given to experiences that some teachers have had with kids and the act of grounding.
A portion of the film was devoted to a testimonial from the tennis-loving, 94-year-old mother of Richard Kotz, "senior research medical scientist" with decades of experience very critically reviewing clinical trials for medical devices on behalf of the FDA. The filmmakers interviewed both Kotz and his mother about the grounding sheet she slept on and got great responses.
"Unbeknownst to us, we live inside a battery," Gaetan Chevalier advised, "The surface of earth is charged negatively and the ionosphere, which is a layer of the atmosphere, [which] is about 60 miles up, [which] is ionized by the sun, meaning that the rays of the sun are so strong that they split the molecules in two, a positive charge and a negative charge." Chevalier is an engineer/physicist who, along with Dr. Oschman, provided some very helpful information for us laypeople about grounding. He added that the negative charge goes into the earth, which is a conductor, and that we humans need those electrons as much as we need air.
I mentioned earlier the fact that autumn, where I live, isn't warm, at least not consistently, and winter is coming. So. I can ground without having bare feet out in the snow. Besides, I despise the snow and ice I live with. Every single day, part of my meditation process is the practice that can involve a string, a cord, etc. depending on what works for you, but I'm such a big fan of "Futurama" that I'm in the habit of imagining a metal grabber just like Bender's arms, but it's recommended that this cord start at the top of your head, run down the entirety of your body, then picture it going down through the floor, into (as per wherever you are or imagine you are) the grass, soil, then I personally go through layers of what is beneath the soil, since that is enjoyable for my visualization. Keep going, though, until you have gone through the center of the earth, and in spite of the lava, you want to wrap that cord around a rock down there and tie it. I then follow the [metal arm] all the way back up the same path. If you choose to combine that with the brief, simple "white light of divine protection" meditation, I know not only from firsthand experience but from testimonials given by multiple former coworkers who also work on their intuitive connections (while fielding phone calls with medical patients, trying not to be drained, or worse, to cry), that you will most likely have an easier time feeling like yourself all day. Your chances of reducing stress would be increased. If you give that practice a trial run for, like, three straight weeks of daily meditation, even if only for two minutes, it could help make life easier.
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| by Kate Collett |
If you're considering grounding because of health issues and can't consider getting out into nature or buying stuff to get you those electrons, then please think about body-specific meditations. The actress Laura Prepon once told a magazine about a habit of resting her hands over different sections of her body and saying to each one, "I love you" and I bet that has a powerful effect, no joke. You could also use a wordless visual and fill your torso or certain organs with white light. I often do my civilian best to map out my sinuses and their connection to the base of skull to try to ease sinus pressure, pain and congestion, especially when it's severe, and fill all of that with white light. If you would like to be introduced to some great guided meditations and you're having trouble finding any on YouTube, etc. that you prefer, please let me know!
In conclusion, I highly recommend Earthing: The Movie. Also, Clint Ober’s company provides products that are
said to assist with grounding, if you have any curiosity about incorporating
that into your daily routine. For example, once I’ve got the living situation
secured, I’m considering the purchase of a pillowcase, and maybe down the line,
I’ll also get cords to help me ground some of my electronic equipment.
Clint Ober's stuff
Feel free to research the Clinical Earthing Application in 20 Case Studies: Clint Ober, Dr. William Amalu, International Academy of Clinical Thermography. Per Ober, “TMJ disappeared, PMS disappeared, inflammation reduced, pain, everybody slept better.”
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