by Catherine Haug, April 29, 2011
Sometimes one of life’s great pleasures turns out to be good for you. And going barefoot is one of them, because your feet can communicate with the soil. True, if you live in the south, it can invite parasites such as hookworm that enters your body through the soles of your feet. But we have little chance of that here in the Flathead.
So take off those shoes and socks and go for a walk on a sandy beach or cool, dewy grass.
When you must wear shoes, choose those with real leather soles and shun plastic or rubber-soled shoes, as these inhibit communication between the soil and the soles of your feet. Besides, natural materials are far more sustainable that plastics made in power-monger industrial factories.
What’s so important about this soil-to-feet communication: grounding!
The life-promoting effect of grounding
Your body has an energy field that results from the movement of electrons throughout your body (not just along your nerves). You may already be aware of changes in your energy field, when you talk about the importance of antioxidants in your body & diet. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals to keep them from running rampant in a series of harmful oxidative reactions.
But not all oxidative reactions in your body are bad for you. In fact, you wouldn’t be alive without them. Every time you blink your eyes, take a breath, digest food, move a muscle or your heart pumps blood, oxidative reactions are occurring. Taken altogether at a given moment in time, these affect your body’s energy field.
Grounding (or ‘earthing’) helps keep you healthy by keeping your energy field in balance; lack of daily grounding can lead to inflammatory problems as well as serious disease. Alternative healing modalities such as acupuncture find imbalances in your energy field and attempt to bring them back into balance.
Lets explore oxidation and grounding a bit deeper, for a better understanding.
Oxidation
Oxidation means the transfer of electrons from one atom or molecule to another, resulting in a change in the chemical nature of the molecules, and a shift in the electric field in the immediate vicinity of the oxidative reaction.
Most metabolic processes in our bodies happen as a result of oxidation. These are controlled by the presence of enzymes that lead the oxidation to the desired end, minimizing the creation of free radicals. For example:
- Digestion,
- Nerve transmission,
- Muscle contraction,
- Beating of your heart,
- Immune function.
On the other hand, uncontrolled oxidation – such as exposure to free radicals, which causes oxidation to happen without the guidance of enzymes – is very problematic and the primary cause of aging and many diseases.
Earthing or Grounding
It turns out that the effect of grounding is not just important for protecting yourself from energy surges such as lightening strikes. It’s also important for your health, as it stabilizes your energy field, strengthening your immune system as well as all metabolic processes that involve electron transfer.
Dr. Oschman, PhD., in an interview with Dr. Mercola (1), tells us that energy from the earth can help us live a healthier life. Here’s another case where paleolithic humans knew something we’ve long since forgotten. According to Dr. Oschman:
- Experiments have shown that free electrons from the earth cause beneficial changes in heart rate, decreases inflammation, reduces pain, promotes healthy sleep, and thins your blood, making it less viscous, which has beneficial impact on cardiovascular disease.
- Lack of grounding, due to widespread use of rubber or plastic-soled shoes, may have contributed to the rise of modern diseases by allowing chronic inflammation to proliferate unchecked.
He advises ‘earthing:’ intentional grounding, by spending a few minutes walking barefoot. “When you’re grounded there’s a transfer of free electrons from the Earth into your body. And these free electrons are probably the most potent antioxidants known to man.”(1) They are “responsible for the clinical observations from grounding experiments, such as:
- Beneficial changes in heart rate
- Decreased skin resistance
- Decreased levels of inflammation” (1)
Where to practice Earthing
According to Dr. Oschman, the ocean beach is most ideal – either close to or in the shallow water – as sea water is a great conductor. We don’t have ocean beaches here but even freshwater beaches can be beneficial, as can your cool, dewy lawn in the early morning. Even exercising outdoors while barefoot, anytime, is beneficial.
References
- Dr. James Oschman on Earthing
- Video transcript of Interview with Dr. Oschman
- Dr. Oschman’s books: Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis (at Amazon.com); and Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance (at Amazon.com)
- Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? by Clinton Ober, et. al. at Amazon.com