Grounding technology that can take practice to whole new level

[Nilo]

I'm no salesman but just thought this was a important topic that will boost anyone's practice manyfold. If you are like me then you spend hours every day to feel grounded because you pick up static energy easily. If I look back the only times I really felt truly connected/grounded was when I was barefoot on the earth. We wear insulation like socks, shoes, walk on carpets, linoneum, wood all day along.

 

I came across an invention in my opinion that will revolutionise our culture. Many studies with doctors have been completed and results are shocking. The earth already provides natural antioxidants which we shelid from with insulation. No longer will we have to spend hours and hours to be grounded or allow static to build up in the body. Here are some links if you are interested:

 

 

 

http://www.earthing.net/

Edited April 5, 2011 by Nilo

[Non]

I'm no salesman but just thought this was a important topic that will boost anyone's practice manyfold. If you are like me then you spend hours every day to feel grounded because you pick up static energy easily. If I look back the only times I really felt truly connected/grounded was when I was barefoot on the earth. We wear insulation like socks, shoes, walk on carpets, linoneum, wood all day along.

 

I came across an invention in my opinion that will revolutionise our culture. Many studies with doctors have been completed and results are shocking. The earth already provides natural antioxidants which we shelid from with insulation. No longer will we have to spend hours and hours to be grounded or allow static to build up in the body. Here are some links if you are interested:

 

 

 

http://www.earthing.net/

 

synch...

 

my mother gave me the book last weekend. I've been Earthing these past two days naturally, about 30 minutes standing on the ground.

 

It's embarrassing to do it outside though. Can't you just walk barefoot at home if you have tile? Or perhaps open the windows also a bit? I bet it might not work as much if you're outside because it's out in the open air.

 

Can't you just focus on the Kidney 1 point? The book mentions Kidney 1 and some scientific evidence as to it's effectiveness as being perhaps the main channel connecting the feet to the Earth, and that it has to do with the UB channel, which connects to all water passageways of the body and the organs.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Non

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

In my opinion, you don't need the earthing gear, you just want to walk barefoot on the earth for 30 minutes per day. I don't think the contraptions do the same thing. (I own the sheet and the foot pad...no big deal to those).

[surfingbudda]

IMO, Nothing beats the technology that God/The Tao has already given us

[Nilo]

Of course nothing beats walking barefoot on grass but not everyone can do that everyday for few hours. Besides we get snow 6 months out of the year. I have a Magnetico sleep pad also and that helps amplify the earth's magnetic field and I really feel it. I love helpful technology.

 

To the poster with the book, no but you can walk on concrete if it's not painted or sealed. Grounding Sandals coming out next month so that may be a good option for you. I stood on concrete for 20 minutes today and it was really special.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Nilo

[Jetsun]

I was thinking of getting some moccasins with leather soles to help with this, it gets a bit cold to go barefoot all the time

[Ya Mu]

In my opinion, you don't need the earthing gear, you just want to walk barefoot on the earth for 30 minutes per day. I don't think the contraptions do the same thing. (I own the sheet and the foot pad...no big deal to those).

I agree.

Although the only thing I don't like about their approach is that they are having people plug in to a potential electrical failure point. The external ground rod with direct wire with a disconnect (for when storms come up) is the better idea.

I came up with this idea about 25 years ago, although my approach was a copper wire attached to a copper ankle bracelet running direct to a ground rod. I discarded the idea when I came to the same realization as above.

 

Walk Me Out in The Morning Dew Qigong. To enhance, glide bare bare feet over the grass in the early morning.

[candide]

I would advise against grounding yourself with a wire or something when you are around electrical appliances, you are risking your life. The protection electrical circuits use is based on the fact that humans typically have a much higher resistance than a (grounded) socket, so if there's a problem the dangerous current will flow through the socket (and trip breakers/fuses etc) and not through you. If you are grounded this stops working and you can get killed.

Edited April 6, 2011 by candide

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

 

Walk Me Out in The Morning Dew Qigong.

:)

[topflight]

Both my wife and I have been doing the grounding thing for about a year now. For us, the main benefit is far better more restful sleep. Our approach is as follows. We got the 1/2 sheet from earthing.net. When we ordered we got the book, electric circuit tester, ground rod, and resistance wire. The ground rod has about 50 ohms resistance and the wire has about 50,000 ohms. The 50,000 ohm resistance is what they are relying on to keep you safe. I was not comfortable with that and just disconnect with predicted thunderstorms. I was definitely not comfortable with hooking myself up to the house ground through the electric outlet. When something shorts and goes to ground you could be part of that circuit.

 

What I did was drive a 8 foot copper plated ground rod into the ground outside my bedroom which is not near the house ground rod. I connected a 12 gauge wire to it and put alligator clips on the other end. The alligator clips connect to the 1/2 sheet. I disconnect them when we have thunderstorms. The risk of lightning strikes outside of thunderstorms is tiny and I'm willing to take that risk.

 

We did experiment with the resistor in line and sleep was better without it. He came to the same conclusion in the book.

[RyanO]

Cool stuff. I don't know about the Earthing products, but I have been doing some some barefoot running/walking in a local park and really love it. Thanks for motivating me to do this even more.

[gendao]

In my opinion, you don't need the earthing gear, you just want to walk barefoot on the earth for 30 minutes per day. I don't think the contraptions do the same thing.

Chinese have traditionally walked barefoot inside their homes for eons now. And masters stood in zhan zhuang outside for hours at a time. Other Americans thought these customs were totally bizarre. But now, they are finally coming full-circle and making them sound like the greatest discovery since sliced bread, lol.

 

Anyhow, the interesting thing is that basically, unwanted oxidation is caused by an electron shortage. So, more electrons = better health?

Antioxidant means "against oxidation." Antioxidants work to protect lipids from peroxidation by radicals. Antioxidants are effective because they are willing to give up their own electrons to free radicals. When a free radical gains the electron from an antioxidant it no longer needs to attack the cell and the chain reaction of oxidation is broken. After donating an electron an antioxidant becomes a free radical by definition. Antioxidants in this state are not harmful because they have the ability to accommodate the change in electrons without becoming reactive.

Free radicals are very unstable and react quickly with other compounds, trying to capture the needed electron to gain stability. Generally, free radicals attack the nearest stable molecule, "stealing" its electron. When the "attacked" molecule loses its electron, it becomes a free radical itself, beginning a chain reaction. Once the process is started, it can cascade, finally resulting in the disruption of a living cell.

 

Some free radicals arise normally during metabolism. Sometimes the body's immune system's cells purposefully create them to neutralize viruses and bacteria. However, environmental factors such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides can also spawn free radicals.

 

Normally, the body can handle free radicals, but if antioxidants are unavailable, or if the free-radical production becomes excessive, damage can occur. Of particular importance is that free radical damage accumulates with age.

[Nilo]

Cool stuff. I don't know about the Earthing products, but I have been doing some some barefoot running/walking in a local park and really love it. Thanks for motivating me to do this even more.

 

 

No problem man, keep us updated on your barefoot experiences, thanks!

[Nilo]

I was thinking of getting some moccasins with leather soles to help with this, it gets a bit cold to go barefoot all the time

 

 

I have been looking for a good source of moccasins with leather soles as well, if you come across a good site please post it here, thanks!

[Otis]

I don't really know anything about "grounding", but I've been hiking barefoot for a few years, and I highly recommend it.

 

Besides just the joy of getting my feet in the dirt, I love how no two foot-falls are ever the same. My terrain is rocky with lots of steep climbs and small foot-holds, so each step is a moment of balance, in which all my weight is taken by a small portion of one foot. This means that all of the muscles of the foot, ankle and calf are used, so nothing is neglected. I think one of the major problems in civilization is that our bodies only get challenged in specific and repeated ways, so the rest of our capacity diminishes with disuse.

 

With shoes, I had allowed my feet to get to the point of hooves, without much internal intelligence or ability to adjust to new environments. Without shoes, I am forced to slow down and listen my way over the trail, and that has woken up a great deal of new communication with the muscles and nerves of my lower limbs. This has also had the ancillary effect of easing a great deal of lower back spasm, which is otherwise exacerbated by sitting down and other forms of mis/disuse.

[Non]

also, raw food has more electrons than cooked food. A lot more. It's a great great source of electrons.

 

I spoke to my qigong professor at my TCM school. I don't think he understood fully what I was saying.. but I mentioned the kidney 1 point and how it was mentioned in the book, and asked him specifically "wouldn't it be more effective then if we connected the heavenly and earthly energies in the dantien if we stood barefoot outside"? He said said it's not necessary to do that, that one needs to just do the kidney 1 massages and tapping exercises, and focusing on it during meditation and connect the heavenly with the earthly energies in the dan tien. Also when you do the massaging, you get the lao gong points in the hands which are connected to the heart, that is fire, and you connect them with the water points at the kidney 1 point.. is a sort of 'heaven and earth' union as well, but within the body.

[Nilo]

I've been searching for moccasins with leather soles...

 

Would these moccasins work? :

 

http://www.softmoc.com/ca/systemshow-item_IB1133%20CORK%20M

[Gerard]

Good stuff, but there is no need to buy a course or anything specific to benefit from this. Just stand or practice wlaking meditation on grass (making sure it is an area away from human pollution - thinking of syringes and other nasties). Alternatively doing it early morning right before the sunset on the beach is excellent as well due to the high count of negative ions.

 

I still remember my first Qigong practice ever: got a copy of the book "The Way of Energy" and started practicing "barefoot on the grass beside a tree." It was an excellent experience and a great way of starting this path.

[Otis]

Another nice thing about barefoot hiking: it's good practice for viewing pain in a different way. There is some small pain in just about every footstep, but it is almost always just a feedback, directing my feet to conform to the surface texture of the trail. The pain is gone in tenths of a second, and it doesn't insist on me stopping. At the end of the hike, my feet tend to be a bit raw (the down-hills, in particular, are more abrasive), but that sensitivity is soon gone, and I can easily do a 2 hour hike, on rough terrain, every other day, without thick calluses.

 

Barefoot is, after all, what we were evolved to do.

[gendao]

So, if free electrons can help neutralize free radicals...could one also absorb them by hooking up to a Van de Graaff electrostatic generator?

 

This is actually a very interesting topic - "electron medicine." From my understanding:

 

Anion = negative ion = atom with more electrons than protons = electron donor = "free" electrons = antioxidant

Cation = positive ion = atom with fewer electrons than protons = electron taker = free radical = oxidant

 

This is why various health detoxing/purification devices are essentially negative ion generators: air purifiers, ionic foot baths, etc.

 

Now, a Van de Graaff electrostatic generator essentially works like lightning. It strips electrons off of atoms - creating both free electrons and cations.

Ionized air is actually air that has been stripped of its electrons. When this occurs, it is said to be plasma, which is a pretty good conductor.

 

When an atom is stripped of its electrons, it is said to be plasma, the fourth state of matter.

Plasma then, is an extremely free radical substance..

 

Anyhow, you would have to connect to the lower roller on a Van de Graaff generator to get its free electrons (not the sphere which is positively charged).

 

I think another interesting factor is the triboelectric scale. Where materials are more or less prone to give or receive electrons. Interestingly, human flesh is most prone to donating electrons and synthetic materials generally most prone to taking them.

 

Human hands (usually too moist, though) Very positive

Rabbit Fur

Glass

Human hair

Nylon

Wool

Fur

Lead

Silk

Aluminum

Paper

Cotton

Steel Neutral

Wood

Amber

Hard rubber

Nickel, Copper

Brass, Silver

Gold, Platinum

Polyester

Styrene (Styrofoam)

Saran Wrap

Polyurethane

Polyethylene (like Scotch Tape)

Polypropylene

Vinyl (PVC)

Silicon

Teflon Very negative

 

So, now you know what happens when you wear a lot of plastic clothing and use plastic cookware! You are giving all your electrons away!!!

 

Now, let's see how the more familiar pH scale also fits in here.

An acid can be defined as a proton donor, a chemical that increases the concentration of hydronium ions (positively charged H3O+) in solution. Conversely, we can define a base as a proton acceptor, a chemical that reduces the concentration of hydronium ions in solution (and increases the concentration of hydroxide ions (negatively charge OH-)).

Or IOW, acids are electron takers and bases are electron donors. Hence, an alkalizing diet is often recommended for general health and anti-aging.

 

So, this all just boils down to electrons!!!

 

Where I think in general - free electrons and negative ions (antioxidants) help fight against cellular degeneration.

But positive ions (oxidants) can also be used selectively as a disinfectant to kill pathogens (with cellular stress as a possible side effect). (Although both extremely acidic or basic substances can actually do this.)

Edited April 7, 2011 by vortex

[Non]

I've been searching for moccasins with leather soles...

 

Would these moccasins work? :

 

http://www.softmoc.com/ca/systemshow-item_IB1133%20CORK%20M

 

So I can just use mocassins and not have to be bare foot then?

[Nilo]

So I can just use mocassins and not have to be bare foot then?

 

If you can be barefoot then that is best. I will use moccasin's only in the winter. Not sure how long these shoes will last but probably not very long.

[Non]

so.. nowadays Ive been grounding in the morning arond 2-4 am for 30 mins because I found a spot nearby. But it's more like a cement spot. Is this good enough? Its the same that the sidewalks here are made of.. kind of white-ish but this one isn't painted. More like the doorsteps behind a business in the back of a plaza. It's gated and fenced, the ground there hasa lot of rubble. I cd also go in the back of my apartment complex where there's grass but sometimes Im afraid ppl would be watching me as I do standing meditation and qigong.

 

Is it better to practice on grass or on dirt?

[mjjbecker]

Concrete will leach qi from you, so it is not good for grounding. If you want to ground, use earth or grass covered areas. You should not sit, stand or train on concrete without adequate insulation.

[Non]

Concrete will leach qi from you, so it is not good for grounding. If you want to ground, use earth or grass covered areas. You should not sit, stand or train on concrete without adequate insulation.

 

What? That sux. So then why in the book it mentions concrete is a good place?

 

Oh well. I'll have to stand my ground then and do it in the grass.