117: The BioElectrical Benefits of Earthing
In this week’s podcast we’re talking about how our bodies can pick up electrical energy from the earth’s surface which helps to lower inflammation, improve sleep, help optimize cortisol rhythm, reduce pain and stress and speed wound healing. When we don’t have enough electrons to balance out the excessive positive charge in our body, we generate free radicals. An accumulation of free radicals creates oxidative stress which is kind of like the rusting of our bodies on the inside. In addition to chronic illness, this leads to accelerated aging - and nobody likes that!
The Good News is that in addition to a Real Foods diet, we can counteract free radicals when we expose our bare feet to dirt, grass, rocks, sand or any natural earth surface. It’s another way our body works in Relation to Creation. God is both our Mighty Healer and Mighty Provider and has given us this amazing way to care for our holy temples. There is no better medicine than the restorative elements of God’s Creation.
EPISODE 117: The BioElectrical Benefits of Earthing
SHOW NOTES
(0:00) Intro
Hello my friend! Welcome back to the club. How are you today?
It’s Week 2 of The Genesis Prescription and I want to start by telling you about this bougie concept called nature bathing which, in plain speak, means get-your-butt-outside-and-play.
This trendy take on a practice known to every wise mother in the world gained popularity after the Japanese coined the term “shinrin-yoku” in the 1980s, which translates to “forest bathing” or “absorbing the forest atmosphere.”
Japanese researchers found that spending time in nature lowers blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol and that there is great need for this kind of antidote to societal burnout.
Stepping away from the grind and into nature is both stress relieving and energy giving.
You don’t have to be in a forest to bathe in the health benefits. Your backyard, A park, a patio, a courtyard, a beach, a mountain...just about any outdoor space will do.
Since the Japanese brought this concept to light, more studies have been done and found that the more direct contact our bodies have with nature, especially to the ground the better.
That’s because there are therapeutic properties within the earth’s surface that our bodies can utilize in a way that improves sleep, helps optimize cortisol rhythm, reduces pain and stress, helps activate the parasympathetic system, increases heart rate variability, speeds wound healing, reduces blood viscosity and lowers inflammation.
(4:03) We are actually made from the earth. Is it any wonder that connecting with the site of our creation could be good for us?
We see In the Beginning that God created land, terra firma, the place upon which we humans would live our lives. AND from which we were made.
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground. Genesis 2:7
So this is what we’re talking about today - this concept of grounding or earthing - you will see it referred to as both and it’s our Genesis Prescription Week 2 goal.
As Christians we do have to be cautious and discerning because there are false teachings about energy fields. The whole new agey “universe” energy and it’s a fine line because a lot of Christians slip into these concepts of “the universe” thinking that well, God made the universe so...
To me it’s the most natural Christian thing in the world to connect with and sync our bodies in relation to Creation.
As long as we are recognizing HIM as our true source.
A lot of people use these generic universal terms to be politically correct, so that they can appeal to broad audiences, but there is only one God who came to earth in the form of a human, died for our sins, was resurrected and gave us the Holy Spirit until we get to heaven.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
We don’t necessarily “see” God, but we see and feel His power and His presence always with us.
We see Him in what He has made. His invisible qualities become tangible by the existence of Creation by all that is around us. And We connect with His divine nature when we connect with nature - His Creation.
God’s touch is embedded in these earthly elements. We experience His touch when we put ourselves in touch with His creation.
(9:42) Benefiting from grounding:
One of the main ways we benefit from grounding is by picking up electrical energy from the Earth’s surface - specifically electrons.
Humans are electrical beings - we are bioelectric - and our charges can get out of balance.
When we don’t have enough electrons to balance out the excessive positive charge in our body, we generate free radicals.
Too much positive without enough negative creates an imbalance and the production of these free radicals which are unstable atoms that can cause cell damage and lead to chronic inflammation, cancer and disease.
An accumulation of free radicals creates oxidative stress which is kind of like the rusting of our bodies on the inside. In addition to chronic illness, this leads to accelerated aging. And nobody likes that!
We can get antioxidant activity through the earth.
The negative charge of the earth’s surface can help neutralize free radicals and bring the body back into better balance. Our bodies pick up these electrons when we’re grounding. It’s like a transfer of power. There is an electric charge happening when you expose yourself to the earth’s electric field.
It’s like electricity - you don’t necessarily see how it’s working behind the walls of your house, but you know that it is.
(13:53) A historical juxtaposition to consider:
One way that we overaccumilate positive ion energy is that we are bombarded by man-made electrical magnetic fields (EMFs) from WiFi and wireless devices that emit too much of the positive ion energy that leads to free radicals and oxidative stress. This makes our need for the earth’s natural electrons even MORE critical.
Historically, humans connected constantly with the earth. They walked barefoot. They slept on the ground. They sat around fires. They planted in the soil. They built structures with natural elements. Their hands, feet and bodies were regularly in contact with the foundation of Creation. They unknowingly received daily therapeutic doses of earthly medicine that we, in modern times, are desperately missing.
We’re already not getting enough of it because of our indoor lifestyles and then you add on top of that all of the exposure to EMFs and we really need to take advantage of this free and untapped source of wellness right outside of our doors.
Think of how our Biblical brothers and sisters lived. Think of how much they were outside, walking everywhere. Considering that our feet are the most electrically conductive part of the body, people of Biblical times would have naturally stayed plugged into the earth’s field of electrical energy. Even if they were wearing some sort of shoe, the natural fibers would still facilitate some electric connectivity.
It’s a very different case for us who rarely walk around barefoot and who encase our feet in synthetic footwear that block the flow of restorative electrons.
We spend most of our time on floors like sealed tile, wood and carpet that act as an insulating barrier between us and the earth.
This modern day combo of synthetic footwear and insulated floors contribute to the internal electrical imbalance within our bodies.
(16:22) So, what do we do?
It’s simply a call to be aware of this disconnection and the need to be intentional about restoring it. We’re missing out on a load of health benefits by separating ourselves from the earth. And that’s why we’re talking about this today.
There are some hacky things you can do like wear earthing shoes - I have a pair of Earth Runner sandals that look like normal teva-ish type of sandals but that are made with conductive laces™ that allow for that flow of energy just as if you were going barefoot.
Even wearing leather soled shoes in general can help maintain some conductive flow. There are also grounding devices such as mats, sheets, straps, bands and patches that you can use to promote earthing. It’s like technology begets technology and convenience begets more convenience. We have to invent more things to protect us from the things we’ve invented. You can also buy defense shields to put on your wireless devices to help mitigate some of the EMF radiation.
But nothing beats getting back to our roots, back to our firm foundation of the dust of the earth.
For dust you are and to dust you will return. Genesis 3:19
We haven't’ even talked about the fact that it also makes so much sense to ground when you consider how good it is for our microbiome.
We are made from the earth and the soil of the earth is teeming with bacteria, fungi, viruses and archaea and that means we are too. In fact, we have more microbial cells in our bodies than human cells. The collection of these cells is called our microbiome.
We have microbes all over our bodies: our skin, our nose and mouth, our reproductive organs, and our colon, which is where we house the most bacteria and it’s what I’m always talking about here when it comes to gut health and needing that good bacterial balance in the intestine.
We have to think of it as keeping our inner soil healthy so that we can grow flowers and not weeds. Good bacteria would be the flowers, bad bacteria would be the weeds. It’s normal to have both in your garden but you want to kill the weeds and keep them at bay otherwise they’ll smother out the growth of your flowers.
If we don’t have a good population of helpful bacteria in the gut, it leads to systemic inflammation including digestive distress, metabolic dysfunction, skin conditions, anxiety and depression, fatigue, immune vulnerability, autoimmune conditions, brain fog and general chronic disease. But We can promote healthy bacteria with a real food diet and grounding.
Getting outside and into the dirt, the original source of our Creation, helps populate our bodies with the bacteria we need. And when we feed them well, with real food the way God made it, they thrive inside of us to do their jobs better.
We disrupt the growth of good bacteria when we eat too many processed foods, pesticides and glyphosate, take antibiotics, overuse hand sanitizer and never go outside. Those things starve, kill off and limit our exposure to the bacteria that we need and allow “bad” bacteria to overpopulate. So it’s important that we get outside and back to the place from which we were created - the dust of the ground. Is there anything more holistic than connecting with the site of our Creation?
(20:48) Closing thoughts:
So that is our goal over the next week my friends. To get our butts outside and get our bare feet or hands into the earth, the grass, rocks, sand, even the concrete is conductive. - gardening totally counts. So does swimming in the ocean or any natural body of water.
Ideally you’re spending at least 30 minutes a day doing this, but even 5 or 10 is going to be helpful. The longer you do it, the more anti-inflammatory effects you get, the better cortisol regulation, the more stress is relieved, the better sleep you promote.
I hope what today has done is give you new perspective on the way our Mighty Creator and Healer provides. And how our bodies work in relation to Creation. And no matter what you want to call it - nature bathing, shinrin-yoku, ecotherapy - just do it. You will have to build it into your schedule. Write it in your calendar. Honor it like a doctor’s appointment. Take it like a prescription. Because it is! It is your ancient Biblical prescription. And it is our goal for this week.
Before we go today I want to share something that a friend wrote on Caring Bridge when he was updating friends and family on his wife’s cancer journey. It’s so lovely and fitting to what we’ve been talking about today. He wrote:
“These following few days are windy, bumpy terrain but Alexandra remains spiritually, mentally, and physically equipped and engaged. The air is crisp, the locus are singing, whales are breaching and waves are pumping! God's seasonal healing energy is in motion!
Following infusions, it's time for Alexandra’s healing work - having a moment at the hands of a gifted acupuncturist, a walk with a friend, or simply absorbing the views of the Atlantic with sand on her toes. These activities are typically followed by a nap to the sounds of the breeze rustling through the 300-year-old Copper Maples outside her windows. Nature's love is a vital partner in healing her cancer.”
I love the way he so beautifully describes nature as part of her therapy. It reminded me of this verse from Isaiah 55:12 For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
There is no better medicine than the restorative elements of God’s Creation. Let it sing joy into your soul. It is our most holistic form of healthcare.
(24:29) Outro & Disclaimer
Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!