I like to walk, touch living Mother Earth – bare feet best, and thrill every step. (John Muir)

Earthing is the practice of physically connecting to the earth so that the body can take on its electrons, thus grounding itself. An ancient indigenous practice, earthing is the easiest grounding technique that specifically helps connect mind, body, and spirit to the planet, and Earth’s natural electric charge. The easiest and most common ways of earthing are to walk barefoot on grass, earth, or sand, touch a tree, garden, or swim in a natural body of water. This timely therapeutic technique is one of many sources the author presents as evidence in keeping with a new universe story synthesis which proposes that (a) the origin and substance of all visible form in the universe is spiritual, and is thus vertically caused, and (b) Spirit is an enveloping electromagnetic-aura (halo) of light energy within and around all things that gives them being and life.

Besides being the foundational ingredient, and first cause (Alpha) in creating the universe, Spirit is also its destination (Omega), as beginnings and endings have much in common  (see author’s previous blog). Too, it is the hidden impetus informing the noosphere and spiritual consciousness, as well as the energic flywheel in personal growth and development, in healing and whole making, and in directing collective history. While being informs our physicality (bios), personality (psyche), and energizes our interconnecting matrices at all scales, its origins and interior presence run deeper than that. Being is our eternal component, the substratum for living, knowing, creating, and loving deeply, and is what carries into and on after our mortal existence expires in space-time.

Auras are ambient electrostatic energy fields generated by and enclosing a human or animal body, or object.

In his synthesis model, the author posits that all created things have an electromagnetic substratum (or Spirit) of light energy in a state of perpetual motion (flow) originating from one and the same spectrum, vibrating at different frequencies. Said energy streams from that eternal Source into space-time from a singularity. This singularity is a liminal threshold between the visible and invisible worlds, the locus where the Ambient One connects with the space-time field energized by what quantum physics calls zero-point energy. This energy flows out and flows back (quantum flux) from the invisible to the visible world in its purest state, trickling forth at all times to all creatures creating whatever earthly good it purposes. Everything is vibrating energy, and everything that has form is prefigured by and mirrors its template in this invisible energy field. And what is that hidden energy eager to give of itself so freely and abundantly? None other than the first (Alpha) and last (Omega) element of creation — light — (Let light be .  .  . Genesis 1:3). Light is a universal symbol for all Wisdom, enlightenment, and spirituality worldwide. All created forms are born of this energy flow (Spirit) whose chief property is plasticity, capable of existing in a congealed or materialized state depending upon its vibrational frequency in sound and/or light. In turn, this energy can be re-routed in ebb and flow fashion, spirit to matter and back again in a circuitous choreography, like alternating current.

The universe operates as a cosmic Internet — electrically, vibrationally, digitally, and holographically, as we do. All of creation is a rabbit pulled from the magic hat of the zero-point quantum field. And everything in the universe is located on a quantum GPS, one vast and intricate network of vibrating, interconnected energy. Creation consists entirely of one essence appearing in many parts and innumerable forms, inmost and penetrating all things. This means that the Universe (Creator) is not so much unnamable as omni-nameable via its essence flowing as energy into space-time, as the CMBR discovery of Penzias and Wilson revealed sixty years ago. Restated biblically in a Spirit-Science synthesis, In the beginning Energy created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), divinity pouring forth its nature and being via its essence as light, finding joy in so doing. As every part of fire is fire, every aspect of creation is in or exists as part of this sacred incandescent energy inside and out, totally in each thing.

For from him, through him and to him are all things. (Romans 11:36)

Grounding the soul to its essence in being (or Spirit) also doubles as a method of establishing unitive consciousness (oneness), integral stability, and wholeness via a spiritual exercise otherwise known as contemplative prayer or meditation. Such practices also incorporate yoga, mindfulness, dance and movement meditation, breathing exercises, sensory training, and visualization techniques.

There are subtle differences between grounding and earthing. Grounding is to Earthing what spirit is to soul, what inward is to outward, or what being is to doing. In all three instances above, the former is antecedent to the latter in creation, growth, and development. Spiritual grounding is important if you are practicing being present to the divine, doing energy work, developing your intuitive senses, providing spiritual direction, and/or sharpening your spiritual gifts, balancing out the spiritual and physical energy in your body by connecting yourself to the earth. While the primary purpose of this blog entry is to summarize Earthing as a therapeutic technique for healing various maladies in the body, its electrostatic whole-making properties in the Big Story, i.e., as the Alpha and Omega of creation, as the constituency of the spirit-soul, in its role in spiritual awakening, formation, and maintenance, and in orienting our species to its galactic family, forms the subject matter of the author’s other DTN blog entries and ground-breaking synthesis book.

Most humans are wholly ungrounded physically and spiritually, completely cut-off from their organic roots, as a branch severed from its life-giving vine. Thus, their own health, physical strength, mental capacity, talents, and potential of all kinds are limited. But the minute they become spiritually grounded, and practice same, they are like the connected branch that is one with the vine and all that the vine supplies as its invisible Storehouse, accessing the full creative, sustaining, and maintaining power (energy) behind the entire universe that flows into it.

As for Earthing and bodily health, the Earth naturally carries a negative electrical charge, which is readily available for transfer to the human body when direct contact is made through skin. When bare skin touches the ground, electrons from the Earth can flow into our body, neutralizing positively charged free radicals that contribute to inflammation and oxidative stress. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage cells in the body. Caused by exposure to pollutants, toxins, tobacco smoke, and especially sun exposure, they are oxygen-containing molecules with an unpaired electron that makes them highly interactive with other molecules which can cluster or clot. Free radicals can damage cell membranes, proteins, lipids, and DNA, which can lead to cell damage, various inflammations (including blood clotting) and function problems. The body has antioxidant defenses that can fight off free radicals. However, if the body is overwhelmed by too many free radicals, damage can occur. Earthing is also the reason electricians’ ground everything electrical to the earth, in order to maintain electrical stability in a given apparatus or structure.

Earthing is a form of grounding that works biochemically by allowing the flow of free electrons from the Earth’s surface into the human body. This electron flow can not only neutralize harmful free radicals, and reduce inflammation, but can also stabilize physiological processes like blood flow, blood viscosity and clumping. Earthing has also been known to provide pain relief, improved sleep quality, better wound healing, enhanced immune response, and stress regulation (see Resource tab above for video short). It essentially acts as a natural antioxidant by providing a readily available source of negative electrons to counter the body’s positive charge buildup. Some research indicates that earthing may influence the body’s natural circadian rhythms by stabilizing hormone levels, particularly cortisol, which is associated with stress responses of the body. By feeling the ground beneath your feet, you are able to be more fully present in the moment as both a sensory and spiritual experience of nature and divinity in nature in a centering or grounding way.

Standing on the bare ground – my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space – all mean egotism vanishes. . . I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

To effectively earth, direct skin contact with the ground is necessary, which is often achieved by walking barefoot on natural surfaces like grass or sand. Wearing shoes with rubber soles can hinder earthing, as rubber acts as an insulator, preventing electron transfer from the ground to the body. While research on earthing is growing, more studies are needed to fully understand its mechanisms and potential benefits in different populations. Presently, there are twenty peer-review studies on earthing. But to experience results, it’s as simple as putting your bare feet or skin to the ground. The simple things are the most profound. Earthing is free, natural, and generally harmless. Seeing is believing and makes things real.  (*Note: For those living in colder climes and seasons, plug-in grounding pads and bed sheets are commercially available online. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions when using them.)

To place Earthing in its larger healing context, consider the following: The word universe means “a reality turning around on one thing.” Presenting ample and abundant evidence from science, mythology, religion, classic literature, and the arts, the author contends that Teilhard’s vision has been fulfilled with his novel Spirit-Science paradigm, which harmonizes with all fields of knowledge, joined by a common universal element. The unifying mystery hidden in matter that is infinitely small and infinitely great is a universal constant, light, another name for electromagnetism. Quark to quasar, light is the electric flywheel that creates, motorizes, infuses, and synchronizes the geometric architecture foundational to the universe, connecting and harmonizing both outer and inner space, including religion and science. By this invisible mystery the same ambient Light of the World that inspired Teilhard also inspirits every electron that ensouls and embodies all things in the created order. And without exception makes them whole, holy, interconnected, and in most instances equal and sacred.

Everything is the light .  .  . So astounding are the facts in this connection, that it would seem as though the Creator, himself, had electrically designed this planet. (Nikola Tesla)

Click onto the blue Resource tab at top of page for video short on Earthing. For greater detail on the origin, scientific explanation and medical benefits of Earthing, click onto “The Earthing Movie” link below:

https://youtu.be/44ddtR0XDVU

Joe Masterleo

 

About the Author

Joseph C. Masterleo, LCSW-DCSW, is a clinical social worker in private practice in Syracuse NY, and Rockledge FL. His half-century of service in the mental health care field includes faith-based counseling, with an emphasis on psycho-spiritual integration. His subspecialty involves developing a novel paradigm for the synthesis of science, religion, and psychology, identifying the energy and geometric patterns that connect the quantum world with space-time. His model explains how spirit and matter can co-exist as two facets of one reality in a unified field, dissolving the walls of partition between previously siloed disciplines. Inspired by the writings of Thomas Merton (ecumenism), Teilhard de Chardin (synthesis), Thomas Berry (ecotheology), and others, his objective is to tell a new, future-looking story for the Ecozic Age, one that forms a connecting bridge between the biblical story of creation, modern science, and ancient cosmologies. Further information about Joe and his Spirit-Science model can be found in his book The Ambient Christ, the Untold Story of God in Science, Scripture, and Spirituality, and on his website, www.joeknowsgod.com