EARTHING

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet." – Thich Nhat Hahn

We humans, like all visible beings on our planet, are creatures who live on the surface of Earth. Our feet are the points of connection with Earth, and our heads the point of connection with Universe. The life force that keeps us alive comes from the interaction between these two source energies. Since Earth is part of the Sun’s family, it is closely bonded to the sun’s energy. However, sun’s energy is basically light energy – which is, in fact, the substance of everything in it’s family – including us. Every cell in our body at the most basic level is made up of light photons. What we call the “mind” and even what is called the “energy field” are energy constructs made of light photons.

 The aspects of ourselves that we see or our physicality or body is made up of all the elements that make up Earth. And all that we don’t see of ourselves is made up of light energy from the Sun. All Earth beings are progeny of Father Sun and Mother Earth. Pure universal Energy that is yet un-manifested is known as “dark” energy. That which is manifested in any form but cannot be seen, such as our minds are of light energy. Physicality or anything that can be seen or what is known as physicality is called matter, and is connected to dense planetary energy. That’s the physics of who we are.

 When my first child was born (34 years ago), the nurse wrapped him up in blankets before she gave him to me on the delivery table soon after birth. Shortly after, she took him away from me to register vital signs, and discovered that his temperature was lower than it should have been. When they wheeled me back to my room, they kept the baby in the nursery to put him under bright lights to warm him up. I insisted that my baby room-in with me, and that they bring him to me right away, as I had arranged with the doctor and hospital prior to birth. I told the nurse that I was perfectly capable of transmitting to my baby whatever warmth he needed. She brought him to the room but in the incubator. I asked her to give my baby to me to hold. As soon as she left the room, I disengaged him from the blankets and took him into bed with me. The rest of the night, ignoring “hospital policy” I slept skin-to-skin with my baby, holding him on my body – head to heart, so he attuned to my heartbeat, breastfeeding him on demand. In the morning his temperature was perfectly normal. We were both happy and peaceful.

 Being skin-to-skin with Mother Earth has pretty much the same effect on us, her offspring. All the other animals don't wear shoes, and sleep directly on or in her body.  They are totally one with her energy.  Physical contact with Mother Earth transfers her energy to us, re-balancing and attuning our electromagnetic energy to hers. Earth carries a positive charge and we carry a negative charge, Connecting directly with Earth neutralizes and harmonizes our energy.

 Earthing, as the term suggests, has to do with connecting and attuning ourselves to Earth. Ever since we humans got ourselves “civilized” and started wearing footwear, we created a barrier between ourselves and Earth. That was the beginning of our objectifying and disconnecting from her. Unable to feel the connection with her through our feet, we forget our connection to her altogether. She became a resource to be exploited and we forgot that she is the source of our physical being, and a living, breathing organism that we, like all other Earth beings, are part of, much as the microorganisms on our skins and in our bodies are part of us.. She provides us with everything we need to stay alive. Think of what could happen to a house in which the electrical system is not properly earthed. The electrical system runs the risk of getting all messed up. It’s the same with you. If you are not “earthed” your energy system also gets messed up.

HOW TO EARTH
Go outside and take your shoes off. Stand, walk, sit or lie down (take a nap) on Earth for about 15 – 30 minutes or as long as you want. That’s pretty much it! How easy is that!!! If it’s hot, I sit on a chair on a stone-paved picnic area under a picnic umbrella and read a book. Sometimes I do the CHI Wholeness Exercise (CHI-WE) sitting on a chair with my feet touching the ground, or sitting cross-legged on the grass or with my back against a tree trunk. If you, for some reason, can’t go outside, imagine being in a place outdoors where you feel safe and comfortable, sitting on Earth, doing CHI-WE. I go in my mind to my favorite beach in Sri Lanka, or to a hill looking out over the Dead Sea. My mind can take me anywhere I want to be in an instant. I am not sure if it has the same effect as actually being there, but I believe that it just might. (Would be an interesting research topic!) 

ATTUNING TO EARTH ENERGY WHEN TRAVELLING
 When I moved from Washington D.C. in the Northern Hemisphere to Nairobi, Kenya, located barely South of the Equator – I was very aware of how different Earth’s energy felt here than in Washington, where I had lived for 10years before I came here. After all, the feel of the face is different to the feel of the belly, is different to the feel of the knee etc, so why would it be that different parts of Earth would feel the same? So whenever you travel from one place to another, remember to Earth yourself, to align with the energy of where you are located. I discovered, to my surprise, that I recovered from jet lag much faster than I used to when I Earth myself as soon as I arrive in a new place.

RESEARCH ON EARTHING
Research on the effects of Earthing have been published on: http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php/research 

EARTHING PRODUCTS
Seriously, when you can connect to Earth Energy for free, why spend money on products? If you don’t have garden space of your own, find some green space in your town or city, take your shoes off and earth yourself. It’s really that simple. 

However, if you really want to buy Earthing products, you can buy them from: www.earthing .com
My husband, the gadget guy, got the Earthing sheet and an Earthing pad for the car, and thinks they help him sleep better and feel less tired on long car trips.

Special thanks and a cosmic hug to Chandra Souza for triggering this blog post when she sent me the image and the quote yesterday on Facebook.  I resonated deeply with both the image and the quote.