Is Barefoot Contact With the Earth Necessary For Health?

I've heard this before.

After reading the (small) article, i'm intrigued.

Decided to share this with you before i go off digging.

I know something along these lines has been posted on ATS but i can't seem to find it right now.

anyway here goes:

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

eeling “grounded” is an increasingly uncommon experience in this day and age, and it should be, considering we no longer regularly touch the ground with our bare feet, as nature intended.

It is no great mystery that the human foot was designed, over countless millenia, to be in direct contact with the Earth, the literal and symbolic ground of our being. And the Earth is no inert substance, but rather a living and breathing entity (of which we are but a mere part) capable of infusing us with its life, ‘singing the body electric,’ as Walt Whitman once mused.

Indeed, the Earth breathes life into us through a continual stream of free electrons…

It is well established, though not widely known, that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons as a consequence of a global atmospheric electron circuit. Wearing shoes with insulating soles and/or sleeping in beds that are isolated from the electrical ground plane of the earth have disconnected most people from the earth’s electrical rhythms and free electro

he effects of which James Oschman speaks are not simply theoretical. There are a wide range of measurable changes in the body associated with this “grounding” including changes in pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygenation, perfusion index, and skin conductance which have been clinically studied.

so this guy DOES makes sense afterall



source

this is an absolute truth! how do you expect to feel the heartbeat of the earth with shoes on?
all summer me and my kids are bare foot. feels great.
hugging a tree doesn't hurt either!

Okay, this is actually VERY interesting. This study (review of research) was conducted by legitimate researchers at University of California/Irvine.

Here is the conclusion:

De Flora et al. wrote the following: “Since the late 20th century, chronic degenerative diseases have overcome infectious disease as the major causes of death in the 21st century, so an increase in human longevity will depend on finding an intervention that inhibits the development of these diseases and slows their progress” [33].
Could such an intervention be located right beneath our feet? Earthing research, observations, and related theories raise an intriguing possibility about the Earth's surface electrons as an untapped health resource—the Earth as a “global treatment table.” Emerging evidence shows that contact with the Earth—whether being outside barefoot or indoors connected to grounded conductive systems—may be a simple, natural, and yet profoundly effective environmental strategy against chronic stress, ANS dysfunction, inflammation, pain, poor sleep, disturbed HRV, hypercoagulable blood, and many common health disorders, including cardiovascular disease. The research done to date supports the concept that grounding or earthing the human body may be an essential element in the health equation along with sunshine, clean air and water, nutritious food, and physical activity.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

You can read the full text of the study at that link.

Methinks I will spend a lot of time barefoot this spring and summer! Maybe I'll even camp out...in the backyard, of course! (since I'm not very outdoorsy).

i've read before that "grounding" can be used as a way to treat cancer naturally. very interesting and it makes sense! i have a sudden urge to go walk in my yard barefoot now. too bad there's snow on most of my lawn

I went barefoot in my yard yesterday and stepped in a big pile of steaming dog poop. So my 'grounding' experience was none to pleasant!

It must be because I love being barefoot, even in winter! I really hate socks and shoes and can't wait till I can ditch them for bare feet. I really do feel more connected to the earth and grounded and more myself when I am barefoot.

Here is an excerpt from the homepage
Throughout time, we humans have strolled, sat, stood, and slept on the ground—the skin of our bodies touching the skin of the Earth—oblivious to the fact that such physical contact transfers natural electrical energy to the body

www.earthinginstitute.net...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Yep, I totally agree. AND that's not all. Most shoes (tennis shoes, for example) have a rubber soul. Sort of insulates you away from that electric bond with the Earth. And while I was typing the words "rubber soul" I just had to stop and ponder the irony of the word "soul" being the name of a part of a shoe.

I smell a conspiracy.

One thing that works is that the feet are very "open", so they will absorb, and also sweat out chemistry, too...
So actions like walking bare foot in the fallen leaves absorbes their herbal healthfull qualities.
Magnesium might be a good example of something better imbibed this way.

Walking in things like clay soil probably will realy pull out toxins to I bet, and I wouldn't be surprised if the feet absorb things like minerals too...processes normally thought of as occuring through dietary vectors

reply to post by chrismicha77


dogs will re eat poop to get nutrients they are lacking...
perhaps by blindly guiding you to step in poo your subconcious is trying to tell you something.
(even if it is only to get glasses, LOL)

Although there is something to be said about walking barefoot outside, as the health benefits seem logical, I would hesitate in today's environmentally contaminated world, especially after Fukushima. I can't imagine the health benefits outweighing that.

Anybody want to guess on this? I think I'll keep my shoes on. I've got two grandparents in their 90's who never had cancer and are as domesticated as they come.

Originally posted by chrismicha77
I went barefoot in my yard yesterday and stepped in a big pile of steaming dog poop. So my 'grounding' experience was none to pleasant!

lol maybe its time to clean up the back yard?

I have also heard this and believe there might be some merit to it..

I've always instinctively done this when I wasn't feeling good. It wasn't until reading about it on ATS a year or two ago that it made any sense.

Ever since I was a kid, if I am feeling ill, I go lay in the grass and get some sunshine. I don't lay in a lawn chair, it has to be the grass. If it is warm enough I strip down as much clothing as possible and just lie there. It is relaxing, it is energizing, it is entertaining, and I ALWAYS feel better afterwards.

There are also the theories of the cobblestone paths providing needed therapy to the souls of our feet. I think it is the Chinese that traverse the stone paths barefoot and get some healing powers from it.

I believe we have to be grounded, and we have to absorb the sun's rays to be completely healthy.

reply to post by kn0wh0w


Makes sense to me. Good catch.

S&F&