The Effects of Grounding (Earthing) on Bodyworkers' Pain and Overall Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: It is well known that massage therapists routinely develop a number of health problems related to their profession. PURPOSE: To determine the effects of grounding on massage therapists' quality of life and pain. Grounding, refers to being in direct body contact with the ground, such as walking barefoot on humid soil or on grass. SETTING: The Chopra Center for Well-Being in Carlsbad, California, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen massage therapists (mean age 42.8 years). RESEARCH DESIGN AND INTERVENTION: A stepped wedge cluster design was incorporated into a 6-week double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) procedure with massage therapists assigned randomly into one of two cohorts. Therapists were not grounded for the first week, were grounded while working on clients and at home while sleeping for the next four weeks, and then ungrounded for the last week. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prior to, during, and immediately following the intervention, participants completed standardized questionnaires reporting on pain, physical function, anxiety, depression, fatigue/tiredness, sleep disturbance and number of hours of sleep, number of clients worked on per working day, energy, and emotional and mental stress. RESULTS: As a group, therapists experienced significant increases in physical function and energy and significant decreases in fatigue, depressed mood, tiredness and pain while grounded as compared to not being grounded. At one-month following the study, physical function was also increased and depressed mood and fatigue were decreased. CONCLUSIONS: We observed consistent beneficial effects of grounding in domains highly relevant to massage therapists, namely pain, physical function, and mood. These findings, combined with prior results from this trial indicating improvements in inflammatory biomarkers, blood viscosity and heart rate variability (HRV), suggest that grounding is beneficial to massage therapists in multiple domains relevant to their occupation, supporting overall health and quality of life.

Electric Nutrition: The Surprising Health and Healing Benefits of Biological Grounding (Earthing).

Context • Modern biomedicine has discovered that many of the most debilitating diseases, as well as the aging process itself, are caused by or associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Emerging research has revealed that direct physical contact with the surface of the planet generates a kind of electric nutrition, with surprisingly potent and rapid anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Objectives • The objective of this study was to explain the potential of grounding to clinicians as a simple strategy for prevention, therapy, and improving patient outcomes. The research summarized here has pursued the goal of determining the physiological and clinical significance of biological grounding. Design • The research team has summarized more than 12 peer-reviewed reports. Where appropriate, blinded studies examined in this paper were conducted using a variety of statistical procedures. Interventions • In all cases, the intervention examined conductive contact between the surface of Earth and the study's participants, using conductive bed sheets, floor or desk pads, and electrode patches, such as those used in electrocardiography. Results • All studies discussed revealed significant physiological or clinical outcomes as a result of grounding. Conclusion • This body of research has demonstrated the potential of grounding to be a simple, natural, and accessible clinical strategy against the global epidemic of noncommunicable, degenerative, inflammatory-related diseases.

The embodied mind: A review on functional genomic and neurological correlates of mind-body therapies.

A broad range of mind-body therapies (MBTs) are used by the public today, and a growing body of clinical and basic sciences research has resulted in evidence-based integration of many MBTs into clinical practice. Basic sciences research has identified some of the physiological correlates of MBT practices, leading to a better understanding of the processes by which emotional, cognitive and psychosocial factors can influence health outcomes and well-being. In particular, results from functional genomics and neuroimaging describe some of the processes involved in the mind-body connection and how these can influence health outcomes. Functional genomic and neurophysiological correlates of MBTs are reviewed, detailing studies showing changes in sympathetic nervous system activation of gene transcription factors involved in immune function and inflammation, electroencephalographic and neuroimaging studies on MBT practices, and persistent changes in neural function and morphology associated with these practices. While the broad diversity of study designs and MBTs studied presents a patchwork of results requiring further validation through replication and longitudinal studies, clear themes emerge for MBTs as immunomodulatory, with effects on leukocyte transcription and function related to inflammatory and innate immune responses, and neuromodulatory, with effects on brain function and morphology relevant for attention, learning, and emotion regulation. By detailing the potential mechanisms of action by which MBTs may influence health outcomes, the data generated by these studies have contributed significantly towards a better understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying MBTs.

An Overview of Biofield Devices.

Advances in biophysics, biology, functional genomics, neuroscience, psychology, psychoneuroimmunology, and other fields suggest the existence of a subtle system of "biofield" interactions that organize biological processes from the subatomic, atomic, molecular, cellular, and organismic to the interpersonal and cosmic levels. Biofield interactions may bring about regulation of biochemical, cellular, and neurological processes through means related to electromagnetism, quantum fields, and perhaps other means of modulating biological activity and information flow. The biofield paradigm, in contrast to a reductionist, chemistry-centered viewpoint, emphasizes the informational content of biological processes; biofield interactions are thought to operate in part via low-energy or "subtle" processes such as weak, nonthermal electromagnetic fields (EMFs) or processes potentially related to consciousness and nonlocality. Biofield interactions may also operate through or be reflected in more well-understood informational processes found in electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocardiographic (ECG) data. Recent advances have led to the development of a wide variety of therapeutic and diagnostic biofield devices, defined as physical instruments best understood from the viewpoint of a biofield paradigm. Here, we provide a broad overview of biofield devices, with emphasis on those devices for which solid, peer-reviewed evidence exists. A subset of these devices, such as those based upon EEG- and ECG-based heart rate variability, function via mechanisms that are well understood and are widely employed in clinical settings. Other device modalities, such a gas discharge visualization and biophoton emission, appear to operate through incompletely understood mechanisms and have unclear clinical significance. Device modes of operation include EMF-light, EMF-heat, EMF-nonthermal, electrical current, vibration and sound, physical and mechanical, intentionality and nonlocality, gas and plasma, and other (mode of operation not well-understood). Methodological issues in device development and interfaces for future interdisciplinary research are discussed. Devices play prominent cultural and scientific roles in our society, and it is likely that device technologies will be one of the most influential access points for the furthering of biofield research and the dissemination of biofield concepts. This developing field of study presents new areas of research that have many important implications for both basic science and clinical medicine.

The effect of grounding the human body on mood.

Earthing (grounding) refers to bringing the body in contact with the Earth. Health benefits were previously reported, but no study exists about mood. This study was conducted to assess if Earthing improves mood. 40 adult participants were either grounded or sham-grounded (no grounding) for 1 hr. while relaxing in a comfortable recliner chair equipped with a conductive pillow, mat, and patches connecting them to the ground. This pilot project was double-blinded and the Brief Mood Introspection Scale (comprising 4 mood scales) was used. Pleasant and positive moods statistically significantly improved among grounded-but not sham-grounded-participants. It is concluded that the 1-hr. contact with the Earth improved mood more than expected by relaxation alone. More extensive studies are, therefore, warranted.

Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity-a major factor in cardiovascular disease.

OBJECTIVES: Emerging research is revealing that direct physical contact of the human body with the surface of the earth (grounding or earthing) has intriguing effects on human physiology and health, including beneficial effects on various cardiovascular risk factors. This study examined effects of 2 hours of grounding on the electrical charge (zeta potential) on red blood cells (RBCs) and the effects on the extent of RBC clumping. DESIGN/INTERVENTIONS: SUBJECTS were grounded with conductive patches on the soles of their feet and palms of their hands. Wires connected the patches to a stainless-steel rod inserted in the earth outdoors. Small fingertip pinprick blood samples were placed on microscope slides and an electric field was applied to them. Electrophoretic mobility of the RBCs was determined by measuring terminal velocities of the cells in video recordings taken through a microscope. RBC aggregation was measured by counting the numbers of clustered cells in each sample. SETTINGS/LOCATION: Each subject sat in a comfortable reclining chair in a soundproof experiment room with the lights dimmed or off. SUBJECTS: Ten (10) healthy adult subjects were recruited by word-of-mouth. RESULTS: Earthing or grounding increased zeta potentials in all samples by an average of 2.70 and significantly reduced RBC aggregation. CONCLUSIONS: Grounding increases the surface charge on RBCs and thereby reduces blood viscosity and clumping. Grounding appears to be one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.

Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth's surface electrons.

Environmental medicine generally addresses environmental factors with a negative impact on human health. However, emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. Reconnection with the Earth's electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being. Earthing (or grounding) refers to the discovery of benefits-including better sleep and reduced pain-from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth's electrons from the ground into the body. This paper reviews the earthing research and the potential of earthing as a simple and easily accessed global modality of significant clinical importance.

Pilot study on the effect of grounding on delayed-onset muscle soreness.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether there are markers that can be used to study the effects of grounding on delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Eight (8) healthy subjects were exposed to an eccentric exercise that caused DOMS in gastrocnemius muscles of both legs. Four (4) subjects were grounded with electrode patches and patented conductive sheets connected to the earth. Four (4) control subjects were treated identically, except that the grounding systems were not connected to the earth. OUTCOME MEASURES: Complete blood counts, blood chemistry, enzyme chemistry, serum and saliva cortisols, magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy and pain levels were taken at the same time of day before the eccentric exercise and 24, 48, and 72 hours afterwards. Parameters consistently differing by 10% or more, normalized to baseline, were considered worthy of further study. RESULTS: Parameters that differed by these criteria included white blood cell counts, bilirubin, creatine kinase, phosphocreatine/inorganic phosphate ratios, glycerolphosphorylcholine, phosphorylcholine, the visual analogue pain scale, and pressure measurements on the right gastrocnemius. CONCLUSIONS: In a pilot study, grounding the body to the earth alters measures of immune system activity and pain. Since this is the first intervention that appears to speed recovery from DOMS, the pilot provides a basis for a larger study.

Changes in pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygenation, perfusion index, skin conductance, and their variability induced during and after grounding human subjects for 40 minutes.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that grounding produces quantifiable physiologic changes. This study was set up to reproduce and expand earlier electrophysiologic and physiologic parameters measured immediately after grounding with improved methodology and state-of-the-art equipment. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: A multiparameter double-blind experiment was conducted with 14 men and 14 women (age range: 18-80) in relatively good health. Subjects were screened for health problems using a commonly used health questionnaire. They were seated in a comfortable recliner and measured during 2-hour grounding sessions, leaving time for signals to stabilize before, during, and after grounding (40 minutes for each period). Sham 2-hour grounding sessions were also recorded with the same subjects as controls. OUTCOME MEASURES: This report presents results for 5 of the 18 parameters measured. The parameters reported here are: skin conductance (SC), blood oxygenation (BO), respiratory rate (RR), pulse rate (PR), and perfusion index (PI). SETTINGS/LOCATION: This study was performed in a rented facility in Encinitas, California. The facility was chosen in a quiet area for its very low electromagnetic noise. RESULTS: For each session, statistical analyses were performed on four 10-minute segments: before and after grounding (sham grounding for control session) and before and after ungrounding (sham ungrounding). There was an immediate decrease in SC at grounding and an immediate increase at ungrounding on all subjects. RR increased during grounding, and the effect lasted after ungrounding. RR variance increased immediately after grounding then decreased. BO variance decreased during grounding, followed by a dramatic increase after ungrounding. PR and PI variances increased toward the end of the grounding period, and this change persisted after ungrounding. CONCLUSIONS: These results warrant further research to determine how grounding affects the body. Grounding could become important for relaxation, health maintenance and disease prevention.