Earthing brings new hope

We’re excited. We recently became aware of the practice of earthing and its potential to improve our health and well-being. More research needs to be done, but it’s possible that earthing may be able to prevent, and even possibly cure, trauma.

When we walk barefoot on the Earth, we are in electrical contact with it. Electrons flow into our bodies to equalise the electrical potentials, thus automatically neutralising harmful free radicals and balancing other systems. But modern lifestyles insulate us from direct contact with the ground. We wear shoes all the time, mostly live in houses that isolate us electrically from the earth, sleep in wooden beds, and walk on insulating carpets. As a result, we become electrically unbalanced.

Earthing involves reconnecting ourselves to the Earth’s supply of electrons. There are several ways this can be done, but - apart from going barefoot - they all involve skin contact with a conducting pad or sheet of some kind. This is connected to the earth through a metal rod pushed into the ground, or via the earth circuit of the building’s wiring. A bed sheet with silver threads allows us to be earthed while asleep, and a pad under the desk can earth us through our bare feet while we work. More localised earthing to treat specific injuries or problems can be achieved with patches or bands attached to the body.

This sounds so simple, it’s hard to believe it can have any significant effect. But research to date and extensive experience shows that it does. Users report better sleep, less pain, reduced symptoms of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and MS, and less stress, tension and anxiety. Wounds heal faster, and top athletes recover more rapidly from the stress of competition or intense training.

In particular, earthing has been shown to normalise the daily cycle of the stress hormone cortisol. Chronic elevation of cortisol levels is one of the effects of trauma, raising the intriguing possibility that earthing might reduce trauma symptoms. If used on a regular basis, it might increase resilience to potentially traumatic experiences. If applied after such an event, it might reduce or prevent the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As there is an association between trauma and some other mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Bipolar Disorder, we believe earthing might help sufferers of these conditions too. It’s certainly worth researching.

In our book, Hope for Humanity, we argue that almost everyone is affected by trauma to some extent. Our resulting behavioural and psychological patterns create powerful barriers to ending war, violence, poverty, social breakdown and environmental destruction. One of the greatest challenges facing us is how to heal so many people - clearly one-on-one therapy is not possible for more than a tiny fraction of humanity. So wouldn’t it be wonderful if something as simple as earthing could make a big difference?

Christine is finding that earthing herself as much as possible is helping her express her unique self. She is experimenting with a new trauma therapy that focuses on the interaction between the energy systems of the Earth and the human body. What better therapist to use for such a huge challenge than the Earth herself? She envisages a time when connection with the Earth will help us all to heal, and to find our own unique contributions to healing humanity. We are in the process of creating a website on which more information will be available shortly. 

Trauma can be transformed

Trauma is a two sided coin. One face is negative, dark, destructive. The other is positive, hopeful and transformative.

In most cases, trauma warps our personality, blights our health, stunts our development, and condemns us to living well below our potential. It brings aggression and violence into families, communities, nations, and the whole planet. And trauma begets trauma as victims become perpetrators, passing on their own trauma to their partners, children and communities. In this way, humanity has been trapped for several thousand years in a vicious cycle of violence and domination. In the words of Daryl Paulson and Stanley Krippner, the aftermath of trauma is often “anxiety that will not subside, depression that will not heal, or psychosomatic injuries that will not mend.”

But this is not the whole picture. Trauma can be the dark gateway through which we enter into a journey of personal and spiritual growth. As trauma therapist Peter Levine expressed it:

Trauma has the potential to be one of the most significant forces for psychological, social and spiritual awakening and evolution.

For most of us, transformation is a slow and arduous process requiring determined commitment, and the help of skilled therapists and spiritual teachers. But, for a surprising number, it comes unbidden as a sudden awakening following intense and prolonged turmoil in their lives. The trigger may be loss and grief when a loved-one dies. It may be a life-threatening illness, or an accident that leaves them severely disabled. It may be the crash of a business or the end of a promising career. But whatever the trigger, there comes a point at which the person lets go and accepts the loss at a deep level. At that moment, they experience a transformation of their ‘dark night of the soul’ into joy and bliss. And they awaken to a new meaning and purpose in life.

This transformative power of trauma is nowhere better documented than in Steve Taylor’s latest book “Out of the Darkness.”  This forms a perfect complement to our book, “Hope for Humanity.” We focused primarily on the impact of trauma on the world and actions we might take to reduce it. We included only a relatively brief discussion of its potential for spontaneous transformation.  Steve fills that gap by telling the stories of many people for whom life-shattering events became a blessing, and analyzing the factors that made them so.

Trauma and humanity

(M)uch of the violence that plagues humanity is a direct or indirect result of unresolved trauma that is acted out in repeated unsuccessful attempts to re-establish a sense of empowerment.

Trauma therapist Peter Levine

Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. Not only can trauma be healed, but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative. Trauma has the potential to be one of the most significant forces for psychological, social and spiritual awakening and evolution. How we handle trauma (as individuals, communities and societies) greatly influences the quality of our lives. It ultimately affects how or even whether we will survive as a species.

Trauma therapist Peter Levine

(A)lmost everyone I have ever met suffers from some sense of incompleteness and emptiness. They sense that parts of themselves are missing and that they are cut off from a deep connection with life. … Few people are fully at home and some of us have been so badly traumatized that almost no one is at home.

Shamanic Healer Sandra Ingerman

… despite our differences, we’re all alike. Beyond identities and desires, there is a common core of self - an essential humanity whose nature is peace and whose expression is thought and whose action is unconditional love. When we identify with that inner core, respecting and honoring it in others as well as ourselves, we experience healing in every area of life.

Joan Borysenko