by Associate Clinician Felicia Pasquale
Picture this. It’s the first warm, sunny spring day. You are lying in the blissful sun for a few delectable minutes when suddenly, you feel a warm cozy feeling permeate your body. This is exactly what you will feel when your body contacts the earth and becomes grounded. Regular grounding can provide better quality of sleep, a stronger immune system, and reduced stress!
Do you ever wonder why you feel so good after you have been outside, gardening, walking, or camping? It’s because your body builds up positive electrons throughout the course of the day and the negative electrons in the ground, the earth, can actually allow your body to balance itself out. We absorb positive electrons through EMFs, which are electromagnetic frequencies we are exposed to through our cell phones, laptops, televisions, and any other types of electronic devices, including WiFi. We are constantly exposed to these positive electrons, which make us feel jacked up, eventually leading to exhaustion. Touching the ground, concrete, or grass with any part of your body can discharge these electrons, rejuvenating your body and restoring your energy.
All you have to do is watch TV commercials to realize that people definitely have sleep problems. Sleep medications are one of the most commonly prescribed medications. A great place to start in order to solve sleep problems is to look at why this could be happening. Our bodies are electromagnetic. Our central nervous system is run by neurological impulses of energy that are sent down our spine in communication with our organs. Believe it or not, “the heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body.” Our brain is controlled by electrical or chemical signals called synapses that allow neurological communication in the brain. Electromagnetic frequencies from electronic devices can interfere with the natural “electrical” systems of the body.
Our autonomic nervous system, or ANS, which controls all the functions of our body, has two parts, parasympathetic and sympathetic. The parasympathetic portion allows our body to rest, digest, and heal. The parasympathetic part of your nervous system is most active when you are sitting and lying down. The sympathetic portion is known as your fight or flight mode. You are using the sympathetic part of your ANS when you are exercising and when you are under stress, whether it be physical (working out), or mental/emotional (work or family issues). Many times the problem for people when they can’t get to sleep is actually that they cannot get into their parasympathetic mode. They are stuck in sympathetic.
A good analogy of this is represented through a commercial for the sleep medication Belsomra. If you haven’t seen it, watch it here on YouTube. It shows a woman having difficulty sleeping. She has a fuzzy cat-like creature that is shaped in the word spelled out “sleep.” She also has another pet that follows her around, portrayed as a fuzzy creature similar to a dog spelling out the word “awake.” The woman takes the cat to bed when she wants to fall sleep. This is her parasympathetic mode engaged. When she is awake the cat stays inside the house and she takes the dog for a walk. This is her sympathetic mode. The commercial is implying that the medication will allow her body to go into parasympathetic when it’s time to sleep (takes the cat to bed) and then as she transitions into waking up she is mainly with the dog (sympathetic mode). That’s great that this medication can allow her to go to sleep. However, why is she not sleeping in the first place? One of the reasons is most likely because she is in her sympathetic mode when she is trying to sleep. Remember, we said that sympathetic is fight or flight mode. EMFs from electronic devices can charge us up and keep us in our sympathetic mode even when it’s time to sleep. If you don’t get into that deep parasympathetic sleep, you won’t get good restorative sleep. You can close your eyes for 8 hours, but it needs to be good, deep, parasympathetic sleep in order for your body to restore and heal and for you to feel energized for the next day.
Our bodies need consistent parasympathetic sleep in order for our immune systems to work properly. We may not realize it, but many restorative processes are happening when we sleep. When the body is at rest it can finally get around to detoxing and repairing. Did you know that your kidneys are part of your immune system? Your kidneys filter just about 200 quarts of blood every single day. If the blood doesn’t get filtered effectively, where do you think these toxins are going to go? They are going to stay in your body and make you sick, compromising your immune system. Not only do you need your kidneys to be working properly, but also your lymphatics, spleen, and adrenals gland. Keeping these filters open and organs working properly will contribute to the health of your immune system, because it is part your immune system. That’s why getting good, restorative sleep is so important. It will help to keep these organs working properly. Grounding can help discharge and balance electrons so that you get into that deep, healing sleep and allow all your organs to work the most efficiently that they can.
Better sleep and a more balanced body, regulating between parasympathetic and sympathetic, is going to equate to a much less stressed body. If you’ve ever drunk too much coffee and felt jacked up, that’s what it’s like to be in sympathetic mode all the time. You feel really stressed, even when there is no reason to be. Grounding can help you get yourself into balance and be much more relaxed.
The easiest and least expensive way to ground yourself is to get outside 15 to 20 minutes a day. But if not every day, then as often as you can! Get your feet on the ground, grass, or concrete and feel the earth’s negative electrons balance your body out. You can lie on the ground or sit, as long as your body is touching the ground. Even if it’s cold out, you can do it! Get out there when it snows and go sledding, or make a snow angel. Ideally, your bare feet or some part of your actual body should touch the ground directly. However, just having your socks or leather-soled slippers can work. I often sit on the brick steps to the front porch of our house with a blanket wrapped around me and a cup of tea.
There are many accessories that you can buy to ground yourself inside the house as well, such as sheets, blankets, and mats for under your computer. These plug into the grounding wire port of a regular 3-prong receptacle. Although I have never tried them, I have heard many favorable reports.
Do yourself a favor and take the extra time to allow your body to defragment and regroup, so to speak. It’s free; you just need to take the time. You will find that you are sleeping so much better, not just closing your eyes for 8 hours, remember? You will also find that your immune system is stronger and you can fight whatever sickness is going around. Lastly, you will feel so much less stressed. Instead of coming home from work and sipping on a glass of wine to relax, go outside and ground yourself and get de-stressed!
Felicia Pasquale, NTP
Felicia Pasquale is an Associate Clinician at the Well of Life Center for Natural Health. The Well of Life Center is a holistic wellness center that specializes in nutrition, chiropractic, massage services, and more. Celebrating their 11th year in business, the Well of Life Center has locations in Doylestown and Bethlehem, PA. For more information, please visit welloflifecenter.com.