Introducing "Earthing"

[laconicsax]

http://www.earthinginstitute.net/
http://www.utne.com/Mind-Body/Earthing-Grounding-Sleep-Research-Electromagnetic-Fields.aspx

Born of the expertise of a cable guy, laughed out of research centers, the visionary therapy of "Earthing" is set to revolutionize science and medicine!

Practitioners of Earthing believe that those electrons are freely available right outside your door. “The land and seas of planet Earth are alive with an endless supply of electrons,” Ober writes. “By making direct contact with the surface of the planet—the skin of our bodies touching the skin of the earth—our conductive bodies naturally equalize with the earth. Figuratively speaking, we refill the electron level in our tank that has become low. Just like standard electronic equipment that needs a stable ground to function well, so, too, the body needs stable grounding to also function well.”

:rofl:

[Odin2005]

1. LOL!

[DavidDvorkin]

2. It's not endless! The number of electrons is finite! And these people

will use them all up! Then where will we be?

[laconicsax]

3. I know a good source of electrons...

All you need is a fork and an electric outlet. If we could somehow direct the Earthing enthusiasts toward that source, there will be more electrons for the rest of us.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. An interesting idea.

[Silent3]

7. Yeah, but those are yucky nasty artificial electrons...

...not healthy, wholesome natural electrons with the good high frequency vibrations and whatnot.

Better to hold that fork high in the air during a lighting storm. :)

[onager]

4. Here's the sound track...

(spoken intro) - From all of us here in the world of rock & roll to all of our great fans, I've just this to say; that some of our friends have gone on to their great rewards tragically too early. And others, tragically too late...

Well, I touched my electric guitar to the mike stand in the rain,
And Lord I felt your power, but I never will again.
My fingers flew like lightnin' on my strings of burnin' fire
They say I never played it better, than the night I fried,
And I died...

(Chorus)
And now I'm plugged into the big amp in the sky,
Plugged into the big amp in the sky!
Jesus likes my music, so does his Dad,
They love to hear that rock and roll
On Sundays at their pad.

The company's doin' P.R. like they've never done before
They used to hate my records; they just pressed a million more
Stores have re-ordered, tears are drippin' out of Billboard
My plug, they shoulda pulled it
Now I'm number 4 with a bullet!

(Chorus)

I got a young girl all picked out, on the Bayou she can sing,
I'm gonna go live inside her head and make her shake that thing,
I'm gonna teach her fingers how to fly, and toot that sweet cocaine
She's gonna feel the power but she's never gonna feel the pain

And we'll be plugged into the big amp in the sky,
Plugged into the big amp in the sky.
She'll sing just like a whipporwill,
And whippers will sing high-h-h-h-H-H-H...
She can plug her little jack in the hole right next to mine.

"Big Amp In The Sky" - Lyrics & music: Tim McIntire, Jock Ellis. Recorded by FunZone, from their first and only album in 1977.

[semillama]

6. Is this related to planking? N/t

[laconicsax]

8. No. Planking has a point, Earthing is just bullshit. n/t

[IDemo]

9. Well, if it's simply an abundance of electrons you seek,

Walking across a nylon carpet on a dry Winter day will do the trick. But your "therapy" will end sooner or later to the feel of a 10 to 50 kilovolt spark if your house has any doorknobs.

[onager]

10. “By making direct contact with the surface of the planet..."

It works better if you make the direct contact from a very great height. Trust me.

[Deep13]

11. Don't all atoms have electrons? Aren't we made of atoms?

That might be a relaxing thing to do. Their website is a bit vague on just what the beneficial effects are. There does not seem to be any specific disorder that it treats. Anyway, I guess we will see how it goes in clinical testing.

[laconicsax]

12. It's a panacea.

It cures free radical damage by some unknown mechanism, inflammation by some unknown mechanism, generic disease by some unknown mechanism, I'm sure it even cures AIDS, cancer, and morgellons by some unknown mechanism.

The inventor took his idea to a research center and got laughed out the door.

It does reminds me of part of this sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_AmdvxbPT8#t=1m34s "Oh no! He was fine...Now he's poorly from too much electric."

[TZ]

13. So ummm if you go by this theory

sticking your finger in an electrical outlet is good for you. Okayyyyyyy...I take it this guy never took 6th grade science? :crazy:

[laconicsax]

14. He was a cable guy by trade, and sought to apply his knowledge of consumer electronics to biology.

It's one of the sillier "alternative" treatments I've seen, but sure enough, at least one DUer believes in it.

[Orrex]

15. Many years ago a coworker of mine participated in various magical rites

An important end-point of each rite was the step in which they return the residual power to Mother Earth. If they didn't do this, apparently, they would absorb this extra juice themselves and suffer various nervous complaints and the like.

They called it "Earthing the power," though I don't know if this was a common phrase at the time or if it was in general use among Wiccands.

When he used to get unsettled in the workplace, I used to say "Earth the power, Wayne!"

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Credit to him for doing a (single-)blind trial; demerit to Utne Reader for not reporting the control

Ignored by mainstream researchers, Ober went on to conduct the first study of what he now called “Earthing.” He procured some conductive fiber material bonded with wool-lined sleeping pads attached to grounding wire, then rounded up 60 volunteers. The 38 women and 22 men all complained of sleep problems and various forms of joint and muscle pain. He split the volunteers into two groups: 30 slept on pads that were properly grounded, and the other 30 on pads with a hidden disconnect. Only Ober knew who was actually grounded for the month-long study.

The results were astonishing: 85 percent of the grounded sleepers fell asleep sooner; 93 percent slept better; 100 percent were more rested upon waking; 82 percent “experienced significant reduction in muscle stiffness”; 74 percent “experienced elimination or reduction of chronic back and joint pain”; and 78 percent reported “improved general health,” Ober says. Furthermore, many participants reported “unexpected but significant relief from asthmatic and respiratory conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension (high blood pressure), sleep apnea, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). There were also reports of fewer hot flashes.”

Read more: http://www.utne.com/Mind-Body/Earthing-Grounding-Sleep-Research-Electromagnetic-Fields.aspx?page=2#ixzz1SC0oZiN7

Better if it had been a double-blind; but since they don't report the results of the control group, we can't tell if this was simple placebo or regression-toward-the-mean.