No matter how I may wish to deny I am old, at two years and seven decades it is nonetheless a fact and, having never been old before, I am unrehearsed for the role. I am not alone in that realization, evidenced by how many folks my age I see hoofing it around town, very often with a leashed dog or two, with the purpose of fending off the onslaught of physical maladies common to the aging process. I don’t own an automobile, so I do get the benefits of biking, yet still those little involuntary grunts escape whenever I rise from my bed or a chair or when just bending over to pick up something I lost grip on. Of late, the past year or so, I decided I needed less doctors and their pills so began paying attention to alternate methods of finding relief for myriad ways aging attacks our bodies.
One such method is holistic, a word I once thought, given some of its practitioner’s wild claims of natural healing, fell into the “quackery” realm of medicine. I now know more about how pharmaceutical companies over a period phased out long-standing natural practices of maintaining overall health and replaced them with medications, costly medications. Today’s title references Earthing, or Grounding, and no doubt the one hour and 15-minute video I watched on the subject (“The Earthing Movie, The Remarkable Science of Grounding”; YouTube) covered thousands of words, I am going to attempt to do it in far less, so here goes:
Our body systems run on electricity and we live on an orb that is magnetized at its poles; the entire planet Earth is surrounded and imbedded with electricity. And as all electricians will tell you, grounding is very important. Sixty miles upward is the ionosphere, there exits the ozone layer that is constantly bombarded by electromagnetic impulses from solar flares filling it with negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons. While the protons remain in the ozone, the electrons make their way to Earth via lightening every day of every year; and these electrons are vital for good health as they provide a shield against attacks on virtually every part of the anatomy.
There is far more to grounding, as 21 peer-reviewed papers published over the past two decades will testify, but the gist of it is humans need contact with Ol’ Mama Nature to help stave off inflammations, which are bulwarks to good health. Electrons flow into the body immediately upon contact with dirt, grass, trees, rocks, water or even man-made surfaces, and after two hours the whole body is energized and rejuvenated. Many cultures practiced grounding without the knowledge of how it worked, but knew it did work.
We know this when we are young, we felt the freedom of spirit and body when we were barefoot and in physical contact with nature; and if we take off our shoes at any age, we will feel an instant reaction within us. But as we age, we spend more and more time clad of foot. And worse yet, some children go day in and day out with never grounding themselves.
At first look this appears to be just another offbeat theory, a knee jerk reaction to our sky-high medical and pharmaceutical costs, a quack remedy found only on the outskirts of modern medicine. But for me there is enough science and testing involved to make this practice part of my daily life. Or at least everyday when weather permits, which in the Valley is most of the time. I’ll let you know what results may follow.
***
Horses are fascinating animals. They come in all sizes and colors and each breed has its weaknesses and strengths, and, unless among the wild herds that still roam free across a few of the western states, most have a purpose. I have long had a fondness of horses even though a couple of times in my youth I had very bad experiences with horses; one such little mishap could have been very detrimental to my health and put a fear of the beasts within me that has never really abated.
This happened when I was still in elementary school, around 12 years old, when me and Darold, my buddy from across the street, climbed aboard two horses owned by girls who stabled their horses on property of the other Wilson family in Greenfield. The ride started fine and continued that until we headed back toward the corrals when one of the habits of horses made itself known to both of us in a startling and frightening way.
Unbeknownst to us, some horses are quite ready to get unsaddled then eat and drink after a ride and will quite unexpectedly go from a walk to a frenzied run toward the corrals. This would have been OK had an apricot orchard not been between our location and the corrals. While trying to hold on for dear life atop this speeding beast, my head and shoulder banged into a tree limb, which caused my tennis shoe clad left foot to slip through the stirrup, while also knocking me from the saddle. I can still recall hanging head down, my upper body bouncing along the ground as huge legs pounded the ground just inches away. I survived with minor injuries, but with a fear of horses, which still exists.
I mention this because this past weekend I strolled down to SVF to witness some equine competition by high schoolers from Santa Barbara to San Jose. I spoke with Carlie and Grace, but did not hang around long enough to see them compete because to witness girls who weigh around 100 pounds go charging down the stampede grounds at full speed on a 1,200-pound horse makes me grit my teeth and hope like hell they don’t crash; and neither my heart or my teeth are built for such activity.
Take care. Peace.
