Going to Ground

Farmers are considered to be well-'grounded,' meaning they're firmly established, stable, practical. But even though we work with the 'ground,' we don't come in contact with it other than through our feet. (Grounding also refers to connecting electricity to the ground, but let's don't go over my head -- Melissa's the electrician in the family.)



A few months ago I read an article in the Utne Reader about how disconnected we are from the ground, and the electrical charges it holds. We wear shoes, and while gardeners might kneel in the soil, most of us rarely connect directly with the ground.



The premise of the article is that because we're not in sync with the earth's electrical currents, we get sick. I'm not going to debate the validity of wacky theories; the article just intrigued me.



So I decided to get some ground time. It was about 55 degrees out, but the sun had warmed the grass. So with our new barn kitten, Emmett, I lay down on the grass. I planned to spend 15 minutes there, getting connected to the earth's electrical charges. 



But when that time had passed, I didn't want to get up. It was weird. So I let Emmett climb over me for awhile. Thirty minutes passed. Then an hour. Then Emmett crawled up into the bottom of my baggy pant leg and fell asleep.



I ended up 'grounding' myself for 1  1/2 hours!  The next day I did it for 30 minutes.



Then the sun disappeared for a week, but now it's back, and I plan to spend more time on the ground. I don't know if I buy the stuff in the article; I just know it feels good.  Weird.



Here's the link to the article: http://www.utne.com/Mind-Body/Earthing-Grounding-Sleep-Research-Electromagnetic-Fields.aspx



While I spent time on the ground, I amused myself by taking photos of Emmett.









So did it feel good to lie on the ground because of the electrical current running through the earth? Or was it because I spent 90 minutes doing absolutely nothing but playing with a kitten and soaking up the sun...  :-)