The Weekly Thread: the healing power of grounding, lunging for greater mobility, and most of our worries never happen

The idea that getting your bare feet in the grass and connecting directly to the Earth’s energy can be good for you, heck, even help the body heal, and reduce inflammation seems a little “woo woo”. 

However, this is the case, and there is actual scientific research to back it up. 

To better understand why grounding works, you must understand how the body produces energy, and what the actual function of this energy is in the body. 

The Central Nervous System Runs on Electricity

When you are feeling low on “energy”, or when someone (like myself) says “increase natural energy”, what does that mean?

We know it when we don’t have energy, and I’m talking about chronic low energy, not just the lack of energy from, say, a poor night’s sleep. 

What then, is that “energy”, or lack thereof?

Well, it’s electricity…bioelectricity to be exact, and it’s what the human body runs on. 

“Bio” which is short for “biological”, meaning an endogenously produced natural, or biological electricity. 

If I were to cut the cord on your Central Nervous System (CNS) it would instantly be lights out. 

So it’s clearly the CNS that is at the core of running the entire body. 

It’s why our heart automatically beats and pumps blood throughout our body. 

It’s why our lungs take in air and circulate that oxygen throughout the body. 

It’s why the brain functions. 

So if the CNS is at the core of all functionality in the body, what then, makes it run?

Bioelectricity. 

Meaning, if the CNS is at the core of all functionality in the body, if there is no function without it, and the CNS runs on bioelectricity, then that means bioelectricity is truly at the core of all functionality in the body. 

Therefore, to improve all functionality in the body, the goal is to become more effective, and more efficient at producing this bioelectricity. 

The Human Body is a Battery

Think about the battery on your phone, or any device, when it shows the percentage of battery life left. 

If the body is only say 53% charged up, then you are only producing energy 53% as effectively as you could be, which could very well mean feeling low on energy, as well as having a host of low level, chronic issues due to poor systemic functionality. 

The physical human body is a bag of water, bacteria, and cells. 

It’s estimated that there are around 40 trillion cells in the human body, and it’s within these cells that this bioelectricity that the human body runs on is produced. 

Imagine if all 40 trillion cells in your body were working more effectively, more efficiently at producing the energy (bioelectricity) that fuels the entire body. 

Imagine how seemingly everything would work better, how all functionality would improve.

Furthermore, if you think about disease…disease develops over time. It doesn’t simply show up one day. 

**This is putting aside genetic conditions or predispositions which we are born with.

No, it develops over time due to dysfunction in the body, due to metabolic inefficiencies inside our cells. 

When our cells are healthy, fully vital, metabolically efficient, meaning they are producing bioelectricity very efficiently and effectively, disease cannot develop in the cell.

The human body is a battery, in a pretty literal sense, and the more you treat your body like a battery; a battery that needs to be charged up, and needs to be an effective, efficient producer of bioelectricity, the better you will feel all around. 

Why Grounding Works

In the past, I’ve explained how humans sparkle with light waves we emit through our skin, and how we can produce energy through biophotons in the skin when connected to natural light. 

This is actually a stage of photosynthesis, and it’s becoming pretty clear that humans do go through some stages of photosynthesis to produce cellular energy.

This is one way to “charge” the human battery up, and a major reason why natural light exposure is so important to good health. 

Another way to “charge” your battery up is by grounding, or earthing, which is the simple act of connecting your bare skin to the natural ground of the Earth. (Getting your bare feet in the grass is by far the easiest way to accomplish this)

The Earth produces what are known as “native electromagnetic frequencies” (native EMFs). These EMFs are called “native” as they are bioidentical to the EMFs the human body runs on, as it’s all bioelectricity essentially. 

When you connect your bare feet to the ground, and as a result, to these native EMFs that are flowing through the Earth everywhere, it’s quite literally like connecting a battery to a battery charger. 

Therefore, when “grounding”, what you are actually doing is charging up your human battery, which are the 40 trillion cells that make up our organs, blood, bones, and much more. 

Within the body are 1000s of endogenous processes that are always working to restore the body back to health. 

Which is great. 

Think about it, the goal of the human body is ALWAYS to return to health, or simply, homeostasis. 

When you get sick, the body heals itself. 

When you cut yourself, the body heals itself. 

Go to bed at night, the body restores itself. 

Your body is trying to work with you to always return to health. 

If you can help it out by charging it up through more natural light exposure and getting your bare feet in the grass, the more effectively all of these endogenous processes that are working to return you to health will work.

Your body has its own anti-inflammatory pathways. 

Charge your body up, and they will work more effectively. 

You have an immune system. 

Charge your body up daily and it will work more effectively. 

Want more energy?

Charge your body up. 

Control what you can control. 

This will not instantly fix everything that ails you, but referring back to our definition of longevity, and the idea of chipping away over time with small acts, the more you get natural light, the more you get your bare feet in the grass, yes, the more you will be helping the body to return to, or maintain health. 

And when the body is in homeostasis, there is no disease. 

When you understand the actual science of it, and more importantly, we more clearly define “natural energy” as bioelectricity, the seemingly “woo woo” becomes pretty hard science. 

And this has been documented in a clinical sense, if you’d like to read a paper titled: “The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases”

I begin each morning first with a specially charged up, biohacked glass of water that is aimed at improving the overall conductivity of my cells, and thus, makes my body more effective at producing much more bioelectricity. 

After that I get my butt outside, bare feet in the grass and do some breath work and mobility while I’m grounding. 

If it’s dark out, or in the winter months, I actually begin with a red light mask and lay on a whole body PEMF mat to ground my body (more on this in a future issue). 

Pro Tips:

✔️ Whenever there is a storm with lightning, get your bare feet in the ground as soon as you can afterwards, as the ground is literally far more charged up than normal. 

✔️Swimming can be a very effective way of grounding as well. 

Most notably swimming in the ocean. The ocean being salt water, and therefore loaded with highly conductive minerals that when combined with the water, carry one heck of a charge, and will then also charge you up when immersed in it. 

A lake, if spring-fed, will be mineralized naturally as well (not as much as the ocean, but still enough to carry a charge) and will carry a charge that can charge the body up. 

NOTE: Still lakes that are not spring-fed do not contain enough minerals to effectively charge you up. 

The “Lunge”

 Lunges may be my favorite movement for said combination of getting stronger and more bendy, as they are phenomenal at increasing leg, hip, and core strength, as well as dramatically improving functional mobility and overall flexibility. 

 

Everything I outline in this segment (with video tutorial links) are movements that require no more than a single kettlebell, and can be done anywhere, and don’t need to be part of an actual exercise regimen. 

If not part of an exercise regimen, just work these movements into your life and day throughout the week, as when put together over time, will build functional strength, increase mobility, and boost your metabolism. All things that will benefit you tremendously as you age. 

These movements are ideal for kids and young teens to work on specific mobility and reduce risk of injury in sports, all the way up to the eldest of adults. 

 

A Quick Primer on Lunges...

A lunge is a common exercise movement that primarily targets the lower body muscles, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. It involves stepping forward with one leg while keeping the upper body upright, and then lowering the body by bending both knees until the front thigh is parallel to the ground or near it. The back knee is usually lowered towards the ground as well.

The lunge can be performed in various ways, including stationary lunges, walking lunges, reverse lunges, or with added weights such as dumbbells, a barbell, or kettlebell as we’ll demonstrate with videos. Lunges are effective for building leg strength, improving balance, and engaging multiple muscle groups simultaneously. 

They are commonly included in workouts aimed at developing lower body strength, increasing muscular endurance, or enhancing overall athletic performance.

Here are some lunging movements you can do with a single kettlebell or even just your own body weight: 

1️⃣ Kettlebell Front Rack Lunges: Hold a kettlebell in each hand at shoulder height in the front rack position. Step forward with one leg and lower your body into a lunge, keeping your torso upright. Push back to the starting position and repeat on the other leg. CLICK HERE to watch a quick tutorial. 


2️⃣ Kettlebell Goblet Lunges: Hold a kettlebell with both hands at chest level, close to your body. Step forward with one leg and lower into a lunge, keeping the kettlebell close to your chest. Return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg. CLICK HERE to watch a quick tutorial.


3️⃣ Kettlebell Reverse Lunges: Hold a kettlebell in one or both hands, allowing it to hang by your sides. Step backward with one leg, lowering your body into a reverse lunge. Push back to the starting position and repeat with the other leg. CLICK HERE to watch a quick tutorial. 

To check out prior week’s functional movements CLICK HERE.

“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”

-Mark Twain

The future is hypothetical. 

It isn’t real. 

Most of the things that stress us out or cause us worry in our life, are a result of our own perception of hypothetical future scenarios or circumstances. 

Think back to some of the recent things that caused you worry, or stressed you out to the extent that they are noteworthy enough that you can recall them…

Now, with the gift of hindsight, how many of these things were worth worrying about?

How many things actually caused you stress in real time, on top of the stress we brought upon ourselves by worrying about them in the future, when they were hypothetical?

This falls into the “simple not easy” category. 

The solution to this is simple…live in the moment, do what you can now to relieve any future stress, worry, or discomfort

But it’s not easy. 

Rather, it’s very easy to think about what will and could go wrong. 

And don’t get me wrong, it’s important to plan and think ahead, no doubt. 

However, there is a difference between planning, and thinking ahead, and stressing out. 

When you are stressing out about future hypotheticals, you are not doing the work in the here and now that can help alleviate that stress. 

I am continually trying to check myself and my personal accountability in this department. 

As we look to raise investment and grow our young company into a much larger company, serving the health, nutrition, and wellness needs of millions, and do so in relatively short order, it’s very easy for me to get caught up in all the things that can go wrong. 

And believe me, as an entrepreneur, especially as a co-founder of a young growth company, what can go wrong, will go wrong. 

Which makes it very easy to worry and stress, if I let myself get caught up in it. 

However, I work daily to think about and focus explicitly on what I can do today and today only to better prepare myself, and our company, so that these worries and stressors become obsolete. 

And the funny thing is, the more I focus on what I can do today, the better I feel about the future, and the less I stress without even trying. 

It’s amazing how showing up and simply doing the work can proactively fix everything. 

Most of my worries still never happen, but I also worry less and less the more I focus only on what I can do today to improve my situation and condition.