Position Paper on the Use of Earthing and Grounding Mats to Reduce Inflammation and Improve Health
Note: This position paper is the opinion of Oram Miller, BBEI and is not intended to represent the official position of the International Institute for Bau-biologieTM and Ecology, which trained and certified him. The opinions expressed in this paper are, however, based in large part upon conversations Oram has had with colleagues within his profession as well as his own experience working with electromagnetically-sensitive clients throughout the country.
Comments dated September 23, 2018.
A valuable approach to improving one’s health in the indoor environment is the practice of earthing. This involves sitting, laying or standing on earthing or grounding mats, connected to the ground socket of a properly grounded outlet or directly via a wire run outdoors to the earth (but the driven rod should be more than 20 feet from the electrical system’s earth rod).
There is significant improvement reported by users of these devices when they ground to the earth, even with electric fields present around them. Living so much of our lives indoors and walking around with rubber-soled shoes insulates us from beneficial healthy ions provided to our ancestors when they grounded to the soil by walking barefoot or with leather-soled shoes, which conduct electricity.
We in the modern age don’t have that experience (unless you spend time barefoot outdoors). This leads to depletion of the beneficial electrons provided by the earth that all cells actually need, resulting in inflammation and a host of diseases. Many believe all diseases have their root in inflammation.
One important characteristic about the earthing mat that numerous studies have shown to the research team of the Earthing Institute is that when you are earthed, that is, when you are in contact with an earthing mat on your bed or chair, your body becomes what is termed a Faraday Cage. Electrons from the earthing mat align themselves on your skin protecting your cells and internal organs inside the body from adverse effects from outside EMFs. That is explained to be the mechanism by which the earthing mat helps those who use it.
We do have clients who are electrically hypersensitive (EHS) who have some discomfort when first using an earthing mat. For those individuals, we recommend seeing how they feel when electric fields are reduced in their sleeping environment and when their ungrounded computers are grounded, as discussed in my article on electric field EMFs. We do these steps anyway for all of our clients, but this is especially necessary for our electrically sensitive clients. Otherwise, the Earthing Institute research team found that healthy subjects had health improvements even when electric fields are not reduced.
The use of an earthing mat will be helpful for sensitive people in particular. There is also the mention that dirty electricity on grounding paths in house wiring could be a factor. The researchers at the Earthing Institute give a compelling argument for why that should not attach to your body through an earthing mat. I recommend that you read their information to understand the physics of how that happens.
We in the building biology profession will be discussing these issues further with the researchers at the Earthing Institute to more fully understand how this phenomenon works and how it integrates with the work that we do as building biologists. We will share that deeper understanding as it unfolds.
We learned a great deal about earthing during a one-day seminar presented by Clint Ober, the inventor of the earthing mat and founder of the Earthing Institute, on September 16, 2011 during our building biology conference that weekend. I and a number of my colleagues learned a great deal about the research conducted over twenty years on the earthing mat and the improvement in inflammation and a host of ailments.
Clint cleverly gave an earthing mat to each one of the building biologists who participated in the seminar. It was a very wise move indeed, at least for me and my clients, because I promptly installed my new earthing mat onto my bed when I returned home and grounded the wire directly into the earth. I already shut off the plastic AC power cord for my bedside lamp at the wall with a simple shut-off switch (because I don’t need to shut off any breakers–the circuits in the bedroom walls are in metal).
I did feel some tingling at first, but only at first. Clint assured us that was part of the healing process as badly needed electrons began flowing from the earth up into the skin of my feet and lower legs. The earthing pad lays across the bottom third of the bed, on top of the bottom sheet. Ever since using it, I feel even more energy in the morning than I did when I first started shutting off the cords and circuits years ago when I first became a building biologist.
I now feel additional energy and in particular, I notice quicker and greater recovery from the fatigue of a long work day the day before. I also feel less sore from exercise than I used to.
So my experience with the earthing pad has been a positive one and I recommend it to my clients.