Greetings, fellow humans!
I might have sleep apnea, but I have never been properly diagnosed. One thing is for sure, I snore... Badly. Just ask my wife, my brothers, or anyone else who has had the displeasure of trying to sleep near me. For years, these people have told me that I interrupt my loud snoring with holding my breath for long periods, gasping for air, and letting out long "scary sounding" groans in my sleep... All of which sounds a lot like classic sleep apnea.
As you can imagine, I would wake up feeling exhausted, and I'm already working pretty hard at good sleep hygiene.
I have struggled for years with trying to use a CPAP machine to overcome these sleep issues. If you're unfamiliar with CPAP machines, picture a clear hard plastic mask strapped to your head, with a long hose going to a box on your night stand which is forcefully blowing air up your nose.) According to my wife, the sound is about as cozy as snuggling up with Darth Vader!
Happily, all of those problems are a thing of the past thanks to an inexpensive experiment in sleeping grounded! Now, before you go dismissing me as a complete nut, hear me out:
I had my first exposure to the concept of "Earthing" about 5 years ago when I was re-gaining my natural gait and foot health. Michael Sandler made mention of it in his book on barefoot running. However, I quickly dismissed it as superstition and/or placebo effect. To me, the idea of plugging a wire into the ground so I could be electrically "grounded" seemed a little silly.
About a year ago, I was discussing the concept with Synchronicity Wellness owner Dr. Mickra Hamilton, and she lent me Clint Ober's book "Earthing" which had a very lofty subtitle of "The most important health discovery ever?" It was filled with anecdotes and claims of seemingly supernatural shifts in health due to "Earthing". Since the author actually sells something to solve the problem which he "discovered", I once again dismissed the idea as placebo.
This spring, when I was "field testing" a pair of Earth Runners - my new favorite shoes, I started looking into earthing again. On the Earth Runners website, there is an entire section devoted to earthing. I was most intrigued by all the mention of how this can affect our sleep, but still I remained skeptical.
A couple of months ago, my brother and I took our kids camping. Despite staying up way too late by the campfire, I woke up early in the morning feeling refreshed and well rested. "Sorry about my snoring," I said to my brother. He responded with, "You didn't snore."
This got me thinking that perhaps it's time to run an experiment in sleeping while grounded.
- I went to www.Earthing.com and bought a little starter kit for $20. The kit arrived in a small box with two orange wrist bands and an outlet tester. (see pic below)
- I tested the outlet closest to my bed and it was correct.
- I plugged my little wire into the round hole of the outlet, snapped the wire to the wristband on my arm and went to sleep.
The results:
- The next morning I awoke feeling quite well rested!
- My wife said I didn't snore at all.
- I didn't hold my breath.
- No creepy groaning sounds...
- I was cured! (or so it seems)
Based on my results, I suggested grounded sleep to one of my closest lifelong friends who has been a snoring "legend" for years. Here is what happened:
"Snoring is something I had accepted would always be an issue with me. I've become very sensitive to how it not only disrupts my sleep, but that of my boyfriend and even guests in other rooms of the house. So I figured what the hell, it was worth a try. The results were amazing! The very first night I not only did not snore at all, but slept like a log and woke up feeling incredibly rejuvenated after only 6 hours of sleep! Needless to say, my boyfriend is pretty happy about it too!"
Here is another quote from another friend of mine who's wife was desperate for something to stop his snoring:
"Grounded sleeping has definitely stopped my snoring, and you can quote me on that. It has also been reported back to me that several others have had the same experience. We did the experiment with the electric meter the other day as well and that was pretty wild to watch the meter act like breakers had been flipped when I touched any of the grounded products i.e. no electricity conduction through me anymore. Crazy cool!"
Recently, I have had quite a few friends and family try grounded sleep and all but one have reported similar results. The one person who doesn't notice feeling better in the morning sleeps alone, so no data on snoring. Admittedly, this is a small sample size, but so far this "experimental treatment" has over a 90% success in treatment of snoring and apnea!
Every night since I began sleeping grounded, my results have been the same. On occasion, my wife will still wake me because I'm snoring. Every time this happens, I fumble in the dark to find that either I had not put on the bracelet or the wire was un-snapped from the bracelet. I'll simply "plug in" and fall asleep with no more snoring.
I'm now considering an "earthing Sheet" to eliminate these little glitches that can happen when sleeping with the bracelet.
For years I've been baffled by the idea that I basically suck at sleeping. However, I'm not alone. Millions suffer from this problem. Snoring, too is an issue for many, even if they don't have apnea. So... Why are so many of us basically incapable of quality sleep? I certainly think being grounded is worth considering as part of quality "sleep hygiene" along with stress, light exposure and looking at faces.
If you want to watch a video explaining some of the ideas behind "earthing"
OK... now go outside and play! (barefoot, if possible.)
Much love and respect- Mo the human