Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/640605
inflammatory pockets can persist for many years, slowly damaging organs and tissue anywhere in the body. This phenomenon was described by stress researcher Hans Selye in his classic 1956 book, The Stress of Life, and in various articles he published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and other periodicals. 8 Selye's work tied inflammatory responses with stress and the activity of cortisol, the stress hormone. The existence of walled- off areas, described by Selye, is known to bodyworkers. In her book Rolfing, Ida P. Rolf wrote, ''In practically all bodies, in one muscle or another, small lumps or thickened nonresilient bands can be felt deep in the tissue. The lumps may be as small as small peas or as large as walnuts.' 9 One of the important benefits of massage and bodywork results from pressure literally melting the walls of these inflammatory pouches and eliminating their potential long-term pathological effects. This melting effect occurs because the walls of the pouches contain solidified ground substance gel, which depolymerizes or falls apart under pressure. This was demonstrated in classic studies conducted by MIT physicist Toyoichi Tanaka. 10 A DISCONNECT WITH THE EARTH Based on research on inflammation and Earthing, we can better understand why massage therapists and bodyworkers might feel drained after treatments and precisely what burnout is and how to avoid it. It's apparent that too many modern lifestyles largely eliminate ordinary physical contact with the surface of the earth. Walking barefoot outdoors—on the wet sand of a beach or on a grassy lawn—feels invigorating. Earthing research explains in detail why this is. Contact with the ground is vital for our health. It allows the rapid transit of vast numbers of electrons into our bodies that then generate systemic benefits, including bolstering immune responses to injury or disease, generating ATP, and promoting physiological efficiency. This is the natural grounded state where the body becomes stronger and stabilized. This, however, is no longer the common state of humans. Seventy-five years ago, 95 percent of all shoes had leather soles. Today, 95 percent of all shoes have composite, plastic, or rubber soles. Importantly, leather is somewhat conductive to electrons, whereas rubber and plastics are not; they are insulators. Research has led to the simple but profound suggestion that this disconnect from the earth's electrons is a major factor in the dramatic rise in chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases over the decades. Moreover, we no longer live on the ground. We live above the ground and even in high-rise dwellings far off the ground. All these factors have disconnected us from a foundational aspect of nature: the electric charge of the planet and its virtually unlimited supply of electrons. We're disconnected. We're ungrounded. IS YOUR WORK MAKING YOU ELECTRON DEFICIENT? Electrons have antioxidant and anti- inflammatory properties, and our bodies have system-wide reservoirs that store these electrons. When an injury or infection takes place, stored electrons are delivered to the trouble area, where they protect healthy tissue from reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species (free radicals). The pathway for delivery of these antioxidant electrons is the systemic semiconducting living matrix composed of the connective tissues, cytoskeletons, fascia, and nuclear matrices—the very fabric of the body. 11 It appears that acidic and positively charged inflamed tissues strongly attract negative electrons to them, pulling charge from any source available. Electron flow to sites of inflammation is suggested by the results of medical infrared imaging showing very rapid resolution of inflamed tissues within minutes after grounding. 12 So, when a therapist makes skin contact with an electron-deficient client, electrons will be drawn away from the therapist to the person receiving the treatment. This is an energy transfer, a major component of feeling drained by the end of a busy day. The physical laws of electrostatics require that this charge transfer begins immediately and continues as tense, painful, and inflamed tissues are relaxed. As the walls of inflammatory pockets dissolve under the therapist's skillful hands, more free radicals are released, leading to more charge transfer from therapist to client. The process obviously helps clients feel better, but who is paying the price? The energy transfer compromises the therapist's mitochondrial energy production and makes the therapist more vulnerable to cumulative overuse or other musculoskeletal issues. It can also accelerate latent infections by interfering with immune responses. Overuse problems are especially significant during physically demanding forms of massage and bodywork, and can affect a therapist's back, elbows, fingers, hands, shoulders, and wrists. Grounding the client can help the therapist avoid these issues by shoring up electron reserves, naturally draining static electrical charges and emotionally charged stress, and reducing the consequences of inflammatory and infectious conditions. GROUNDING—SERVING BOTH CLIENT AND THERAPIST Many articles have been written about how to avoid injury and contagious diseases in the health-care environment. Sensitive and intuitive practitioners have described how "toxic conditions" can be absorbed from their clients, although there has been little science to explain such phenomena until now. E ARTHING C h e c k o u t A B M P 's l a t e s t n e w s a n d b l o g p o s t s . Av a i l a b l e a t w w w. a b m p . c o m . 79