Grounding and Earthing

Grounding is when you have direct contact with the earth — such as walking barefoot.

 Research shows many benefits when we are grounding, such as reducing pain and inflammation, and even improving sleep.

There might be those who just can't believe that walking barefoot could actually improve our health. 

But there are real scientific reasons grounding works. 

Because the earth emits negative electrons, they penetrate our bodies when we walk barefoot and these electrons have remarkable benefits.

They reduce free radicals and inflammation in your body.

Free radicals are necessary for metabolic processes, but too many free radicals can hurt our bodies and cause chronic diseases.  It may be impossible to avoid bombatment of free radicals but there is plenty of evidence indicating that antioxidants neutralize free radicals that contribute to our body’s inflammatory responses. 

Because grounding has antioxidant effects, it can disarm these free radicals, thus reducing inflammation.

Grounding will improve your mood.

According to a study by Gaétan Chevalier, participants who were grounded for only one hour reported improvements in their moods, as opposed to those who were not grounded. 

The study notes that additional studies will be conducted, but if the positive effects are confirmed, grounding could be an easy way to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress.

It will improve your sleep because grounding might help you get the sleep you need by reducing cortisol levels. In a study published by The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, subjects that grounded during sleep by using a conductive mattress pad had reduced nighttime levels of cortisol and their 24-hour circadian cortisol profiles became closer to normal. Cortisol has been called the “stress hormone” that can lower our quality of sleep.

It will accelerate tissue repair and wound healing

It has been reported that Tour De France racers have successfully used Earthing Recovery Bags for tissue repair and recovery with amazing results. 

The Earthing Recovery Bag, which resembles a sleeping bag, cocoons the athletes in energy to provide healing properties. 

With this being said, if you want to speed up tissue repair, try exercising, meditating, or practicing yoga outdoors while barefoot. It’s an inexpensive way to incorporate grounding into your daily life and reap the benefits that these elite athletes have experienced.

These are just a few examples how grounding can improve your life.

Give it a try, see what it can do for you.

Crescent Moon Sugar Cookies

We purchased the Crescent Moon cookie cutter some time ago, so we are ready to bake.

Here's an quick and easy recipe.

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

 1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. 

Beat in egg and vanilla. 

Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. 

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. 

Cut with floured 3-inch crescent moon-shaped or round cookie cutter. 

Place on ungreased cookie sheet, place cutouts 1 inch apart. 

Re-roll dough and cut additional cookies.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. 

Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool.

Some bakers have concerns with the cookies not keeping shape...

Here are a few suggestions...

1. Baking powder can cause your cookies to spread. Try using half the baking powder your recipe calls for or omit it altogether. 
2. Measure your ingredients properly. 
3. Chill the Dough before Baking your Cookies. 
4. Re-rolling the Dough. 
5. Thickness Matters. 
6. Use parchment Paper or a Silpat baking mat.
7. Oven Temperature. Just because your oven says it is 325° doesn’t mean it is really 325º. If you have trouble with sugar cookies spreading when baked, you may want to purchase an oven thermometer to see what the temperature really is. If your cookies are baked in an oven that is too cool, the cookie dough won’t have time to set fast enough and it will make the sugar cookies spread.
8. A Warm or Hot Cookie Sheet.

Lughnsadh/Lammas - Almost Here

Lughnasadh/ Lammas is one of the four ancient Celtic Fire Festivals and it's the beginning of Autumn. It is the first harvest festival and the Celtic farmers would cut the first grains of the season and the families would bake loaves of bread.

In Irish mythology, the festival was said to have been started by Lugh, the sun god.

The festival became a tribal assembly where legal agreements were made, political problems were discussed and olympic-style sporting events  were held. It was also one of two festivals where hand-fastings traditionally took place.

Lughnasadh is a time to be grateful for the food on our table, remembering that the Summer days are coming to an end as we approach the Fall and Winter part of the year.

It is a time to start reaping what has been sown and celebrate making corn dollies, baking bread and having bonfires. 

The Pagan Kitchen celebrates this time to harmonize ourselves to the changing seasons.

Listening to Music Found to Lower Blood Pressure

Listening to half an hour of music each day may significantly lower your blood pressure, according to research reported from the American Society of Hypertension.

In the study, researchers found that people with mild hypertension (high blood pressure) who listened to classical, Celtic or Indian (raga) music for just 30 minutes a day for one month had significant reductions in their blood pressure.

“Listening to music is soothing and has often been associated with controlling patient-reported pain or anxiety and acutely reducing blood pressure,” study investigator Dr. Pietro A. Modesti, of the University of Florence in Italy, noted in a written statement from the meeting.

“But for the first time, today’s results clearly illustrate the impact daily music listening has on ambulatory blood pressure.”

Ambulatory blood pressure refers to readings taken repeatedly over the course of a day.

A total of 48 adults ages 45 to 70 who were taking medication to control mild hypertension took part in the study. Of these, 28 listened to 30 minutes of “rhythmically homogenous” classical, Celtic or raga music daily while practicing slow, controlled breathing exercises. 

The remaining 20 participants, serving as the control group, made no changes to their daily routine.

Blood pressure readings obtained one and four weeks later showed that systolic blood pressure - the top number in the blood pressure reading - dropped significantly in the music listeners. 

In contrast, the control group experienced only small, non-significant reductions in blood pressure.

“We are excited about the positive implications for both patients and physicians, who can now confidently explore music listening as a safe, effective, non-pharmacological treatment option or a complement to therapy,” Modesti said.

“Sadly, despite the global focus on prevention, it is predicted that 56 billion people worldwide will be hypertensive by 2025,” Modesti added. 

“In light of these devastating statistics, it is reassuring to consider that something as simple, easy and enjoyable as daily music listening combined with slow abdominal breathing, may help people naturally lower their blood pressure.”