Grounding Therapy
- Thomas P Seager, PhD
- Jul 19, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 29
Both safety and health benefit from electrical grounding in the Morozko ice bath
Summary
Independent measurements by Brian Hoyer of Shielded Healing confirm the water in the Morozko Ice Bath confers an electrical grounding (earthing) benefit when you plunge.
Correcting electrical imbalances in your body will promote circulation, reduce risk of blood clot, reduce inflammation, promote wound healing, and may boost mood.
Are you grounded?
Electromagnetic field (EMF) expert Brian Hoyer tested the electrical properties of the Morozko ice bath for Luke Storey and Ben Greenfield. As he explains in the video below, he discovered the Morozko has "amazing" grounding properties that
are beneficial for human health.
The fact that electric charge can build up in the human body should come as no surprise. Children still play the game of rubbing balloons on their hair to create static electricity. That charge causes their hair to fly out at weird, gravity-defying angles, while the charged balloon will stick to the wall and stay there as if by magic.
The balloon experiment is a demonstration of the fact that our bodies are capable of accumulating and storing electric charge. What might be surprising to learn is that electric charge is a important regulator of health in the human body. Being out of electric balance can cause strange distortions in our appearance and our health. To remedy the ills of living in a modern, industrialized world surrounded by stray electromagnetic fields, Ben Greenfield suggests:
Grounding the human body to the Earth uses the earth’s electrical potential and free electrons to maintain internal electrical stability, normalizing all of its self-regulating and self-healing systems. - Ben Greenfield
That is, although our bodies respond to electric fields, we are imperfect conductors incapable of correcting electrical imbalances without connecting to the Earth (i.e., grounding). Swimming in lakes, streams, the ocean, or any natural body of water will instantly ground your body. However, cold showers and baths in plastic or fiberglass tubs will not.
Benefits of grounding (earthing)
Scientific experiments in human conductivity support these claims. Measuring human voltages in grounded and ungrounded states, Chevalier et al. (2012) discovered that connecting our bodies to the unlimited supply of electrons in the earth has a multitude of health benefits, including:
improved blood flow,
reduced cortisol spikes,
delayed muscle soreness and reduced inflammation,
strengthened parasympathetic nervous system response,
improved heart rate variability (HRV).
Evidence shows that contact with the Earth—whether being outside barefoot or indoors connected to grounded conductive systems—may be a simple, natural, and yet profoundly effective environmental strategy against chronic stress, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, inflammation, pain, poor sleep, disturbed heart rate variability, hyper-coagulable blood, and many common health disorders, including cardiovascular disease. The research done to date supports the concept that grounding or earthing the human body may be an essential element in the health equation along with sunshine, clean air and water, nutritious food, and physical activity. - Chevalier et al. 2012.
The problem is that our high technology lifestyles have disconnected us from the Earth--both metaphorically and electrically. Without that connection, built-up, unreleased static charges create imbalances in our natural, imperfect conducting bodies. One of the most serious implications is that red blood cells tend to agglomerate, increasing blood viscosity and reducing circulation of blood through capillaries. Just like the charged balloon sticks to the wall, a charge buildup inside our blood vessels causes the red blood cells to stick to one another. For example, the co-Founder of Fountainhead Hair, who goes by @jessicagenetics online, photographed her own blood sample before and after grounding using her laboratory microscope. The pictures illustrate the disaggregation of her red blood cells, which allows them to flow more freely thru her microvasculature.
Grounding in Cold Water
All natural bodies of water are grounded, because they are in contact with the earth. Until very recently in human history, there was no such thing as cold water immersion without electrical connection to the ground.
That's important, because new research demonstrates that mitochondria function better when grounded (Giulivi & Kotz 2025). When grounded, ATP production goes up, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production goes down.
ROS aren't always bad. They are a natural consequence of hormetic stress. For example, both exercise and deliberate cold exposure will cause production of ROS by mitochondria. Those ROS signal mitobiogenesis, the production of new mitochondria during recovery, so that the body can better handle similar stressors in the future. However, when the production of ROS is too great, it can cause damage to mitochondrial DNA that takes longer to repair.
That's why Morozko employs a metal tub--so that it always connects you to ground during your cold plunge. The water in your Morozko is in constant electrical contact with the metal in the tub, and the tub is in constant electrical contact with the copper refrigeration coils, and the coils are in constant electrical contact with the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt (GFCI) that goes straight to the ground circuit in the electrical wiring of your home.
What that means is, when you plunge into your Morozko, you are bathing in the same unlimited pool of electrons that is available to you when you swim in the ocean or a mountain stream. Through copper wire, the Morozko brings the earth's electrons to you while you plunge.
Cold showers, cryotherapy chambers, and cold plunge tubs made of acrylic, fiberglass or plastic do not provide a grounding benefit, because they do not connect your body to the Earth. By contrast, the grounding properties of the Morozko provide an additional healing benefit that used to be obtainable only by swimming in natural waters. That's why we often say:
Morozko is the Next Best Thing to Nature.
When you can't get to the beach, or the mountain stream, or the frozen lake, Morozko will still bring the benefits of grounding to you.
References
Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Sokal K, Sokal P. Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth′ s surface electrons. Journal of environmental and public health. 2012;2012(1):291541.
Giulivi C, Kotz R. Earthing effects on mitochondrial function: ATP production and ROS generation. FEBS Open Bio. 2025 Jun 17.
About the Author
Thomas P Seager, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University. Seager co-founded the Morozko Forge ice bath company and is an expert in the use of ice baths for building metabolic and psychological resilience.
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