Energy Gadgets

I’m not big into the energy world.  I understand there are countless electromagnetic influences surrounding us each minute but rarely are those the type of strategies I initially recommend with clients.  But because I’m in constant self experimentation and there’s no harm in these things, these are ‘3 of My Favorite Energy Gadgets that I Use on a Regular Basis but Actually Have No Idea if they Work.’

Red Light Laser

I was introduced to a red light laser by a client of mine that has reported great success with pain flare ups.  At the time I was going through some knee pain.  It wasn’t a joint issue but more of a tendonitis/Osgood Schlatter type pain.  I attribute it to poor squat mechanics while where a pair of gym shoes that were just too small.  This pain was at its height about a year ago.

It was during the Summer that I was introduced to this laser and honestly didn’t really use it that much.  To remedy my knee problem I got back to some basic mechanics, went without shoes during workouts for a period, and when lifting, did lighter weight with as full range of motion as possible.  This helped to correct some of the muscle imbalances and to get things firing in sequence again.  But I was still having some lingering pain.

Out comes the laser.  The past couple of months, I have been using it on the sight of pain for 10-15 minutes, 3-4x/week, especially after a squat intense workout.  And a year later, from when the pain was at its worse, 6 months after really altering mechanics, and a couple months after being consistent with the laser, my knee feels fantastic.  It will flare once in awhile I no longer hesitate to get into a full squat, under load, due to pain apprehension at the bottom of the squat.

But was it the laser?  Was it a time thing?  Was it the intermittent fasting and changing my supplement regime?  Was it the mechanics work?  This is why I include it in my energy gadgets that I have no idea if they actually work.  My boys just think it’s a red flash light I shine on my knee. And that’s about what it looks like to me.

If you’re wondering, it’s a red laser, producing 4.9 mW of coherent light energy at the red wavelength of 635 nm.  I don’t know if you can get these direct to consumer.  The company I purchased my laser from only sells directly to providers.

Earthing Body Band and Cord

I was given an earthing body band and cord from a favorite colleague of mine that uses it with many of her clients in her psychology practice.  The premise is that when we are connected to the earth by being barefoot, we are transmitting energy from the earth.  There’s a movement that states that part of our health ailments is that we are not connected with the earth like we once were.  By being connected, they mean outside, no shoes, and making contact with the ground.

From www.earthing.com

Just as the sun gives us warmth and vitamin D, the Earth underfoot gives us food and water, a surface to walk, sit, stand, play, and build on, and something you never, ever thought about—an eternal, natural, and gentle energy. Think of it perhaps as vitamin G—G for ground. What does that mean to you? Maybe the difference between feeling good and not so good, of having little or a lot of energy, or sleeping well or not so well. You can’t see the Earth’s energy but some people can feel it as a warm, tingling, and pleasant sensation when they are out walking barefoot along the water’s edge at the beach or on a stretch of dew-moistened grass.

My take on it is that if you have planned to take the time to walk on a beach at water’s edge or in a dew filled field, is it the fact that you’re touching the ground barefoot or is it that you are on a beach or walking through a field without a deadline?  Or is it that you’re barefoot, allowing all those 7,000 nerve endings in your feet to organize and coordinate terrain that’s not confined to a piece of cloth?  Or is it that it’s warm outside, allowing you the temperature comfort to take off your shoes?

I’ve yet to see any earthing proponent rave about walking barefoot through a Rocky Mountain/Front Range snowstorm.  3 minutes into the cold and my dogs are trying to pick their frozen paws off the ground.  They are trying to unearth.

But still, I use the band and ‘ground’ myself into an approved outlet.  I’ve done it barefoot, with shoes, standing, sitting, sleeping, on my leg, and my arm.  I feel no boost in energy yet I don’t feel I lack energy.  So I place this on my list of favorite energy gadgets that I have no idea if it actually works.

Blue Light Blockers

One of the newest biohacks out there is blocking blue light, which according to some material, makes ISIS look like your church nursery.  Most of my day is spent staring at a screen, a 2007 iMac screen (still going strong).  What’s the fuss about blue light?

Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).

I’ve never had a problem with sleep.  In fact, this may be one of my wife’s biggest frustrations about me.  I can sleep anywhere and no matter the stress load in our lives, sleep rarely suffers.  But I may not feel the effects of too much blue light exposure until I get older so why not mitigate it as much as possible while looking at a screen.

Are they helping me?  No idea.  I don’t have a problem with sleep.  I don’t feel my eyes are strained at the end of the day.  And it’s a struggle for me to stay up past 10 pm, so my circadian rhythms are firing consistently.  Is it going to hurt anything?  Not that I have seen. And the glasses I use only cost me about $20.

I have the GammaRay brand blue light blockers, purchased from Amazon.com.