Do you ever feel completely drained after a long day of work sitting behind your computer? We spend hours behind our computers, next to our internet routers, with our hands on our wireless or laptop/keyboard, and cell phones close by. We wear our blue blocker glasses to protect our eyes, but there’s days where it seems like even the blue light blockers don’t stop the fatigue, headaches, and joint pain from setting in.
Personally, after years of working on my laptop, I started to notice pretty consistent joint pain and this pulsing sensation in my wrists and fingers. I had never attributed this too much until I started studying the impacts of electromagnetic radiation. It turns out, when we are near these electro-magnetic frequencies (EMFs), our own personal energy is depleted.
Let me share an example that can help you visualize this scenario. Imagine rubbing a balloon on your head and slowly pulling the balloon up and off. Notice the strands of hair rise up, stuck to the balloon and moving along with the balloon everywhere the balloon moves. The frazzled, frayed, “fly-aways” of hair are what electric fields look like if you could see them. Now, understand that we are balloons and our electronic devices are a head of hair. Everytime we walk past them, the electric fields are looking for something to connect to so they latch onto our bodies, just like the fly-away hair latches onto the balloon. This in turn, depletes us of our energy leaving us feeling completely drained and causes damage to our DNA.
Fortunately, we can make some small shifts to our office environment to prevent this type of radiation from causing long-term damage. I’m currently in the process of learning how to evaluate the levels of EMF in an office environment, but even without knowing the actual levels you’re dealing with, there’s some best practice quick fixes you can make to greatly improve your odds.
Confirm Your Computer is Plugged into a 3-Prong Grounding Plug
Are you working off of a laptop? These emit a very high level of “Electric Fields” also known as “EF.” These types of fields look like the hairs mentioned in the visualization above. Electric Fields come off of your electrical devices and create fly-aways that latch onto us, but one easy way to tame these fly away electric fields is to make sure your laptop charger has a 3-prong outlet plug, as opposed to just two flat prongs. Using a charger with a grounding pin will allow for the fly-away electric fields to return on the path of least resistance back to the earth. Please keep in mind that this only works as long as you have a working ground system in your home. You can test this using an inexpensive test plug from Amazon (just search “AC outlet ground tester”). Below is an image of our AC outlets and which holes correlate with which part of the system.
Consider Using a Grounding Mat/Indoor Earthing Pad at Your Feet
Now that we have a better understanding of a ground connection, you might consider getting an earthing pad to put at the foot of your desk or at your wrists on your desk. A working ground connection is required in order for this to work as well, but companies like earthing.com give you a free AC outlet ground tester with the purchase of your mat. Similarly to how the earth connection tames the fly away electric fields, the grounding mat also allows our own energy to connect back to the earth, all from the comfort of your home. The earth is like a giant battery and basically everything electric is plugged into it somehow (through our electrical systems which are grounded). When we stand barefoot and connect our own skin to the earth, we are charging as well. Many people have reported receiving beautiful benefits from connecting to the earth’s energy such as healing chronic pain, reduced stress, as well as better sleep and mood.
Hardwire Your Computer to Your Router
Invest in a router that allows you to turn off the wifi signal and plug into the router directly. Our wireless router puts off a type of EMF we call “Radio Frequency” also known as an “RF” signal. These types of signals are like small invisible pings that happen every few seconds. These devices are constantly searching for any wireless device that’s connected to it. Unfortunately, for humans, being exposed to these constant pings is one of the worst types of exposure we can have to EMF. The more we can limit this exposure from cell phones and wifi when we have control over it, the better.
Get Wired
This one is going to be hard for people, at least it was for me, because I hate the mess that wires create, however using a wired mouse and keyboard has been a game changer for me. After switching to both wired keyboard and mouse I noticed my joints no longer hurt after long hours on my computer. Going wired allows you to turn off the bluetooth setting on your computer which is one less form of radiation hitting you while you work. There are some solutions out there that help alleviate the mess that wires can create, so depending on your setup you might be able to find something that works well for you and helps the mess disappear.
Invest in a Quality Desk
Consider opting for a desk and chair without metal legs. Metal can act as a conductor and amplify the electric and magnetic fields in the room. Going with a solid wood desk with a Zero VOC sealer is a good clean option. If you’re not selecting solid wood avoid desks that use particleboard and plywood since they contain glues that will offgas. Some glues might even contain urea-formaldehyde which will offgas for the life of the product. Avoiding toxic chemicals around your workspace is crucial to creating a healthy workplace.
Given the amount of time we spend in our work spaces, it’s no wonder we feel so terrible after a long day of work! Making these simple shifts can greatly improve how we feel after a long day. When thinking about creating a healthy home, the bedroom and the office are the two places the majority of people spend most of their time, which is why I feel like they are the most important rooms to start revamping into healthier spaces.
