Winter flow 11: Practical steps for all five forces
In our last blog, you discovered why grounding matters and how the Earth feeds you electrons.
Today, I'm going to tell you about the morning I woke up and everything was different.
The Morning Everything Changed
It's February 12th, 2020, my third winter on the farm.
I open my eyes at 6:47 AM.
I feel... electric.
Not caffeinated. Not forced. Not even excited.
Just... alive in a way I've never felt before.
My mind is clear. Crystal clear.
My body feels light. Energized.
Like every cell is humming at the right frequency.
I lie there for a moment, trying to understand what's happening.
And then it hits me.
All five forces are aligned.
For the first time since I arrived on this farm, all five are working together, not as separate practices I'm doing, but as one integrated system.
Light. Darkness. Cold. Food. Earth.
The Day That Followed
I get out of bed and I can feel the floor is cold. Wood planks, unheated bedroom.
I don't cringe. I don't rush to put on socks. I just... feel it.
Force #1: Cold
I step outside barefoot. There is Snow on the ground and it's -12°C.
Sky still dark, but the horizon is starting to glow.
Force #2: Earth
My feet on the frozen ground and electrons flowing up.
The combination—grounding + cold—feels like I'm plugging into a power source I didn't know existed.
I stand there, waiting.
Force #3: Light
7:34 AM. The sun breaks the horizon.
First light hits my face.
I feel my body respond immediately.
Cortisol rising. Wakefulness flooding in.
My circadian clock setting for the next 24 hours.
I stay outside for another 30 minutes.
Walk around. Move. Breathe.
When I come back inside, I make breakfast.
Force #4: Food
Root vegetables from storage. Eggs from the chickens. Butter from grass-fed cows.
Everything I'm eating grew here, in winter and under winter light.
My gut reading: "Winter. Low carbs. Fat-burning mode."
My eyes reading: "Winter. Short days. Low UV."
The signals match.
I eat. I feel satisfied. Deeply satisfied.
That evening, the sun sets at 5:23 PM.
Force #5: Darkness
Hunt lights the fire and I light candles.
No overhead lights. No screens. No LEDs.
Just fire. Just darkness.
My body starts producing melatonin immediately.
I can feel it. That gentle, natural tiredness.
By 8:00 PM, I'm in bed.
Bedroom cold. Pitch black. Grounded (my bed sits on a grounding sheet that is connected to a rod to goes deep into the earth).
I fall asleep in minutes and I sleep for 9.5 hours. Deep restful rejuvenative sleep
And I wake the next morning at 5:31 AM.
The same way.
Electric. Alive. Clear.
GOLDEN NUGGET: The five forces aren't separate practices you add to your life. They're one integrated system. When they align and tell your body the same story, you don't feel like you're "doing health." You feel like you're finally living the way you were designed to live.
What I Realized That Morning
Sitting at the kitchen table with my tea, I grabbed my journal.
I needed to understand what just happened.
For two years, I'd been working with these forces individually.
Morning light. Check.
Evening darkness. Check.
Cold exposure. Check.
Seasonal food. Check.
Grounding. Check.
But this morning was different.
They weren't five separate things anymore.
They were one system.
And when all five aligned, something remarkable happened:
1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 didn't equal 5.
It equaled exponential.
Each force amplified the others.
- Morning light set my circadian clock → which made darkness more effective at night.
- Darkness protected my melatonin → which made cold exposure easier (better sleep = better resilience).
- Cold activated my mitochondria → which made my circadian rhythm stronger and helped me be out at morning sunblight
- Grounding improved my circulation → which made cold exposure easier (better blood flow = better thermogenesis).
- Seasonal food aligned my gut → which supported everything else (no conflicting signals).
They weren't separate.
They were a web.
Touch one, and you activate all five.
The Discovery I Almost Missed
But here's what I almost didn't notice.
Three nights earlier, I'd made one small change.
I turned off the WiFi router before bed.
I'd been reading about electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and how they interfere with your body's electrical system.
WiFi. Bluetooth. Cell signals.
All creating invisible noise.
I was skeptical.
But I figured: "What do I have to lose? I'll try it for one night."
That first night, I slept differently.
Deeper. More still.
The second night, same thing.
The third night? That's when I woke up feeling electric
The Invisible Assault
Let me explain what I learned.
Your body is an electrical system.
Every nerve signal, heartbeat, and thought is electrical
And electricity needs a clean environment to function properly.
But modern life floods you with electromagnetic noise:
- WiFi routers broadcasting 24/7
- Bluetooth devices (headphones, speakers, watches)
- Cell phones constantly searching for signal
- Smart meters pulsing data
- Laptops and tablets generating fields when plugged in
All of this creates what's called dirty electricity: chaotic, artificial electromagnetic frequencies that your body was never designed to handle.
And here's the problem:
EMFs create excessive positive charge in your body.
Remember from Blog 10?
Grounding works because the Earth is rich in negative electrons which harmonize the excess inflammatory positive charge in the body
Electrons flow from Earth into you to restore balance.
But if EMFs are constantly adding positive charge, you're fighting an uphill battle.
It's like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
Grounding gives you electrons.
EMFs drain them immediately.
What EMFs Actually Do to Your Body
The research on this is alarming.
Mitochondrial damage:
EMFs increase oxidative stress in mitochondria and dehydrates the water at a cellular level. Remember from Blog 5 how your mitochondria need to stay close together (within angstroms) to produce energy efficiently? EMFs disrupt the structured water around them, pulling them apart.
Blood clumping:
A 2013 study showed that EMF exposure causes red blood cells to clump together (called rouleaux formation). This reduces circulation which is the exact opposite of what grounding does.
Nervous system activation:
EMFs trigger your sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight). You feel "wired but tired." Your body can't shift into rest-and-digest mode.
Dr. Martin Pall at Washington State University discovered the mechanism:
EMFs activate voltage-gated calcium channels in your cells, causing massive calcium influx. This triggers:
- Oxidative stress
- DNA damage
- Hormone disruption
- Neurological effects
In other words, EMFs are the opposite of grounding.
Grounding restores electrical balance.
EMFs destroy it.
Why I Didn't Notice Until Now
Here's what's insidious about EMFs:
You can't see them. You can't smell them. You can't feel them directly.
But your body feels them.
Brain fog. Insomnia. Anxiety. Fatigue. Headaches. Heart palpitations.
Most people blame stress. Or aging. Or not eating well enough.
But what if it's just... noise?
Electromagnetic noise your body can't filter out.
I didn't notice until I turned off the WiFi because I'd been living in it for so long.
It's like the frog in the pot.
You know the story: put a frog in boiling water, it jumps out immediately.
But put a frog in cool water and slowly heat it?
The frog doesn't notice.
The temperature rises so gradually,one degree at a time, that the frog never perceives the danger.
By the time the water is boiling, it's too late.
That's what happened with EMFs.
In the 2000s, we had maybe one WiFi router in the house.
Then two. Then five.
Then smartphones. Then Bluetooth speakers. Then smartwatches. Then smart TVs. Then smart thermostats.
Each addition felt small. Harmless. Convenient.
But the electromagnetic load kept rising.
One degree at a time.
And we didn't notice because we were already in the pot.
But the moment I turned off the WiFi: the moment I removed even one source of that constant heat, my body responded instantly.
Like jumping out of boiling water into cool, clear air.
Finally, I could breathe.
GOLDEN NUGGET: Modern life doesn't just disconnect you from nature's five forces. It actively interferes with them. EMFs aren't neutral. They're active disruption, flooding your body with signals it was never designed to handle, draining the electrons you need, and sabotaging every attempt you make to align with nature.
9 Practical Steps to Reconnect This Winter
The good news? You can restore this connection. It takes intention, but it's not complicated.
1. Start your day grounded. Step outside barefoot in the morning, even if just for a few minutes. Yes, even in winter. The cold ground against your feet is medicine. Touch grass, soil, stone and rock. Let the electrons flow.
2. Touch trees. Trees are grounded through their root systems. When you touch a tree trunk, you're connecting to that same Earth energy.
3. Ground your winter shoes. Look into grounding shoe kits that let you add conductive elements to your footwear. Earth Runners makes excellent DIY kits. Or find shoes with leather soles instead of rubber. Click here to get 10% discount on earth runners.
4. Use grounding tools indoors. Grounding mats, grounding sheets, grounding pads—these connect to your home's grounding system (through the ground port of electrical outlets) and let you stay grounded while you sleep, work, or relax.
5. End your day grounded. Step outside barefoot before bed. The Earth's ionosphere is calmer at night and this information flows into your nervous system. Your body is designed to receive this signal as part of preparing for sleep.
6. Create a digital detox zone at night. Turn off your WiFi router before bed. Put your phone on airplane mode. Give your body a break from the electromagnetic noise so it can actually hear the Earth's signal.
7. Avoid Bluetooth when possible. Those wireless earbuds? They're broadcasting EMFs directly into your head. Consider switching to EMF-free air tube earphones for calls and music. (We carry these at VivaRays, by the way.)
8. Be smart about charging. Don't sleep with your phone charging next to your head. Don't work with your laptop plugged in on your lap. Be aware of the electrical fields these devices create.
9. Protect your eyes from artificial light. This might seem like a different topic, but it's all connected. Artificial light at night creates signals that conflict with your circadian rhythm, just like EMFs. Use our 3-in-1 circadian lenses.
Daytime Lenses: Are your eyes burning when you're sitting in front of screens or under artificial lights during the day? That's your body telling you something's wrong. The daytime lenses filter out the harshest frequencies while letting in the light you need so you can work indoors without frying your eyes or confusing your circadian rhythm.
Evening Lenses: Want to wake up feeling refreshed and energized? It starts the night before. After sunset, put on your evening lenses to protect yourself from artificial light that's telling your brain it's still daytime. This protects your melatonin production: the very signal your body needs to know it's winter and time to activate deep rest and repair.
Nighttime Lenses: Put these on 30 minutes to an hour before bed. This is your final signal to your body: "The day is truly over. It's safe to wind down completely." These block the frequencies that suppress melatonin most aggressively, ensuring your body gets the long, dark signal it's expecting in winter.
Full Circle: From Beirut to Canada
Let me take you back.
January 2014. Beirut.
I'm lying in a basement. Curtains drawn. 2 PM.
I haven't been outside in three days.
Let's map the five forces:
- Light: Zero. I'm avoiding the sun.
- Darkness: Destroyed. Scrolling my phone until 3 AM under bright ceiling lights.
- Cold: Avoided. Heater cranked to 28°C even when it's 10°C outside.
- Food: Random. Cereal at 11 PM. Processed. Imported. Zero seasonal alignment.
- Earth: Never. I haven't touched the ground in months. Rubber shoes. Concrete. Tenth floor apartment.
Result?
Depression. Chronic fatigue. Gaining weight. Can't sleep. Brain fog. Hopeless.
February 2020. Canada.
I'm standing barefoot in the snow at sunrise.
Let's map the five forces:
- Light: Aligned. Outside at sunrise. Midday UV when possible.
- Darkness: Protected. Fire and candles after sunset. Nighttime Lenses. Pitch black bedroom.
- Cold: Embraced. Morning cold exposure. Cool bedroom. Working with winter instead of fighting it.
- Food: Seasonal. Root vegetables from storage. Grass-fed meat. Local eggs. Everything winter-aligned.
- Earth: Connected. Barefoot daily.Grounding sheet on bed.
Result?
Energized. Lean. Sleeping 8-9 hours. Waking naturally. Clear mind. Motivated. Alive.
Same human.
Different environment.
Not supplements. Not medication. Not willpower.
Just alignment.
GOLDEN NUGGET: You're not depressed because of a serotonin deficiency. You're not tired because of an energy deficiency. You're not gaining weight because of a willpower deficiency. You're suffering because you're disconnected: from light, from darkness, from cold, from seasonal food, from the Earth itself.
Reconnect, and everything changes.
The Invitation
We've reached the end of our journey together.
Eleven blogs. Five forces. One integrated system.
And now you know what I learned on that farm:
Winter is not a season to endure.
It's a season designed for your deepest healing.
The darkness isn't your enemy. It's your medicine.
The cold isn't punishment. It's activation.
The scarcity of light isn't deprivation. It's restoration.
Your ancestors knew this.
They didn't have heated homes or artificial lights or tropical fruits in December.
They had winter. Real winter.
And they didn't just survive it.
They thrived.
That wisdom lives in every cell of your body.
Waiting to be remembered.
So step outside.
Feel the cold air on your skin.
Watch the sun rise over the horizon.
Let your feet touch the Earth.
Eat food that matches the season.
Protect your nights.
Turn off the WiFi.
Trust your body.
Trust the Earth.
Trust the rhythm.
You were made for this.
And when you align with these forces: when light, darkness, cold, food, and Earth all tell your body the same story, you won't just survive winter.
You'll become the most vibrant version of yourself you've ever been.
That's what coming home feels like.
✨ GOLDEN NUGGET: You are not meant to drag yourself through winter, counting down to spring. You are meant to thrive. To be energized. To sleep deeply. To burn bright even in the darkest months. You are the light of the world. And the world needs you shining brightly, especially in winter.
The Complete Winter Flow Series
Thank you for journeying through all eleven blogs with us. Here's the complete series:
- Blog 1: Rediscovering Winter
- Blog 2: Animal Resilience
- Blog 3: Light Part 1
- Blog 4: Darkness
- Blog 5: Cold Part 1
- Blog 6: Cold Part 2
- Blog 7: Light, Cold & Weight
- Blog 8: Food Is Light
- Blog 9: Seasonal Eating
- Blog 10: Vitamin 'G'
- Blog 11: The Five Forces United (You Are Here)
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