Earth-bathing: the 18th-century doctor who believed burying yourself in dirt could heal the body

Earth Bathing

In the late eighteenth century, Scottish physician James Graham (1745–1794) promoted an unconventional therapy he called “earth-bathing.” He claimed that burying the body in freshly dug soil could heal everything from nervous disorders to rheumatism. For Graham, the Earth was a “great, huge Animal” whose energy could renew human health when…