What in the world is Earthing?
Earthing is an old practice that involves connecting your body, mind and spirit to the planet Earth we live and are part of. There is some current research that says earthing can help you balance your internal circuitry and restore a lost electrical charge by connecting with the Earth’s negative surface charge. According the Earthing Institute Earthing can help improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, reduce pain, and allow for deeper sleep.
Tough Earthing science is backed up by physics to explain how electrical charges from the earth can have positive effects on your body, we all know how it feels to be barefoot in the grass, the sand or even being inmersed in water – anything that allows your body to connect directly with the Earth.
Over time, people have had less and less interaction with Nature. Walking barefoot is a common practice in many cultures around the world. Today, we walk with our feet cushioned in shoes and sleep in beds. While life has gotten more comfortable, over the past 50 years chronic diseases, immune disorders and inflammation in the body have increased. Some research suggests that a lack of grounding could correlate with our decline in health.
This post comes with the intention to give you a few tips, and to tell you the benefits and how Earthing works.
"When the body potential is the same as the Earth's electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth's gigantic electric system."
How it works
Earthing focuses on realigning your electrical energy by reconnecting to the earth. There are about 21 peer-reviewed studies in the medical literature. These research supports earthing as an essential element for boosting your overall health and wellness. What this research is showing is that Earthing reduces inflammation and therefore facilitates the ability for our body’s to heal.
In one study, they suggest that there is an induced Voltage on a human body from the electrical environment. When the body is exposed to Earthing for a specific amount of time, its electrical potential becomes equal with the Earth’s electrical potential through a transfer of electrons from the Earth to the body. The Earth’s potential thus becomes the “working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.” (Feynman)
Benefits
Several studies also show that connecting your body with Earth’s electrons has many health benefits. According to the National Institutes of Health, earthing can improve sleep, decrease stress and improve well-being. The most recent scientific research has explored grounding for inflammation, cardiovascular disease, muscle damage, chronic pain, and mood.
Though these studies might be small and require further research, many health professionals believe that the benefits of earthing can be applied to improve conditions such as:
- Chronic fatigue. In one study, participants reported a decrease in their fatigue levels after four weeks of treatment with grounding mats.
- Chronic pain. Another study on grounding for exercise recovery found that those who used grounding patches reported lower pain levels.
- Anxiety and depression. In one small study, it was shown that even 1 hour of grounding therapy can significantly improve mood.
- Sleep disorders. That same study with grounding mats showed an improvement in sleep length and reduced sleep disturbances.
- Cardiovascular disease. Results of one treatment study found that long-term self-administered grounding therapy helped to reduce blood pressure levels in participants with hypertension.
How to do it
Walking barefoot
One of the easiest ways to ground yourself to the earth is to walk barefoot. I personally walk barefoot at home and in my yard.
Whether you decide to walk barefoot on grass, sand, or even mud, allowing your skin to touch the natural ground can provide you with grounding energy.
Lying on the ground
You can increase your skin-to-earth contact by lying on the ground. You can simply do it in the grass by the park or on the sand at the beach.
You may enjoy lying on your back, on your tummy or on your side…or a bit of all of them. Feeling the pull of the Earth with awareness and mindfulness is a very pleasant experience that we could all enjoy more often.
Submersing in water
According to british advocates for grounding, water may be used to ground in the same way the physical earth is used for grounding. And I couldn’t agree more with that! The experience of connection with the Water during a Watsu session can bring a unique sense of connection with the Earth.
They suggest simply wading in a clear lake or swimming in the ocean as a way to ground yourself. Putting your feet in a creek can feel very grounding as well. And of course, why not to book a Watsu session and add the benefits of bodywork to a Grounding session of 1 hour of floating in the water?
What’s next?
Try it!
Go outside to put your feet in the grass, close your eyes and enjoy the spring breeze, walk barefoot in the park, lie down on sand or swim in the river. These are all easy ways to naturally reconnect.
Just taking some time to connect to the Earth will provide benefits to your mental and physical health. That simple!
