Ground Yourself

Sometimes the simplest things in life bring us the greatest health benefits. When last did you kick off your shoes and walk around barefoot? Feeling the grass tickle your feet, while the sun hits your face just right?

Think about how good you feel when you’re walking on the beach, lying on the grass in a park, or lying on the ground, listening to the birds chirp away. What if it all has to do with your body connecting with the earth’s energy?

Grounding or earthing yourself is defined as putting your bare feet on any natural surface, whether it be sand, grass, or soil, and absorbing the earth’s energy. The idea of grounding might have seemed eccentric in the past, but today, science backs it up.

According to cardiologist, Dr Stephen Sinatra, by putting your bare feet on the ground, you’ll soak up electrons because the earth is negatively charged and our bodies are full of free radicals from air pollution, heavy metals, and trans fats. Dr Sinatra believes that the most primitive way of healing your body is by putting your feet on the ground.

This practice has been found to help reduce pain and improve your general mood. Grounding helps individuals ease pain, stress, depression and fatigue.

In a recent article published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, researchers found an impressive impact on a variety of health conditions such as:

• Sleep disturbances, including sleep apnea
• Chronic muscle and joint pain, and other types of pain
• Asthmatic and respiratory conditions
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Inflammation
• PMS
• Hypertension
• Energy levels
• Stress
• Immune system activity and response
• Heart rate variability
• Primary indicators of osteoporosis

Help your body achieve an optimal state of homeostasis by grounding yourself regularly. How often, you may ask? Researchers suggest at least 30 – 80 minutes of barefoot time each day is enough to reduce stress and relieve pain.

The thing is, we aren’t always able to ground ourselves because of cold winter weather or no access to earth, especially if you live in an apartment with no parks nearby. Fear not, you are able to earth yourself inside with a grounding or earthing pad. An earthing pad plugs into your wall socket and gains access to your home or office’s ground rod, earthing you when you put your bare feet on it.

This video sums earthing up perfectly: