Connecting The Human Body To The Earth’s Electrons – Grounding

There are a number of benefits of being outside.  There may be even more benefits to connecting to the Earth directly.  This is called grounding, or earthing.  Grounding is when you do activities that reconnect you to the electric connection with the Earth.  This can be as easy as taking your shoes off and walking around barefoot.  The thought behind it is you are connecting to the negative electrical charge of the Earth helping to balance out your own charge.  

There may be a lot of benefits to grounding.  There is little research of this though to know what truly the benefits are or how much time you truly need to spend grounding to get benefits.  Some research has been done but using grounding pads indoors.  It is hard to do experiments outside to keep all the elements equal for all research subjects.  Grounding pads mimic the Earth’s electrical charge.  Using this method allows you to have more time to do consistent daily grounding instead of having to have perfect conditions outside.  

Health Benefits

Grounding can have a few benefits on your health.  It can help with inflammation, cardiovascular disease, muscle damage, chronic pain, mood, stress, improves blood flow, or can improve sleep. 

Other benefits could be helping to balance your circadian rhythms.  The circadian rhythm helps regulate your day and night cycle, regulate body temperature, help regulate hormone secretion, digestion, and even your blood pressure. 

Grounding may be suggested for a patient for a therapeutic technique to help manage stress or help calm the body.  The Earth’s electrical charge could play a role similar to antioxidants.  Antioxidants are usually found in healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables.   

How To Ground

 

There are lots of ways to participate in grounding.  It doesn’t have to just be barefoot walks in the grass.  You can have barefoot walks on the soil, sand, gravel, or woods. 

You could also just sit in the grass leaning up against a tree. 

Other options could be swimming in an ocean, lake, or any natural body of water. 

If you aren’t feeling like you want a workout with your grounding you can even just lay on the ground as long as you are having body contact with the Earth. 

You can wear natural fibers such as cotton or wool and this will not stop the grounding affects to stop.  This is a good thing in case you want to lay on a blanket or wear socks if you are concerned about the hygiene of being barefoot.  Or making a section of your yard pet free. 

Another thing you can do is gardening without gloves.  Digging in the soil can give you the same connection to the electrical charge of the Earth as walking around barefoot. 

If you aren’t in an area that is easily accessible to be outside daily you can always look into grounding mats, sheets, blankets, socks, bands, or patches.  The grounding mats, sheets and blankets mimic the negative electrical charge of the Earth and allow you to have easier access to them on a daily basis.  You will want to make sure when using a grounding pad or another product like that to be weary of electrocution. 

Another option if you aren’t keen to be outside you can use a metal rod that is outside buried in the ground that then you are attached to.  This can be dangerous though also causing a fear of electrocution. 

Make sure when using any of these options that you know how to use them effectively.  Some people say you should start with at least thirty minutes a day of grounding and work your way up, but there is no science behind how much you should ground a day.  

Takeaway

There is no lie that being outside can help your emotional health and soaking in the natural Vitamin D from the sun is wonderful for your body.  If the Earth will give us all these other benefits of reconnecting to it just by taking our shoes off grounding could become a normal addition to a health routine to anyone. 

There have been small studies though showing that some grounding has helped people with their inflammation, mood, and pain.  There isn’t a lot of research backing up grounding but some people think very highly about reconnecting with the Earth and allowing your body to reconnect with the electrical current of the Earth.   

Many functional doctors, or naturopaths will use this technique in therapy or part of treatment if you have a chronic disease or problems with inflammation or pain.  This can be an easy thing for people to add to help their health that isn’t a crazy diet or pills to help their bodies.