The term “grounded” may send a shudder through your spine as you remember getting in trouble as a kid, but for an adult being grounded is actually a good thing! Think of the Earth like a gigantic battery that contains a natural, subtle electrical charge. When you are electrically grounded, you feel centered, strong, solid, balanced, at ease, less tense, and much less stressed. Does this sound like what you'd like to feel? Keep reading to learn more!
What is being Grounded?
With the exception of humans living in industrialized societies, like us, all living things on our planet are connected to the ground’s electric energy. You probably rarely go barefoot when you walk around outside. People also don’t sleep on the ground anymore. Unlike cultures have done throughout history, you sleep on a premium, handcrafted luxury mattress. You live, drive, walk, and work disconnected from the ground, maybe even far above the ground if you live in a high-rise condo or work in a giant building downtown.
The truth is, you’re disconnected and ungrounded. You are not in touch with the Earth in a way that is truly beneficial to you, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Scientific research over more than a decade has told us that your body can be protected and helped when you electrically reconnect to the Earth. Grounding, also called earthing, is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth.
Why Should You Work on Grounding?
If you’re sleeping on a high-quality mattress but still struggling to feel refreshed each morning, you should look into your options to set your mind right. There’s currently limited research on the benefits of grounding. However, people have reported improvement for conditions such as chronic fatigue, chronic pain, Anxiety, Depression, and sleep disorders.
In a study done on massage therapists, many reported a decrease in their fatigue levels after four weeks of treatment with grounding mats. Before grounding therapy, physical and emotional stress and pain were common side effects of their physically demanding jobs. After the grounding therapy, however, their pain levels, stress, depression, and fatigue were all reduced. The same massage therapists also experienced an improvement in sleep length and reduced sleep disturbances with grounding therapy. In one small study, it was shown that even one hour of grounding therapy can significantly improve mood. More and larger research still needs to be done, but these findings are very exciting! Clearly, there is something to this that makes it worth looking into.
Studies tell us that when you are grounded, the diurnal rhythm of the stress hormone, Cortisol, begins to normalize. Cortisol is connected to your body’s stress response and helps control blood sugar levels, regulates metabolism, helps reduce inflammation, and assists with memory formulation. In addition to a normalization of the Cortisol rhythm, participants in this same study also slept better and woke up feeling more refreshed. That’s wonderful news!
How to be Grounded
Now that you see how beneficial it is to make grounding a focus in your life, the only thing left to do is decide on the best method to do it! It’s actually very easy.
#1 Walking barefoot
One of the easiest ways to ground yourself to the Earth is to walk barefoot. Have you ever been outside on a warm summer day and thought about how great it would be run barefoot in the fresh grass? Do it! Whether you walk on grass, sand, or mud, allowing your skin to touch the natural ground provides you with grounding energy. There’s just something you miss out on when your rubber soles are in the way.
#2 Submerging yourself in water
We’ve spoken before about the mental and physical benefits of “blue space.” According to experts, water can be used to ground in the same way the physical earth is used.They suggest wading in a clear lake or swimming in the ocean as a way to ground yourself.
#3 Lying on the ground
As you’re walking around, you may feel the urge to actually lie down. Lie down on a bed of grass and close your eyes. Listen to the sounds around. Smell the air. When you’re outside, you can easily ground yourself by allowing the bottoms of your feet, palms of your hands, or entire body to touch the earth. Lying on the ground increases the amount of skin-to-ground connections, plus it is incredibly relaxing.
While the research on grounding for your health and well-being is relatively new, the practice is timeless. Past societies went barefoot on a regular basis and were far more connected with the Earth than we are. The good news is that you have the potential to reconnect! Make plans to go barefoot for a half-hour or so outside and see what a difference that makes on your fatigue or stress level. Walk in the sand, lay in the cool grass, or swim in the sea. These are all easy ways to naturally reconnect!
