What is Earthing?
Earthing is a concept based on a discovery that connecting to the bare earth is foundational to our health.
Earthing is putting our bodies in direct contact with the bare earth. This can be done by walking or sitting barefoot or lying on the ground. Your body must be in contact with the ground, water or other conductive surfaces that connect to the ground.
Why Would You Lie On the Ground?
Have you ever noticed how well you sleep after a walk on the beach?
I have trouble sleeping on expensive beds but can sleep like a baby lying on a towel in the sand on the beach, and there is a good reason why!
In 2012 a study was published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health that suggested that there is a medical reason for that refreshing feeling we get from walking on the beach.
How Does Earthing Work?
The concept of earthing rest on this idea.
The earth is an electrical planet and the ground carries a mild negative charge.
The human body is also electrical and many functions of the body use electrical impulses to work such as our hearts, brains, and nervous systems.
Our bodies naturally have a positive charge and over time that positive charge builds up.
In this modern age we live in, we are separated from the earth by our rubber or plastic shoes, laminates, vinyl, and asphalt. Many of us rarely, if ever touch the bare ground.
Studies show that when we make direct contact with the surface of the earth we receive a charge that makes us feel better. The negative charge from the earth discharges some of the built-up positive charge in our bodies and returns it to a more neutral state.
So Why Does Any of this Matter?
It is known that inflammation is the underlying culprit of most health disorders, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, arthritis, and even Alzheimer’s and restoring our bodies to a more neutral state reduces inflammation.
In addition to reducing inflammation earthing may also be beneficial in
- reducing chronic pain
- lowering stress by reducing stress hormones
- improving sleep
- relieving headaches
- increasing energy
- normalizing biological rhythms including circadian rhythm
- normalizing blood pressure
- shortens recovering time from athletic activity
More research in this area is needed but studies so far have shown stunning results.
A walk on the beach with the sand between your toes really will make you feel better, but the beach is not the only place that you can get in on some ground therapy.
Sitting in your yard, barefoot for 30-45 minutes a day will work as well, but if the sea is calling you, well….we can just go with that!
How about you? Can you think of a better reason to take that much-needed trip to the beach? I can’t!
Links to Studies on Earthing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28987038
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18047442
For Further Reading:
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