26 Mar Grounding For Your Health
This article was originally written by Karen Shackelford.
Have you ever noticed how good it feels to go outside and walk on the grass or on the beach with the sand between your toes? I am convinced that we all should be walking in the grass, dirt and sand on a regular basis. It’s called grounding or earthing and it provides many health benefits.
I searched out Dr. Mercola on this one. Here’s what he had to say:
“It is known that the Earth maintains a negative electrical potential on its surface. When you are in direct contact with the ground (walking, sitting, or laying down on the earth’s surface) the earth’s electrons are conducted to your body, bringing it to the same electrical potential as the earth. Living in direct contact with the earth grounds your body, inducing favorable physiological and electrophysiological changes that promote optimum health.
There is an emerging science documenting how conductive contact with the Earth, which is also known as Earthing or Grounding, is highly beneficial to your health and completely safe. Earthing appears to minimize the consequences of exposure to potentially disruptive fields like “electromagnetic pollution” or “dirty electricity.”
Some of the recent evidence supporting this approach involves multiple studies documenting Earthing’s improvement in blood viscosity, heart rate variability, inflammation, cortisol dynamics, sleep, autonomic nervous system (ANS) balance, and reduced effects of stress.”
You may not have a sandy beach near you, so another way to reap the benefits of getting “unmagnetized” is to get in your grass. You can lay in it, walk in it, stand in it, or even put your feet in it while sitting in a lawn chair.
I found this to be interesting in the article, Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth’s Surface Electrons from the Journal of Environmental and Public Health:
“Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from the primordial flow of Earth’s electrons. For example, since the 1960s, we have increasingly worn insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes, instead of the traditional leather fashioned from hides. Rossi has lamented that the use of insulating materials in post-World War II shoes has separated us from the Earth’s energy field. Obviously, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past.
During recent decades, chronic illness, immune disorders, and inflammatory diseases have increased dramatically, and some researchers have cited environmental factors as the cause. However, the possibility of modern disconnection with the Earth’s surface as a cause has not been considered. Much of the research reviewed in this paper points in that direction.
In the late 19th century, a back-to-nature movement in Germany claimed many health benefits from being barefoot outdoors, even in cold weather. In the 1920s, White, a medical doctor, investigated the practice of sleeping grounded after being informed by some individuals that they could not sleep properly “unless they were on the ground or connected to the ground in some way,” such as with copper wires attached to grounded-to-Earth water, gas, or radiator pipes. He reported improved sleeping using these techniques. However, these ideas never caught on in mainstream society.”
Grounding seems to be working for me. It costs nothing, it’s relaxing and I’m getting better sleep. Here are studies that review the many health benefits of grounding, including better sleep, less pain, increased sense of well-being, improved glucose regulation, improved immune response, and less inflammation.
Get into a routine of going outside barefooted in the grass, dirt or sand (concrete doesn’t work) and see what happens. Plus, you’ll be spending time outside in fresh air getting some Vitamin D.
How do you get grounded? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Mary Caire MD empowers the world to create a culture of optimized health guided by DNA and epigenetics.