Reconnect with Nature: The Healing Power of Grounding"
sometimes the best way to recharge is by simply reconnecting with the earth beneath our feet.
When I was in college, I had a friend whose mom would go outside to “ground” for a few minutes every day. Honestly, I thought she was nuts…
However, as I’ve been studying deeper into the effects of the constant radiation we are exposed to, grounding has started to make a lot more sense and keeps appearing as a beneficial practice.
A 2015 study published in the Journal of Inflammation Research shows that grounding appears to improve sleep, reduce stress and pain, increase heart rate variability (we’ll talk more about this soon), reduce blood viscosity (think spikeopathy here, as this was published pre-covid, so likely trustworthy), normalize day-night cortisol rhythm, speed wound healing, and shift the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic (fight or flight) towards parasympathetic 9rest and digest) activation.
Here is the conclusion from the study: “Accumulating experiences and research on earthing, or grounding, point to the emergence of a simple, natural, and accessible health strategy against chronic inflammation, warranting the serious attention of clinicians and researchers. The living matrix (or ground regulation or tissue tensegrity-matrix system), the very fabric of the body, appears to serve as one of our primary antioxidant defense systems. As this report explains, it is a system requiring occasional recharging by conductive contact with the Earth’s surface – the”battery” for all planetary life – to be optimally effective.“
Additionally, there is copious anecdotal evidence that grounding improves anxiety, sleep, mood, immunity, exercise recovery, thyroid function, and it seems to offer protection from EMFs.
Here is a link to the original study:
My current recommendations are:
- go outside at sunrise or sunset every day (because sun gazing at sunrise and sunset are safe and quite good for your eyes and vision).
- Stand barefooted or even lie down in the grass. You can buy all sorts of grounding supplies, socks, mats, rods, etc.,but I haven’t gotten there yet. I avoid spots that my dogs frequent,
- make myself comfortable, gaze at the gorgeous sky God has given us, and pray.
- Finally, Aim for twenty minutes daily.
To finalize: Because my time is so limited, I combine the 2024 practice of multitasking with the ancient practices of grounding and sungazing, along with prayer. I hope someday to not have to multitask, but for now, it’s what I can do.
