Disconnected from the Earth

How much time do you spend in a day directly touching the Earth? Probably like most of us you may not have given it a thought. Your bare feet with their rich network of nerve endings rarely touch the ground these days as we all wear insulating, synthetic soled shoes and live in insulating houses. The Earth itself is the original anti-inflammatory and has natural frequencies, which have a healing energy of benefit to humans. When you experience inflammation sickness and pain in your body this can be from electron deficiency and lack of ‘grounding’ to the Earth.

What is ‘Earthing’ or ‘Grounding’ ?

There is an abundance of ‘free electrons’ that are present on the Earth’s surface, which give it a natural, negative charge. Maintaining contact with the ground through ‘Earthing’ or ‘Grounding’ (both terms interchangeable), allows your body to naturally receive and become charged with these electrons. As your body is predominantly water it is a good conductor like the Earth. When ‘grounded’ you absorb these electrons, which in turn reduces electrical imbalances & deficiencies in the body and the oxidative free radicals involved in chronic inflammation & multiple diseases. The body’s natural electrical state is restored. This is similar to the common practice in the electrical world of grounding, where electrical equipment and appliances are connected to the Earth to protect against shocks, shorts and interference. Damp ground also enhances conductivity when ‘Earthing’.

How to be ‘Grounded’ more often outside

• Spend time outside with no shoes and socks on with your bare feet/ skin touching the earth (30 minutes is optimal to feel some results but less is still better than nothing)
• Go for a walk or run with bare feet
• Sit outside and read a book/ listen to music with your bare feet on the ground
• Walk barefoot on the sand on the beach
• Go surfing (being in the water is still ‘grounding’)
• Swim in the ocean or freshwater (saltwater is more rich in minerals and conductive than freshwater)
• Do the gardening with bare feet and/or no gloves
• After a flight, find a patch of grass and stand bare foot for 15 minutes to reduce jetlag and recalibrate your body’s time-clock

 Barefoot Substitutes

Sometimes due to weather conditions or life you aren’t able to be outside and bare foot to ‘ground’ yourself. There have been a variety of indoor conductive systems developed in recent years to deal with this. These prodcuts are connected by a wire to a ground rod placed directly in the Earth or plugged in the ground port of a grounded electrical outlet. They can be utilised during sleep, work and relaxing indoors. They work to provide a connection to the earth’s natural energy to the body when you are indoors.

 How to be ‘Grounded’ more often inside

• Use an ‘Earthing Mat’ at your computer where you can have bare feet touching the mat or use it where your keyboard & mouse are with bare skin from your arms and hands.
• Sleep ‘Grounded’ by using ‘Earthing Sheets’ and/or ‘Earthing Pillowcases’ (great option to get 8 hours contact)
• Use a ‘Grounded’ yoga mat
• Use ‘Grounded’ shoes
• Use a ‘Grounded’ pad in the seat of your car

If you’d like to learn more about Earthing, you can purchase the book ‘Earthing: The most important health discovery ever!’ online at various bookstores.  There is also a good interview with the Earthing founder Clint Ober by Food Matters TV you can watch here: http://www.barefoothealing.com.au/n/earthing-interview-with-clint-ober/5874.

Earthing products are available at various online stores with a good one in Australia being Barefoot Healing link here: http://www.barefoothealing.com.au.

So what are you waiting for- go and get some of that beneficial energy today and start integrating more bare foot time in outside and see what happens!