KBW | The benefits of grounding (aka barefoot walking) for health and wellness

 

Grounding, also known as earthing, is essentially allowing your body to come into contact with the earth, which I know sounds super woo hoo, but there are actually tons of peer-reviewed articles on the benefits of earthing, or grounding.

There’s even a great documentary called “The Earthing Movie” that goes into much more detail which you can find here: The Earthing Movie

 

What are the benefits of grounding?

Our cells hold a charge. That’s why we can shock people; we’re basically a giant walking battery! When we are in contact with the ground, we discharge the energy from that battery and exchange it for the earth’s charge, which is negative 20 millivolts. 

This exchange of energy with the earth has been shown to do several amazing things for our health: 

1. Ground lowers the viscosity of your blood. It does this by lowering something called a “zeta potential.” Thinner, more viscous blood is correlated to less risk of disease and death from strokes, embolisms, and more.  

 2. Grounding lowers inflammation in the body which is a key factor in many disease processes. Lowering inflammation not only lowers risk factors but also allows the body to heal. 

3. Grounding increases cellular energy by increasing the mitochondrial production of ATP. ATP is the energy currency of the cell; the more ATP your cells can produce, the more efficiently your body can run and repair itself as well. 

4. Grounding has also been shown to reduce pain, reduce stress, and reduce oxidative damage due to a combination of the effects listed above.   

How to Do Grounding 

Just 10-15 minutes a day of grounding is enough to start to see some of the benefits, like lowered blood viscosity, lowered inflammation, increased cellular energy, and reduced pain, stress, and oxidative damage.

There are several ways to get the benefits of grounding, so utilize whichever one works best for you and the environment in which you live.

1. The very best way is to put your hands and feet on the ground at the same time, but even if it’s just your feet, you’ll still receive benefits. 

2. If you happen to live near the ocean, going for a walk on the beach is one of the best ways to exchange these ions and receive the benefits of grounding. This is why so many people feel so healthy and stress-free when they’re at the beach!

3. The final way you can try grounding is to hug a tree. I realize this sounds very weird! But because the tree is grounded, you’ll still receive the benefits of grounding by hugging the tree. If you live in a city without a lot of grass, finding a tree on a sidewalk may be your only way to ground. You’ll get some funny looks, but hey, it’s worth it! 

Know someone that could benefit from some grounding? Share this blog with them! Or better yet, set up some grounding dates and go grounding together!

Check out my full video on grounding here!