Grounding: What, how & why?

 

It can sound pointless but finding ways to reconnect with nature can really improve overall well-being. Studies on gardeners have found that these green-fingered types enjoy better immune systems, mood and physical health. A lot of that is the act of being outside being active but there’s strong evidence being “connected to nature” can help. 

 

One practice that has gained attention is Grounding (sometimes called Earthing) with the basic premise is that the earth carries a negative electrical charge, and by “connecting” with it, the ground balances out your Free Electrons.

 

Free Electrons, what the hell?

Look your body is a pinball machine with a bazillion tiny balls (coming from the plungy shooty thing) and everyone of those balls is a signal from your brain telling everything what to do. One of the side effects of this process is your building up a load of Free Electrons.

Free Electrons are believed to do a lot of good by neutralising Free Radicals, reducing oxidative stress and supporting overall cellular health however too many of these little bighters may throw your body out of sync and mess up your circadian rhythms (the thing that tells your body when to sleep), immune and nervous systems.

 

So what do I do?

Stand outside bare foot…that’s it. Seriously! 5-15 minutes a few times a week. That’s pretty low effort.

 

It costs nothing, you can stand on just about any surface (grass is best but anything outside is fine) and aside from looking like Frodo and kin you’ve got nothing to lose.

 

Of course people have tried to cash in on the process but creating indoor grounding mats but if you can’t get outside once in a while you have bigger problems than balancing your free electrons…or you're in prison…and you're using your limited computer time to read this instead of looking for a crazy pen pal. Shame on you.