Ever visit a sandy beach and get the sudden urge to take off your shoes and dig your feet in the sand? Or see the green grass in a park and want to take a barefoot stroll on a warm summer day? Well, that feeling of the ground between your toes actually comes with some pretty spectacular health benefits.

Earthing—also known as grounding—is the practice of energetically balancing out the spiritual and physical energy in your body, by connecting yourself with the earth, and it’s probably one of the most simple and enjoyable intuitive wellness practices out there. What’s even more interesting is your body responds

“Earthing, or grounding as it is often called, connects you to this overlooked natural energy that nurtures and balances your body at the deepest levels, draining it of inflammation, pain, stress, and fatigue.”

The Earthing Institute

The Practice of Earthing

Throughout history humans walked, sat and slept on the ground, cultivated their land with bare hands and spent a lot of their time naturally grounded. However, today, we’ve become increasingly disconnected from nature by our modern lifestyle.

We rarely go barefoot and walk around outside or wear leather soled shoes that allow us to absorb the ground’s energy. And you know what? Those cushy rubber and plastic-soled shoes we’ve chosen to wear, act as a barrier to the Earth’s energy, insulating us from electrical contact with the Earth. We sleep in beds and homes off the ground. Plastics, synthetic fabrics, asphalt, tar, carpets, vinyl have all been introduced and block this natural connection. To add to this, we’re also bathed in a sea of unnatural man-made electronic radiation from household appliances, mobile phones, wi-fi, microwaves and cell towers, which bombard us continuously with excess free radical damage to our tissues and cells. The Earth’s energy helps neutralize free radicals so that your body can heal and repair naturally, as it is meant to.

Therefore, to remain in good health or take steps toward healing, it’s imperative that we re-connect with Mother Earth daily to counteract the damaging effects of our modern lifestyle.

Healing Benefits of Earthing

We now know that a build-up of free radicals (positive ions) in the body is when and where dis-ease and illness start to occur. The good news is, we can easily decrease this build-up, heal and balance our body, mind and spirit by simply exposing our bodies to negative ions from the earth. Sounds pretty awesome right?!

Let’s take a peek at some of the health benefits:

• Reduces chronic pain and inflammation
• Calms the nervous system
• Improves sleep
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces PMS symptoms and hot flashes
• Protects us from Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs)
• Supports brain health
• Balances emotions, reduces stress and anxiety + boosts energy
• Deepens our sense of connection with nature and all beings
• Aligns the energy body – chakras and meridians

How to Ground Yourself

Most people connect with earth’s energy by standing, walking, running or sitting on bare earth, rock, sand or grass. These are all conductive surfaces from which your body can draw in Earth’s energy.

Simply walking around barefoot, sitting on the grass, laying on the beach, or placing your hands on earth are all grounding techniques that most of us do without even knowing it. 

Ways to Connect to Earth’s Energy and Give Back

Whether it’s physical or simply spiritual, there’s a powerful energy exchange that happens when our feet touch the ground. Here are a few ways to embrace the healing powers of Mother Nature and thank her with a bit of TLC:

1. For You: Take a Walk in the Woods

Go into the woods or a nearby park— sit, walk, or stand barefoot on grass, sand, dirt, etc. Doing so for at least 30 minutes a day is the most beneficial, but connecting for just five minutes can still help you feel better. When you breathe in the woods, you are inhaling a cocktail of bioactive substances released by plants. One of these groups of substances is called terpenes. They’re usually emitted from leaves, pine needles, tree trunks, and the thick bark of some trees. Some of these terpenes have been found to have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, and neuroprotective activities, making forest air like a healing elixir we inhale.

For the Earth: Donate to an environmental organization.

2.  For You: Tune in to the Earth’s frequency.

Beyond giving us space to move, helping us produce vitamin D and serving as an escape from emails and devices, nature is healing because of its unique charge.

This frequency is known as the Schumann Resonance, which is about 7.8 Hertz. According to NASA, our planet’s “atmospheric heartbeat” is caused by the electric currents of lightning interacting with the Earth’s atmosphere. Pretty cool right?!

So how do you tap into this healing frequency?

Breathe in and out; allow yourself to take in all of the beautiful aspects of nature as you embrace its healing capacity. Feel the blades of grass between your feet. Look up to the sky. Bask in the sun, and smell the fresh air. Listen to the birds talk, the bees buzz, the leaves blow in the wind. As you use all your senses, you become more present and connect to earth’s innate healing energies even more. 

For the Earth: Plant a tree.

3. For you: Get your hands dirty.

Plant an organic garden, go foraging, try Korean Natural Farming, start a community garden or help clean up a nature trail. Not only does this boost cognitive function its a great way to disconnect from technology and relax a fatigued mind.

The stress-reducing benefits of getting outside (sans shoes or not) are enough to make anyone want to back away from their screens and head into nature. So whether it’s hiking boots or bare feet you’re donning, you’re sure to enjoy the journey.

For the Earth: Pick up trash along the way.

If you need a little extra motivation, imagine going back to your 12-year old self. Tell them all the amazing things earth’s energy does for you when you run around in your bare feet. Then ask yourself would you rather sit inside or go play outside for a few minutes? I know which one I’d pick….race ya outside!