#HappyFriday 🙂 Here’s more reasons to put your bare feet on the ground every now and then.
Earthing (also known as grounding) refers to contact with the Earth’s surface electrons by walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems, some of them patented, that transfer the energy from the ground into the body. I now have a grounding mat I sleep on and also use one while I’m working at my computer. Emerging scientific research supports the concept that the Earth’s electrons may induce multiple physiological changes of clinical significance, including reduced pain, better sleep, a shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic tone in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and a blood-thinning effect.
In a 2012 review article published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health here was one of the findings summarized: In a blinded pilot study, Clint Ober recruited 60 subjects (22 males and 28 females) who suffered from self-described sleep disturbances and chronic muscle and joint pain for at least six months. Subjects were randomly divided for the month-long study in which both groups slept on conductive carbon fiber mattress pads. Half the pads were connected to a dedicated Earth ground outside each subject’s bedroom window, while the other half were “sham” grounded—not connected to the Earth. Most grounded subjects described symptomatic improvement while most in the control group did not.Â
Of those sleeping on the grounded mats: 85% decreased time it took to get to sleep, 93% increased their quality of sleep, 100% woke up feeling rested, 82% reported a decrease in muscle stiffness and pain, 74% reported decrease in chronic back or joint pain, and 78% reported improvement in their overall well-being. Some subjects reported significant relief from asthmatic and respiratory conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, PMS, sleep apnea, and hypertension while sleeping grounded. These results indicated that the effects of earthing can extend beyond reduction of pain and improvements in sleep. This is part of why I have started to explore it, and have been telling my clients to do the same. -XO