​Grounding

 

Earthing, also called grounding, is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth. Basically earthing is putting the body in direct and uninterrupted contact with the earth. This means that skin needs to touch soil, sand, water, or a conductive surface that is in contact with the earth. From a scientific perspective, the idea is that the earth has a mild negative charge to it.

 

What the Science Says

Grounding is a relatively new field of research so there is a small but growing body of scientific research on the topic. One study examined the role of grounding on post-exercise muscle damage. Researchers used both grounding patches and mats and measured creatine kinase, white blood cell count, and pain levels before and after grounding. Blood work indicated that grounding reduced muscle damage and pain in participants. This suggests that grounding may influence healing abilities.

 

This research is supported by a recent study on grounding for pain reduction and mood improvement. Sixteen massage therapists alternated between periods of grounding and no grounding.

 

Ways to ground yourself

There are many ways you can reconnecting to the earth. This can be done through either direct or indirect contact with the earth.

 

Walking barefoot. One of the easiest ways to ground yourself to the earth is simply to walk barefoot. You can do this on grass, sand, or even mud, allowing your skin to touch the natural ground can provide you with grounding energy.

 

Lying on the ground. You can increase your skin-to-earth contact by lying on the ground. You can do it in the grass by the park or on the sand at the beach.

 

Submersing in water. Water may be used to ground in the same way the physical earth is used for grounding. Swim or wade in a lake, river or the ocean. Be sure to stay safe when swimming, especially in murky or deep waters.

 

Grounding equipment. If going outside to ground yourself isn’t an option, there are alternatives. One method of earthing involves connecting a metal rod to the ground outside and then connecting the rod to your body through a wire. Another method is to use grounding equipment such as grounding mats, grounding sheets or blankets, or grounding bands and patches?

 

Why use grounding?

There’s not much research on the benefits of grounding. However, people have reported improvement for conditions such as:

 

Chronic fatigue. In the studyTrusted Source on massage therapists, many reported a decrease in their fatigue levels after four weeks of treatment with grounding mats.

 

Chronic pain. The studyTrusted Source on grounding for exercise recovery found that those who used grounding patches reported lower pain levels.

 

Anxiety and depression. In one small studyTrusted Source, it was shown that even 1 hour of grounding therapy can significantly improve mood.

 

Sleep disorders. The massage therapists also experienced an improvement in sleep length and reduce sleep disturbances with grounding therapy.

 

Cardiovascular disease. Results of one treatment study found that long-term self-administered grounding therapy helped to reduce blood pressure levels in participants with hypertension.

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