Do you remember how fabulous it used to feel as a child running barefoot on the grass or how good it still feels to walk barefoot on a sandy beach, or in a forest? The reason for this sense of wellbeing is due to the fact that you’re receiving a surge of potent healing electrons from the ground – called the grounding effect.
The earth has a slightly negative charge, so when you stand barefoot on that sand, grass, or concrete (especially when humid or wet) electrons from the earth flow into your body, giving you a virtual “transfusion” of healing power.
A Powerful Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory
The earth is a natural source of electrons and subtle electrical fields, which are essential for proper functioning of immune systems, circulation, synchronization of biorhythms and other physiological processes and may actually be the most effective, essential, least expensive, and easiest to attain antioxidant. Chronic inflammation, the hallmark of most degenerative diseases is due to over-exposure to free radical stress. The blood tends to thicken, and positive charges accumulate in your body. This condition can be reduced or prevented by grounding your body to the Earth, just as our ancestors have done for thousands of generations.
Grounding Is a Foundational Aspect for Optimal Health
So here’s the thing. We buy expensive antioxidants to ward off free radical damage in our bodies from exposure to mercury, pollution, cigarettes, insecticides, pesticides, trans fatty acids, radiation, to name a few!
But a little walk on the wild side sans shoes will provide the electrons free!! Touching the earth helps neutralize the damaging positive charges of free radicals in your body.
Besides alleviating inflammation in your body, grounding also helps thin your blood, by providing your red blood cells with a surplus of electrons so they can effectively repel each other and avoid being sticky, which can lead to blood clots that can cause a heart attack or stroke. According to research it takes about 80 minutes for the free electrons from the earth to reach your bloodstream and transform your blood cells.
Grounding also helps calm your sympathetic nervous system, which supports your heart rate variability, which plays an important role in balancing, in your autonomic nervous system. Pain relief, improved sleep, and a generally enhanced sense of well-being are but a few of the health benefits of grounding.
Last but not least, when you’re grounded to the earth, the negatively charged electrons you receive increase the structure of the water in your cells—just as water increases in structure when a negative charge is introduced by an electrode.
In essence, when you ground, you are charging every single cell in your body with energy your body can use for self-healing.
Simply walking barefoot is one of the easiest and best ways to get and stay grounded, but you definitely require a proper surface. Surfaces that will allow your body to ground include:
- Sand (beach)
- Grass (preferably moist)
- Bare soil
- Concrete and brick (as long as it’s not painted or sealed)
- Ceramic tile
Modern day rubber and plastics are electrical insulators and therefore block the beneficial flow of electrons from the Earth to your body.
Kick off your shoes and exercise barefoot outdoors to benefit from one of the most powerful and inexpensive ways to take your health to another level.