The groundbreaking benefits behind your barefoot summer
Ah, summer—the season of barbecues, long weekends and holidays. A time of year when many of us just like to kick off our shoes and relax a little more.
This is where earthing comes in. Earthing is the practice of spending time in direct contact with the Earth, and research shows that it has a broad range of physical and mental health benefits.
If you’re looking for a simple way to improve your health and wellbeing this summer, give earthing a try!
What is earthing?
Earthing, or grounding, is the simple act of making contact with the earth. It’s as easy as taking your shoes and socks off and walking outside barefoot.
Earthing has been around for centuries, but was only recently studied and given a name by Clint Ober, an electrical engineer who became invested in the topic after he was diagnosed with major health issues.
Since then, earthing has been shown to have a number of benefits not just for physical but for mental health too. It helps to relieve stress and anxiety, improve sleep, reduce inflammation and pain, and even boost energy levels.
There are a few ways to earth yourself, depending on where you are. If you’re at home, you can go outside and walk around in your back garden or nearby park. If you’re at work, you can take a quick break to go outside and perhaps lay down on the grass. And if you’re on holiday or travelling, you can find hill, dune or beach to walk barefoot on.
The science behind earthing
Earthing is the practise of being in direct contact with the earth’s surface. This can be done by walking outside barefoot, sitting or lying on the ground, or swimming in natural bodies of water.
There is a lot of science that supports earthing and its many benefits. When you’re connected to the earth, your body is able to absorb all of the beneficial electrons that are swirling around us. These electrons have been shown to promote physical and mental wellbeing. It changes the contrary positive charge we absorb from our electrical living. Swapping it for the earth’s natural charge which enriches and enliven our biology.
One study found that grounding for just fifteen minutes was able to decrease cortisol levels (the stress hormone) by 31%. It also resulted in a decrease in anxiety and negative thoughts. So if you’re looking for a way to distress this summer, earthing might be the answer for you!
What are the benefits of earthing?
There are countless benefits to earthing, both physically and mentally.
Physically, earthing helps to release tension in the body, improve sleep, reduce inflammation, and boost your immune system. It can also help to reduce pain and speed up the healing process.
Mentally, earthing can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. It can also help to improve focus and concentration, and increase feelings of calm and well-being.
Earthing during the summer
When it comes to summer, nothing feels better than kicking off your shoes
and feeling the grass, sand, or even tiles beneath your feet. For earthing enthusiasts, this is the best time of year because you can enjoy all the benefits of being grounded outdoors!
There are a few things you can do to make grounding more enjoyable and relaxing. First, find a spot outside that has a nice view. This will help you relax and enjoy the experience. Secondly, make sure to wear light and comfortable clothing so you can move around easily. Lastly, take time to really focus on the sensations you feel when you’re grounding. Notice the textures, temperatures, and smells around you. This will help you connect more with your surroundings and reap the full benefits of earthing.
What to expect when you start earthing
When you start earthing, you might experience a sense of calm and grounding. This is because, when you connect with the earth, you’re absorbing negative ions, which can help to improve your mood and mental wellbeing. Some people also report improved sleep and reduced anxiety when they start earthing, as well as a general sense of good health.
From reducing anxiety to boosting energy levels, earthing or grounding can help you feel your best during the summer months. By kicking off your shoes and connecting with the earth, you can enjoy all the benefits of earthing in just a few minutes. So why not give it a try?
…and not just in the Summer!
We’re hearing so much about CBD these days, people talking like it’s magic, the wonder solution to all. Well it’s not. However people do use it as a food supplement much as people might Chamomile to sleep. Whether clinically proven or not they use it for anxiety, stress, insomnia, PTSD and some situations of ADD with their personal reports ranging along the spectrum of symptoms gone to an ease of feelings.
With tech we’re like kids in a SWEET SHOP. We know deep down so much of it is bad for us, but we like the stuff and taking it away would be horrible! We’re at a stage where we think tech is the big solution – and we’re not that wrong – but we need to take stock and understand how to combine our digital delights effectively with our lifestyles in order to not get sick.
understand we labeled Junk – Bigger Mistake! And up until recently we were increasingly we taking our arrogant ill-informed wisdom out on the SUN – it’s evil was the guideline for doctors! That is until very recently when the Nobel prize in science and medicine highlighted the importance of circadian biology. The rhythm of day and night. The sun has got bad press. But it’s one of the keys to our health and wellbeing.
Our Circadian Nobel prize winners discovered what the ancients long knew about the sun. That is’s vital. Delving deeper into science it turns out, that our eyes do not just do the job of seeing but they run the supercomputer – in not just us but the whole planet – in every single living thing on it. Even in blind people – they still have the receptors to set our software in motion to set our master-clock.
like you’re staring at the midday sun! Your body thinks it’s high noon – all day and into the night. This excess light time also disrupts our other clocks. A fundamental one is our digestive clock – it seems as long as our eyes are open our mouth is open too! So not only is our sleep – our reparation time – disrupted so too is our eating cycle – we’re now averaging a span of about 15 hours of light time and eating time. We’ve got a biological mismatch of cogs and clocks.
the way the world eventually agreed to a common clock that GMT is 00:00 meaning we can get flights, launch satellites and use servers globally. But without which we have costly confusions like with the States who have all their dates backwards and have had to rework space programmes because they were using out of date measuring systems when everyone else is in metric. Having a master clock makes things work .. like clockwork.
go forward. It’s no secret that doctors are overwhelmed and left behind – medicine is not helping as it did and for many it’s now even harming. Coupled with that in this digital age, we’ve also got the age of information, people have taken things into their own hands – it’s called Optimal living or Biohacking or if you don’t buy into the computer analogy it comes down to the same thing. How to live in Harmony with tech.
First it’s the power of the dark that ultimately brings light into our life. If you’re on your laptop close to bed time or staring at your phone until your turn off your LED light. Well you’ve just told your melatonin that it’s mid day. So it goes away till much later. Or perhaps you ate close to bed time so your body has to work, not repair. Basically what’s happening in these instances is that you’re just getting fat and sick at night. Hack wise, bedrooms must be dark and ideally have red lights only or salt lamps. Think sexy. For that a midnight wee – ideally a night red light in the bathroom.
charging your head and stopping your hormone system working optimally. You’re mismatching the code into the supercomputer. It has to work overtime, you wake up tired.
I lived the dream. Wide open beaches, hanging with my family and friends watching the sunset. I went for three months – came back after 7 years! On returning, most people didn’t focus on why I went away or what it was like. It was always why did you come back?
you sit on a sand dune with the Mediterranean to one side and the Atlantic gazing out across the strait – knowing that in times past there happened the world’s most amazing waterfall, bursting the banks of the ocean to create the sea. It’s then you know without words there’s a whole ton of stuff that’s so much bigger than you are. It shifts you. You actually realise what the word ‘awesome’ is and it’s a million miles from describing the latest Marvel comic release. It’s something you feel.
Perhaps it was social media, again not really the answer and eventually I realised it was because they were disconnected from life. There was a wire disconnected in their plugged in world. With a fundamental missing they were working with only half the power. Resilience was missing, emotional intelligence neglected over academic pursuit, eating shit food, Netflicking their nights and weekends away but still being tired … and never ever going for a walk. A simply but fundamental to living well. Or to coin the phrase that is now so often used, but so little understood – wellbeing.