Are You Earthing for Your Health?
An article by Tina Thrussell published in the July 10, 2018 edition of “Heart and Mind Matters”
Summertime in Canada seems like the perfect time to talk about ‘Earthing’ – the act of touching the earth with your bare skin – but Earthing can actually be done at any time of the year.
I love to walk barefoot on the earth every chance I get, as soon as the frost is out of the ground in the spring.
There are many reasons to engage in Earthing and science is beginning to support some of those reasons. Recent research into the effects of touching the earth with bare skin shows that Earthing leads to an increase in parasympathetic (calming) nervous system activity, and reduces sympathetic (stress-response) activity. The end result of this effect is that your entire body (not just your mind) calms down.
Beyond that, additional research into other parameters of stress has shown that earthing normalizes both cortisol secretion, a hallmark of stress activity in the body, and melatonin secretion, which is crucial for a good night’s sleep.
The main claim for Earthing is that it fights inflammation by reducing free radicals, which are positively charged, and also reduces inflammation by reducing excess positive electrons.
Knock-off effects of reducing inflammation include alleviated (chronic) pain, improved sleep, and normalized circadian rhythms.
I love Earthing simply because it makes me feel good – more connected with myself, with nature, and with the Source of All that is. “Connect with the Earth” is one of the 12 Shin Dao tenets (guiding principles to live by. You can read all the tenets here)
Besides generally making you feel good, there are other health benefits of Earthing:
• Increase energy
• Lower stress
• Promote calmness
• Enhance disturbed biological rhythms
• Improve blood flow and pressure
• Relieve muscle tension and headaches
• Lessen menstrual and female hormone symptoms
• Support adrenal health
• Boost the healing process
• Protect the body from EMFs (Electro Magnetic Fields)
• Shorten recovery time after athletic activity / from injury
• Reduce or stop snoring
• Eliminate jet lag
So, get out there and walk barefoot on the earth as much as you can and enjoy the many health benefits!
