"Earthing" with the seasons

My favorite way to ground myself during warm weather is walking barefoot or laying or sitting in the grass. When I'm sick or tired, I can often get a bit of a recharge by spending some time connecting with the earth outside, whether that's taking a nap in the grass out in the sunshine or going for a leisurely barefoot walk. Because of how I feel doing this, I've made connecting with the earth part of my regular routine. However, living in Wisconsin, makes this lifestyle pretty challenging during the cold weather parts of the year (of which there are a lot of up here!)...so I've had to make some modifications in order to benefit from this connection throughout the year. With fall weather rolling in here, I've switched from barefoot walking to walking with leather boots (pictured) so that I can still connect with the earth and feel the contour of the earth through my feet! These thick leather boots don't have rubber soles so they allow me to connect as well as possible without being barefoot. Another modification that I've used is buying grounding mats to go under my bedsheets and on my favorite chair. These plug into the grounding portion of the outlet and allow an indoor opportunity for "earthing."

All of this might sound a little strange....like, is this really supported by science? And, in fact, yes, I have found quite a bit of research to support my real world experience with this! There is research showing improved sleep, normalization of circadian cortisol patterns, pain and stress reduction (improved HRV), improved balance of the autonomic nervous system and improved healing. So why does this work?....the hypothesis that I frequently see is that electrons from the Earth's negative potential neutralize free radicals in the body that play into immune and inflammatory processes. So essentially, the body is absorbing free electrons from the earth's surface. It is only in modern times that we have lost this natural connection with the earth's surface, and why this could potentially play into modern diseases. To me, when something feels good in my body (intuition) and is backed by research, I can feel confident and motivated that I am doing something positive for my health and well being!

Sources:

Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S. T., Oschman, J. L., Sokal, K., & Sokal, P. (2012). Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth's surface electrons. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012.

Oschman, J. L., Chevalier, G., & Brown, R. (2015). The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Journal of Inflammation Research, 8, 83-96.