Grounded in Wellness: Reconnect and Recharge with the Earth

In this episode, we explore the science of grounding—how direct contact with the earth can reduce inflammation, improve sleep, lower stress, and balance energy. Discover practical ways to reconnect with nature and experience its profound health benefits.

Links: 

Down To Earth

Earthing

Transcript

Natalie: 0:41

Did you know that one of the most powerful healing tools in the world is right beneath your feet? And yet most of us never even use it. We don't even think about it. But what if I told you that chronic inflammation, poor sleep, stress, high cortisol levels, and even autoimmune issues could all be linked to one missing piece, our disconnection from the earth. Welcome back to Design Your Well Life. I am so excited that you're here with me today because we're diving into a topic that has truly changed the way that I approach healing and that's grounding. Now, before we get into the science, let me ask you something. Have you noticed how energized and refreshed you feel after spending time in nature? It's actually not just in your head. It's science. So today we're going to talk about the real science behind grounding and how it affects your body. We're going to talk about the incredible healing benefits from reducing inflammation and improving your sleep, how grounding shields you from EMF exposure, and practical ways that you can ground yourself in your daily life, and my own experiments and experiences with grounding. Now, this is one of the most overlooked health practices, and once you understand it, you'll never look at the ground beneath you the same way again. So, what is grounding? Take a moment and think about the last time that you spent real time outside without shoes. Maybe it was playing in the grass or you were walking along the beach or standing in a river. How did you feel afterwards? Do you remember? Grounding, or earthing, is the practice of directly connecting your body to the Earth's surface. Now, this is not just a nature lover's habit. This is an ancient, built in biological process that our bodies really depend on for both healing and balance. But let's talk about how grounding actually works. So, our bodies are all electrical systems. Your heartbeat, your brainwaves, your nervous system, and even the way that your cells generate energy, it all operates through electrical impulses. And just like any electrical system, it must be grounded to properly function. So this is where the Earth comes in. The surface of the Earth is naturally a negative charge, and that negative charge is created by lightning, solar radiation, and the planet's own internal electromagnetic activity. So when we come into direct contact with the ground, our bodies absorb these free electrons and something incredible starts to happen. Research in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health found that these earth derived electrons act as antioxidants in our bodies. That means that they neutralize the free radicals and they reduce our oxidative stress, and decrease inflammation, which, you know, I've discussed before inflammation is the root of nearly 80 percent of the chronic diseases today. Now, this is not just a theory. It's actually been measured, repeated, and backed by many scientific studies. So, how does grounding work and why does it even matter? Clint Ober is the pioneer of modern grounding research, and he describes it like this."We live on Earth, but most of us don't touch the Earth anymore. Our lifestyles have separated us from the limitless healing and energy beneath our feet." Now think about that. We literally live on a planet that provides natural healing energy, but we've disconnected from it. When we make a direct contact with the Earth, it's like charging a depleted battery, except that in this case, the battery is actually us. It's your body. Now, at this point, I want to talk a little bit more about Clint Ober and introduce you to who he is. He recently, in 2020, brought grounding back to the forefront of the medical community and really pursued making sure that there was scientific studies that were done on this. When Clint was a young man, he lived in Montana and started working for the cable TV company. He would set up wires, he ran them to the houses, and he had to make sure that each wire was grounded properly. Now, the grounding did a couple of things for the TV. It made sure that the picture was clear and didn't get fuzzy or staticky. I don't know if you guys remember back in the day with rabbit ears, and you're trying to maneuver those to get rid of all of the static. If you ground it, that doesn't happen. And it also keeps the signals from the TV from interfering with radio or aviation. We also have a ground wire in our homes for electricity as well. For example, when you plug in a device that has three prongs on the cord in the United States, the bottom prong fits into the round hole of the outlet, and this is the ground. Okay, so now back to Clint. He had dealt with some almost fatal illnesses when he was in his mid 40s, and it made him realize that there had to be something more that he was missing with his body. One day it dawned on him, as he noticed everyone in white rubber soled sneakers, that we as human beings were not in contact with the earth nearly as much as we used to be. We were just not grounded anymore. Now, modern life has separated us from this vital connection. We live in insulated homes, we walk in rubber soled shoes, and we spend more and more time indoors under artificial lighting than we ever have before. A lot of us will go days, weeks, or even years without physically touching the natural earth. And it's taking a toll on our health. So, knowing about grounding, Clint took a roll of metal duct tape and he made a grid on his bed. He connected a wire to the duct tape and ran that wire out of his bedroom window to a grounding rod that he had placed inside the earth. Then, he laid down on the bed. The next thing he knew, he was waking up. After sleeping the entire night, and he had not needed any Advil to fall asleep or wake up, which was a practice that he had done for years in order to be able to sleep. So what does grounding actually mean for your health? The moment your skin touches the earth, a couple of things happen. Electrons flow into your body, and it brings you back into a balanced state. These electrons start neutralizing those free radicals in your body, and free radicals, if you're unfamiliar with those, they cause cell damage, they cause inflammation, and they accelerate aging. Grounding lowers the voltage in your body and shields you from extra EMF. Which are from Wi Fi, phones, electronics, and grounding also has been shown to lower stress, regulate cortisol, improve your sleep, and even supports your cardiovascular health. Now, Dr. James Oschman, a leading biophysicist, puts it simply,"Earthing restores and maintains the human body's most natural electrical state, which in turn promotes optimum health and functionality in daily life. The primordial natural energy emanating from the earth is the ultimate anti inflammatory and the ultimate anti aging medicine." The human body cannot have inflammation when it is grounded. That hit me so hard because I had so much inflammation in my body. I needed to get the inflammation settled down and to stop. So if you're struggling with chronic pain, if you've got autoimmune issues like I do, if you've got poor sleep, the simplest thing you might be able to do is get outside and put your feet on the ground and just breathe. And yet, most of us never do it. So if grounding is this simple and powerful, why aren't more people doing it? The answer? Modern life has just pulled us away from this. A few hundred years ago, humans were always connected to the earth. We walked barefoot, we slept on the ground, we worked with our hands in the soil. But today, we live in elevated homes. We wear fully insulated shoes, and we spend 90 percent of our time now indoors. Even when we do go outside, we often cover ourselves in so many layers that we block this skin to earth contact. Now, Dr. Stephen Sinatra is an integrative cardiologist and he explains this really well. He says,"We need our electrical ground with the planet. The earth is endowed with electrons and they are absorbed through the feet. It's like taking handfuls of antioxidants, but you're getting it through your skin." Now, we're spending so much time trying to hack our health these days. We're buying supplements, we're tracking our sleep, we're adding antioxidants to our diets, but the ultimate antioxidant is literally beneath our feet. So, let's talk about specific healing benefits of grounding and how you can start using it today. So, I want to give you a personal thought. When I first started learning about grounding, I was cautiously optimistic. As you know, I was at the point where I was testing and trying all theories to see what would actually help support and heal my body. Nothing was off the table and I was literally willing to try anything. Especially things that were right at our fingertips and free. The idea of something as simple as standing barefoot on the earth could have such profound health benefits seemed right up my alley. So I started testing it for myself, and I'll tell you about an experience I had a little later on in the podcast. When I first started researching grounding, I started to notice little snippets of it in a lot of different documentaries. And this is where the dots started connecting for me. I noticed that in these documentaries, they were utilizing multiple beneficial healing modalities. There was a documentary on fasting that I recently watched. And while the long fast was occurring, the participants that were being followed did the fast outdoors. Where they slept in nature, they got morning light, they got plenty of vitamin D from the midday sun, they walked around barefoot, and on so many other health documentaries you see really similar things begin to stack. I don't think one modality of healing with nature is the one and only magic pill. I think by adding all of these known beneficial treatments back into our lifestyle, it helps our bodies holistically. Now, that being said, I did watch a documentary on earthing called Down to Earth. You can find it on Amazon Prime Video right now. And this was my first introduction to Clint Ober's work. If you want to go more in depth into his story and all the studies he's done on grounding, I would highly recommend his book called Earthing. I'll link to both of these in the show notes for you. So, we've touched on all the healing benefits of grounding, but the big one is inflammation. It's a word that gets thrown out a lot in the health world, but what does it actually mean? At its core, inflammation is a survival response, and it can be good. It's your body's way of fighting off infection, repairing damage, and really keeping you safe. But in today's world, inflammation has become more and more chronic. Instead of healing and then resetting, our bodies are stuck in this cycle of constant stress, then overreaction, and then immune dysfunction. Now, as I've said before, inflammation is at the root of almost every major chronic disease, from heart disease to diabetes, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, even Alzheimer's. The list really just keeps going on and on. But here's the kicker. Chronic inflammation doesn't just happen. It's actually a direct result of how we're living right now. Between the processed foods that we eat, All of the sugar, seed oils, the environmental toxins that we're surrounded by, chronic stress, lack of movement, exposure to only artificial light, and yes, even our disconnection from the Earth that we're talking about today. And this is where one tool, grounding, really can come in and help change the game. So when we physically connect with the Earth, these electrons begin flowing into our bodies. Inflammation starts to subside, and the systems that have been out of balance finally have a chance to heal. Now, in Clint Ober's book, Earthing, he mentions Dr. Rossi, and he is a specialist in neurology and physiology, and he explains the process like this."The sole of the foot is richly covered with some 1, 300 nerve endings. per square inch. That's more than found on any other part of the body of comparable size. Even the paws of all animals are equally rich in nerve endings." Now, this means that our feet were literally designed for grounding, but all of our modern shoes and our concrete sidewalks and living indoors has really severed that connection. So let's break down exactly how grounding directly impacts inflammation, pain, sleep, EMF exposure, energy, and stress. Now, first one is pain. So, pain is one of the most common symptoms that people struggle with. And we've been conditioned to believe that managing pain means just taking more medication. Between NSAIDs, painkillers, muscle relaxers. However, What if the solution is actually simpler? Now, don't stop taking any prescribed medication without speaking to your doctor. But, grounding has also been clinically shown to actually reduce inflammation and pain, often within minutes. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that people who were grounded for just 30 minutes experienced a significant reduction in pain and inflammation markers. So, how does this actually work? When you touch the earth, your body absorbs free electrons, which then neutralize free radicals. This we've already mentioned. This process interrupts the inflammatory cycle and allows your body to start repairing itself naturally. Your inflammation drops, the pain reduces, and healing speeds up. Clint Ober has seen this happen again and again, and one of the cool things about his book Earthing is that he shares many stories of people experiencing this pain relief from joint pain, back aches, severe inflammatory conditions like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and they can do this simply by grounding consistently. In fact, he put it this way."Earthing remedies an electrical instability and electron deficiency that you never knew you had. It refills and recharges your body with something you never knew you were missing or needed. The inflammation, sickness, and pain in your body are but a manifestation in large part or small of an electron deficiency." I love that. Having an electron deficiency that we never knew we had. Now, let's talk about blood flow and boosting energy. So, grounding has been shown to increase ATP production, and that's the body's main energy source. A recent study published in the Journal of Inflammation Research found that grounding improves circulation and oxygenation of tissues, which is critical for heart health, brain health, and overall healing. I mentioned already Dr. Stephen Sinatra, but he also explains that when you ground that your blood viscosity improves, and that means your blood flows more freely, which in turn reduces the risk of blood clots, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. Now, this was pretty fascinating to me that I actually decided to run an experiment on this myself. I asked my husband to measure his blood pressure every day for 30 days while also grounding for at least 30 minutes to an hour every day. I want to see if this constant grounding actually lowers blood pressure over time. So I'll be tracking all of this and then sharing those results in an upcoming episode. Now let's talk about how grounding balances your nervous system and can lower your stress. We all know chronic stress is constantly surrounding us, and it can be one of the biggest silent killers in modern life. It keeps our nervous system stuck in this fight or flight mode, which leads to anxiety, burnout, adrenal fatigue, and even hormonal imbalances. Grounding helps shift the body out of stress mode and into a rest and heal mode by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Now, we just recently did an episode on breath work with Suzy Price and she goes into detail and talks a lot about the parasympathetic nervous system and the importance to get into this rest and heal mode. So, if you have a chance, if you haven't listened to it already, Go back and check out that episode. But this is the same kind of thing. We're putting our bodies in a place where it has the chance to heal and recover. Now just like how deep breathing helps with this process, when you ground, your heart rate slows down, and your body starts to let go of the stored tension, and it just gets an instant reset for your nervous system. So, I wanted to take a moment and share a personal experience with you because as much as I love diving into science and research behind all of the grounding, Sometimes the most powerful proof comes from our own bodies. So, not too long ago, I was dealing with something frustrating. Something that, if I'm honest, actually started to make me a little bit worried. I was experiencing severe neuropathy in my right foot for about six months. At first, it started with just a tingling sensation. But it quickly escalated to the point where I couldn't point my toes properly or step without flaring of severe nerve pain. Now, I've always been someone who listens to my body and I don't ignore pain. I saw this as a signal that something was off. I hadn't injured my foot. I hadn't twisted it. I hadn't overused it. It just appeared out of nowhere. And suddenly something as simple as walking became really painful. It was awful at night when I would lay down in bed and try and stretch out my feet and just have this excruciating nerve pain shoot through my foot. I knew that the traditional approaches were going to involve anti inflammatories, pain relievers, or steroids. But here's the thing. Those options never would have gotten to the root cause. They just mask the symptoms. They don't really fix what's going on. So, while I was waiting to get into my rheumatologist again, I decided to run an experiment on myself. This was my weekend grounding experience. I decided to commit one full weekend to intentional grounding. I wanted to see what would happen if I prioritized direct skin to earth contact as much as possible. Not just walking barefoot for a few minutes, but really making grounding my focus. So here's what I did. I got a comfortable chair, and I set barefoot on the grass or the soil. Sometimes in the morning when the dew was still fresh, And actually, having moisture on the ground has been proven to even accelerate the electron connectivity with your feet. Sometimes I would do this in the late afternoon when the sun was on my skin and I was getting the extra vitamin D. I tried laying directly on the earth, I let my entire body touch the ground, and I even ate all of my meals outside. It was really great weather so my family ended up joining me for most of those two days and it was really fun. I didn't take any medications, I didn't do anything else differently, I just gave my body full access to the earth's energy. And I waited to see what would happen. So what were the results? Well, the pain disappeared. By the end of the first day, the sharp stabbing pain in my foot had started to dull. By the end of the second day, the pain was completely gone. Not reduced, not a little better. It was gone. I could stretch my foot completely out. I could flex my toes. I could walk normally. I didn't have any more piercing nerve pain. Now, if you had told me before this experiment that something as simple as being barefoot outside could have eliminated this nerve issue, I probably would have been skeptical. But, here I was, living proof that it works, and it made me want to do some more testing even further. I love data. And tracking and testing things. So, I wanted to measure my body's electrical charge. Now, one thing that really caught my attention about Clint Ober's book on earthing was his story about measuring the voltage inside of his body. He talked about how our modern environments are full of electromagnetic fields. And you'll know these as EMFs. They come from Wi Fi, from cell towers. the electrical wiring in our homes and all the devices that we surround ourselves with. He did an experiment using a multi meter and a multi meter is a device that measures voltage in the body. So he described his experiment like this. He said,"What I found most interesting was the amount of EMF induced potential in volts in my body. When I walked towards a lamp, the voltage would go up. When I stepped back, the voltage would go down. The only appliance that did not create EMF voltage on my body were the refrigerator and the computer tower that were grounded." Then he went on to say the bedroom was the most electrically active area in his apartment. He said,"I thought maybe when the body is grounded, it prevents the entry of the EMFs that could disturb the internal circuitry of our bodies." And the studies that he started doing showed exactly that. When the body is grounded, EMFs and voltage drop significantly. So, of course, this made me curious, and I have to test this for myself. So, I ordered a multimeter, which is a similar type of device as what Clint used in his experiments, and I'm planning to measure how much voltage my body is carrying in different settings. So, this is what I want to test. Indoors, surrounded by electronics. Outside, on different surfaces, like grass, dirt, concrete, and asphalt. Barefoot versus wearing shoes or wearing socks. And touching the earth with different parts of my body. Feet, hands, lying down. I want to see, just for myself, how much of an impact grounding has on my body's electrical charge. Because if we're unknowingly carrying around high levels of electrical charge, it makes sense that grounding could be one of our missing links in reducing stress, improving sleep, and lowering inflammation. I'll be sharing all my results in an upcoming episode, so stay tuned. Now I'm going to break down the specific ways you can incorporate grounding into your daily life, even if you live in a city, have limited access to nature or just don't know where to start. In fact, grounding has really accelerated in the sports world recently as well. Trainers are using electrodes that are connected to a grounding wire to help with energy production, both pre and post events, as well as to help target healing on specific injuries of athletes. So, how do you incorporate this into your life? Well, the good news is, it's simple, free, and available to you right now. But, only if you actually use it. And here's the truth, a lot of people won't. Not because they don't believe in it, and not because it's difficult, but because we're busy. It takes time, and sometimes, frankly, we just ignore what's freely available to us. If I told you that there was a brand new biohacking device that just hit the market, one that's backed by over 20 peer reviewed studies that promises better sleep, reduced inflammation, stress relief and protection from environmental toxins. You'd probably assume it involves some high tech system. And, actually, if that's what you're looking for, I do have some amazing biohacking grounding devices that I'm going to share with you in the next Healthy Home Highlights episode. But sometimes the most powerful healing tools are the ones that nature and God has already provided. The earth itself was designed to keep us healthy. It provides everything we need to thrive. But in modern life, we don't take advantage of it like we once did. So how do we fix that? The answer is simple. We need to reconnect. I highly recommend eating whole foods that haven't been processed or genetically modified. Removing the toxins out of our lives. Sleeping more, stressing less, deep breathing, getting the right light at the right time of day, and now spending time standing on the earth. All of these things are key tools in both health and healing. So, from this episode, I'd like you to try one thing. Go outside, take off your shoes, and stand barefoot on the ground. It sounds simple, but this one habit alone can start to lower your inflammation, Regulate your nervous system and reduce your stress. If it's safe and comfortable, try and aim for at least 30 minutes a day of being barefoot on either grass, dirt, natural stone, or sand. Now, I personally love morning grounding sessions. I step outside as the sun rises to get that morning light and reset my circadian rhythm. I get that cool moisture of the grass on my feet and do some deep breathing in the fresh air. This is kind of the perfect trifecta to supercharge all these benefits of circadian rhythm and optimizing mitochondrial function. And if you can't get outside in the morning, you can try grounding in the afternoon while getting some midday sun and boosting your vitamin D. And if you remember from a previous episode, I mentioned one of my favorite things to do is take my lunch outside to my backyard or a local park. And I listen to some great music. Soak up that vitamin D and get my feet on the grass. Even small amounts of grounding really will add up over time. So what are other ways that you can ground? Gardening is one. It's our ultimate hands on grounding experience. It lowers stress levels, it gives you better immune function, and it's even been shown to increase lifespan. It's not just about growing the food or the flowers, it's about physically connecting with Earth. When you dig your hands into the soil, plant seeds, or pull weeds, you are literally touching one of the most mineral rich, electrically conductive materials on the planet. Studies show that touching soil stimulates beneficial microbes that support not only your immune system, but it boosts your serotonin production, and it reduces depression syndromes. So whether you have a huge backyard garden or just a few potted plants on your balcony, take time to actually get your hands in the dirt. You can really take grounding to the next level by introducing water. Water helps with the conductivity of the free electrons. And salt water is an even more powerful conductor than soil, meaning that grounding in the ocean delivers a massive dose of free electrons to your body. But even freshwater lakes, rivers, and hot springs are incredibly effective. The key is to let your body make contact with the water. So whether you're wading up to your knees, whether you're swimming, or just sitting at the water's edge with your feet in the water, it's a great benefit. Our bodies are mostly water and minerals, just like the earth, meaning that we are natural conductors of energy. Now, what do you do when you can't get outside? How do you ground indoors? I get it. I live in an area where sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate, And there's a foot of snow outside and freezing temperatures. Or maybe you live in a high rise apartment with limited access to the natural ground. Fortunately, there are still ways to bring grounding indoors. There are grounding mats. bed sheets, and wristbands that are all designed to stimulate direct earth contact. They work by connecting to a grounded outlet or a rod placed in the soil outside, and this allows the electrons to flow into your body while you sleep or work. Now, while nothing replaces the actual earth contact, these tools can be great alternatives for people who live in the city, or if you're older or have mobility issues, or you're just looking for that biohacking 24 7 grounding benefit. I'll take you through some of my favorite products in our next Healthy Home Highlights episode. Now, closing thoughts. Like I've said before, and I'll say it again, the Earth was designed to support our health. So I want to challenge you. For the next seven days, commit to grounding daily. Even if it's just 30 minutes outside barefoot or a few moments touching the soil. Track how you feel. And tell me about it. There's a link to share in the podcast show notes, or you can shoot me an email. If this episode resignated with you, please subscribe. Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear this. This really helps more people be able to find my podcast and this information. Thank you so much for being here with me today and I will see you next time on Design Your Well Life.

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