Are you grounded?

Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in an effort to inspire people to clean up and care for our beautiful home planet. In the past 48 years there have been some improvements as well as some new challenges.

I personally appreciate whatever efforts we all can make because I love living on Earth and hope to do so for a very long time, like forever.

But do you really ever give Earth much thought? It’s quite amazing actually. It has everything we need to sustain and enjoy life. Our food comes from the earth, we have gravity that keeps us from floating away, and there is endless varieties of plant and animal life to name just a few of our planet’s fabulous features.

I’m sure you know all of these things but let me ask you, are you really connected to the earth?

Let me introduce you to grounding. No, not the kind where you know you’re in big trouble. The kind where you reconnect your body with the electrical and elemental properties of the earth. Some people call it earthing.

I know this might sound like some kind of “woo-woo”, tree hugging thing but it’s really very practical and down-to-earth. (yeah, that one was a little corny even for my sense of humor but I couldn’t resist throwing it in there for ya)

If you think about it, we were created from the earth and intended to walk directly on it with our bare feet touching the lush green grass, the soft squishy sand, the hard packed ground, dipping our toes in the cool fresh water, and even sleeping directly on the ground. But when was the last time your skin actually touched the earth?

When I was a kid we couldn’t wait for those first warmish days of spring to come so we could kick off our shoes and run in the yard, play in the creek, and roll down the hill in the grass which always made me itchy but I would do it anyway.

But now there’s much less outside time for both kids and adults. We spend most of our time inside, walk on paved paths, and wear shoes almost all the time. Of course shoes protect our feet but they do put a barrier between us and the ground.

Grounding – touching the ground with your skin is said to have many benefits including improved energy, calming stress, better sleep, lowering inflammation, improving circulation, boosting immune system, and promoting your body’s natural efforts to keep you healthy.

You’re probably thinking this sounds great but how do you do it? Trust me, it’s so simple you’re gonna say “why didn’t I think of that?” But don’t feel bad, I didn’t know about it until a few years ago either.

Here’s my three step guide:

1. Go outside. Rain or shine, warm or chilly, day or night doesn’t matter as long as it’s a safe place where you can spend a little time.
2. Find a spot with some grass, sand, or dirt.
3. Kick your shoes off and walk on it, sit on it, or lay on it. Just touch the ground.

That’s it. Some experts recommend 40 minutes a day which is great if you can do it but I believe that even five minutes a couple of times a week can be a great start. The sunshine and fresh air are a bonus.

I did this for about ten minutes yesterday and I had more energy than I’ve had in months. I got a bunch of stuff done and still felt great at bedtime. You’ve gotta try it.

More suggestions for how to fit grounding into your life –

• Sit on the ground a pull some weeds out of your flower garden
• Put down a blanket on the grass and lay there looking up at the stars or the clouds in the sky
• Play with your kids or grands on the grass
• If it’s hard to get down or up from the ground, set a lawn chair on the grass and let your bare feet touch the ground for 10 minutes
• If you can go outside for a few minutes on your break take a small blanket and just sit on the ground.

It doesn’t have to be complicated or long. Just look for opportunities and take them. Anyone can do this.

Combine grounding with some of the tips in my Afternoon Energy Boosters to make it even more beneficial.

I’d love to see everyone doing this so please share this post with your friends. I know you’re really busy so there’s a link at the bottom that makes it easy to share.

You might also like Three hidden sources of stress that may be sapping your energy and how to fix them. 

See you then.

Anita