Sarah is a multi-skilled award-winning Author and proud mother from the UK. Her extensive experience in senior management and adult teaching means she brings valuable insight into various topics via her writing and public speaking.
In today's fast-paced world, it's easy to forget the power of nature’s grounding effects. How often do you take the time to truly connect with the earth beneath your feet? Earthing, also known as grounding, offers incredible health benefits from reducing inflammation to improving sleep and lifting your mood. But beyond the occasional barefoot moment, making it a consistent practice can unlock a deeper sense of well-being. Discover why earthing should become a daily habit and explore simple ways to incorporate it into your life.
Ok, so I want you to be honest with me here.
How much do you actually embrace nature’s grounding effects?
How much time do you spend outdoors?
Do you make the effort to respect and cherish the wondrous world around you?
I ask these questions because I know that life gets busy!
Although many people know about earthing, I don’t think enough are aware that regular practice provides a plethora of significant health benefits.
It’s all well and good to enjoy the occasional barefoot dance on a warm, sunny day, but making earthing a consistent habit will unlock the secrets to good health.
What is earthing?
Earthing (more commonly known as grounding) involves immersing yourself in all or any of nature’s wonders.
Being at one with the natural world around you helps lift your mood, increase your fitness, and heal common ailments.
Earthing includes the physical act of walking and connecting our bare feet directly to the ground.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am outside barefoot in all seasons!
Through this direct bodily contact, we are able to link up to the earth’s free electrons and benefit from their powers.
With this natural electrical charge running through us, our bodies can neutralize the free radicals that cause inflammation.
As you may or may not know, chronic inflammation can lead to disease.
As these electrons flow through us, we can even use this as therapy to:
Accelerate healing
Lift our spirits
Encourage a better mindset
Improve sleep
Relieve tension
Assist our lymphatic system in flushing out toxins
Relieve pain
Practice mindfulness and clear our busy minds
For those of you who don’t like going barefoot in the soil (or are unable to), don’t stop reading yet—earthing can be incorporated into your life in many other ways too.
Your earthing journey
Start walking. Taking a brisk walk through fields, parks, and gardens is a great starting point and an accessible choice for most.
Spend time in the forest. You get to walk among creepy crawlies, furry friends, feathery singers, fungi, and wise old trees. Also known as forest bathing, this act of self-care has been prescribed by doctors in Japan for many years.
Spend time at the water’s edge. Visiting lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and beaches is a fantastic way to utilize time and energy while taking in a good surge of pure oxygen to the lungs.
Lie in a field or relax on a sandy beach. Whenever your skin is in direct contact with the natural elements, you are benefiting from nature’s medicine.
Test the water. Dip your toes in the sea or lake and make friends with the fancy fish and forever-hungry ducks.
Swim in the ocean. Swimming freely in the sea is one of my favorite things to do on holiday, and it always brings out the playful child in me. This is a great way to ground yourself.
Cold water swimming. Total, controlled submersion into a lake makes you feel alive and rejuvenated, as well as offering a whole range of other health benefits.Organized cold-water events have become very popular of late, so take a look at local waters if you’re feeling brave.
Wild water dipping or swimming should only ever be done when it is safe and legal to do so. This is not suitable for everyone.
Eat more earthly foods
You can benefit from a transfer of energy through the naturally occurring foods that you eat. Mother Earth offers many forms of medicine that will feed your mind, body, and soul.
This is precisely why I refer to naturally grown fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts, seeds, and herbs as Soul Food, because they sufficiently aid good health in every cell of our body.
Yoga and meditation
Yoga is a fantastic way to show respect to your body while also practicing gratitude for the present moment. Not only does it improve fitness, joint mobility, and breathing techniques, but it also revives your whole body and soul. If you haven’t tried it yet, I urge you to practice yoga wherever possible.
My grounding tips
Being and feeling more grounded, in my opinion, is life-changing, and I hope that my explanation of earthing resonates.
Here are some additional ways to connect to this magical world we live in:
Ditch the phone. When earthing, get rid of distractions and enjoy the present moment.
Make earthing the norm for any children in your life.
Explore the universe and all its lunar activities.
Walk barefoot on natural ground at every opportunity. Astroturf and tarmac don’t count!
Don’t turn your nose up at the sand on your skin. Move the towel, get your body in the sand, and enjoy the natural exfoliation.
Ingest more water. A hydrated body allows your skin to be a better conductor for the earth’s electrons.
Enjoy a nutritious diet and ensure you are getting enough minerals.
Invite more plants and flowers into your home and garden. They brighten up the day.
Practice proper breathing techniques.
Be comfortable in your own company.
Prioritize quality sleep and rest time.
Practice gratitude. Always.
Think twice before complaining about the insignificant.
Hug the trees and sit beside them during your walks. Take in their wisdom, their calmness, and even more of their phytoncides.
Take seeds and nuts to the park for the wild animals.
For more on grounding, feel free to connect with me for links to my live talks and podcasts. For those who can’t or struggle to put any of the above suggestions into place, my recommendation would be to maybe research grounding mats and other at-home grounding products.
Let’s explore more ways to help each other and find alternative solutions for all.
Read more from Sarah Marie Park
Sarah Marie Park, Award-Winning Author & Wellbeing Advocate
Sarah is a 3 x award-winning wellness Author from Staffordshire, UK. Her self-development workbook has won 3 awards, which has propelled the demands for her professional contributions, by means of pubic speaking, newspaper articles, podcasts and blogs. Sarah is passionate about spreading the importance of mindset awareness to a diverse audience.
