What does Earthing have to do with mental health?

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Earlier this year I went through more than 14 research papers and studies on Earthing. I have seen a shift in my wellbeing over the years.

From good to bad and good again. I was not aware however why that happened and exclusively blamed it on sport performance, nutrition, sleep deprivation or simply growing up.

 

What is Earthing?

 

Earthing (grounding or Electron Transfer Technology) is defined as placing one’s skin on the ground (especially when humid or wet), whether it be dirt, grass, sand, or concrete.

Earthing can be done in direct skin contact to earth or through patches attached to the human feet and/or palms of hands and an earthing cord leading to the outdoors to a rod driven into the earth.

 

There are different technologies which try to imitate the effects of Earthing. Nikken for example is a Japanese company which created insoles, mattresses, pendants and more which mimic de electromagnetic field of the Earth to help healing and better functioning of the body as a whole. It is however better to send as much time outdoor barefoot.

 

Earthing and health and well-being

 

Many research papers ask us to allow for the possibility that human beings have been and always will be connected to the Earth and any attempt to change this universal law may disturb the natural and healthy processes in the human body.

Until a few generations ago, most humans walked and slept in direct contact with the surface of the Earth. Our modern lifestyle involves wearing insulating shoes and sleeping in buildings that electrically isolate the body from the ground plane.

Furthermore, although the internet and mobile phones are a blessing to many of us, all the waves and frequencies go through and around us and so disconnect us from the Earth’s electromagnetic field.

 

The science of Earthing

 

Emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth.

 

In our fight to achieve a more comfortable lifestyle we have separated ourselves from such contact or connection. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and general unwellness.

 

Reconnection with the Earth’s electrons has been proved to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being.

 

Earthing (or grounding) refers to the discovery of benefits—including better sleep and reduced pain—from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth’s electrons from the ground into the body.

While some people intuitively sense that they feel  better when they walk or even sleep directly on the earth (as on a camping trip), most of the population is more or less permanently isolated from the earth’s electrical influences.

 

Living in direct contact with the earth grounds the body, inducing favorable physiological and electrophysiological changes that promote optimum health.

 

Earthing and stress, anxiety or depression

 

Earthing is the oldest and most basic form of natural bioelectric potential that supports physiological and electrophysiological changes in the body.

The many unpredictable sociological, economic, and political events of the 21st century have increased the stress of modern living as compared to earlier and simpler times.

Since the ANS (autonomic nervous system) is linked to the stress response, previous investigations have demonstrated that grounded subjects experience a reduction in stress and a normalization of the ANS.

When one grounds to the electron-enriched earth, an improved balance of the sympathetic (flight-or-fight response, which can lead to hypertension and cardiovascular disease)  and parasympathetic nervous system occurs.

 

In patients who experience anxiety, emotional stress, panic, fear, and/or symptoms of autonomic dystonia, including headaches, cardiac palpitations, and dizziness, grounding could be a very realistic therapy. These patients may see positive effects most likely within 20 to 30 minutes and in almost all cases in 40 minutes.

 

Negative emotions such as panic, depression, anxiety, and hostility have all demonstrated reduced HRV (Heart Rate Variability). 

 

Grounding has the potential to help support Heart Rate Variability, reduce excessive sympathetic overdrive, balance the ANS, and, thus, attenuate the stress response.

 

This is very important especially because an association between depression and increased risk of cardiovascular events has been repeatedly observed in both the healthy population and patients with established cardiovascular disease.

 

WARNING: It is important to follow your doctor’s instructions. You may use earthing in addition to your planned medical care but do not replace it.

My (personal) Earthing story

 

As a child my parents would send me in the country side to spend up to 3 months of summer holiday with my grandparents.

I used to spend those 3 months barefoot, day and night really. Through rivers and lakes, up on hills and through forests. Looking in retrospective, I was the happiest child, I was free from the city, I was wild.

 

With time I developed symptoms of depression, panic attacks and anxiety. I was a stressed out child form a very early age. Being outdoor kept my mental health stable, but who knew that then?

Growing up I stopped spending time at my grandparents’ and lived my days in school or university and in a busy city. Much like London just smaller but packed.

 

My depression, panic attacks and anxiety became more difficult to control and this lead to years of struggle for my parents who spent a lot of money to help me grow up … in a normal way. The pressure was especially on my mother’s shoulders.

Long story short, about 3 years ago (when my mental health was quite worrying), in a moment of clarity, I began connecting with the outdoors, to re-connect I should say. I don’t know how I made that decision but it happened.

 

And thus a new journey began. A journey of discovering another self, of understanding the cause of my mental and physical unbalances. At least from one point of view

Now, after going through this research, things start to make sense. At least I discovered one of the causes of my unbalanced health

 

This may not be the only cause but it is the only big thing that changed throughout my life, looking in retrospective.

Nowadays I start at least 5 days out of 7 outdoor and many times barefoot. Sometimes with my clients, other times with myself.

 

WARNING: It is important to follow your doctor’s instructions. You may use earthing in addition to your planned medical care but do not replace it.

 

Would you like to know more about what I do? Please book a 30 min free consultation and let’s just talk.

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