Jeannie Sindicic, when she was just four or five years old, remembers feeling a sense of calm and togetherness just by stepping barefoot on the ground.

“I loved bare feet. Whenever I walked on dirt or walked on grass, whenever I was barefoot, I personally felt very connected to mother earth at a very early age. I felt that I was on “the benefits of vibrating at the earth’s natural frequencies and what it is”.

It wasn’t long before Sindicic, now a Midwest-based intuitive life coach, learned the name of this very practice.

“We call it grounding,” she says. This is another term that people use today.

Earthing, or grounding, is a practice that has likely existed for generations, even without an exact label. On social media platforms like TikTok, the hashtag #earthing has over 66 million views and #grounding has over 199 million views. His 2019 documentary, The Earthing Movie: The Remarkable Science of Grounding, has 4.6 million views on YouTube.

What exactly is “grounding”?

Clint Ober — author of “Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?” — says grounding is associated with the Earth’s tiny negative charge and abundant free electrons.

“When anything that is electrically conductive touches the earth, such as ground rods, metals, human bodies, animals, etc., the body absorbs electrons from the earth and equals the earth,” Ober says.

These electrons are used by the body to improve function and reduce inflammation, leading to a myriad of health benefits.

Ober is credited with discovering earth and bringing it to the masses through his work, but says he did not invent the act of connecting to earth in this way. He says he was inspired by his knowledge of electrical stability in the telecommunications industry as a retired pioneer in the television industry and his childhood growing up near Native American communities. He recalls being at a Native American friend’s house where his mother told him to take off his shoes.

“They’re going to make you sick,” he recalls her words. When he started thinking about it, he stuck with that notion…shoes.

What are the benefits of “earth”?

Once Over started playing around with the idea of ​​a home, body, and ground charge, he says he started noticing “very obvious” effects, like improved sleep and less body pain.

Now 78, he grounds about 80% to 90% of the time using both outdoor grounding and a tool he helped develop that allowed him to ground indoors via grounding rods. He says he maintains and does not suffer from inflammation-related health problems. hindrance.

While there is a lot of research on the benefits that nature has on someone’s mental health, it’s been less researched specifically, especially when it comes to physical health.

In a study published in 2012, the researchers said, “Emerging evidence suggests that contact with the earth, whether barefoot outdoors or indoors connected to a grounded conductive system, is simple and natural.” Yet chronic stress, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, inflammation, pain, sleep deprivation, HRV disruption, hypercoagulability, and many common health disorders, including cardiovascular disease.”

Critics argue that there are too few studies and not enough evidence to support these claims, pointing to potential placebo effects that are difficult to verify from a scientific perspective.

Sindicic says that Earthing is integrated into her daily life and helps her mental health.

“When I wake up in the morning… I go outside with my dog ​​for a walk on the lawn. That’s how I start my day,” she says. “It may sound corny…it’s a kind of meditation for me. I can feel the earth vibrating under my feet and I feel so wholesome and grounded. I feel that we can start with

Any time spent in nature “provides mental and physical health benefits,” says Daignault. “Being outside has inherent health benefits.”

Tips for trying grounding:

If you’re interested in exploring earthing, Sindicic suggests these simple steps:

• Please take off your socks.
• Walk outside, even if it’s just on dirt or grass in your backyard.
• Stand and remain silent for 3-10 seconds.
• Take three deep breaths from your solar plexus chakra, which is about two inches above your navel.

“That’s how this whole journey begins, how people try to understand their place in this world,” she says.