Be Grounded – Sleep Healthy
Reconnect to Mother Earth
We first encountered the idea of being “Earthed” or “Grounded” when we saw Kroschel Films’ feature documentary “The Grounded“. What struck us about this documentary was that it was full of real people that were ‘just giving something a go’ and were ‘getting results’. At first we were a little skeptical that something so simple could work, but after doing some preliminary research on it, it seemed at least plausible.
With the assistance of Steve Kroschel (www.bearfootgrounding.com) and Laura Koniver (www.intuition-physician.com), we are currently doing a trial test of “Earthed” sleep systems that would be suitable for our resort, and we hope to be able to offer an option for guests to select an “Earthed” or “Grounded” sleeping option when you stay with us, in the near future.
What is being Earthed (or Grounded)?
According to the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, being earthed (or grounded) 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.
Basically, the theory is that our bodies are meant to come into contact with the earth (a “grounding” force) on a regular basis. Reconnecting with the earth (or “ground”), helps to balance out our bodies and leads to a wealth of health benefits. The Earths energy within our body’s helps to prevent damage to normal tissue that shuts down the immune response and helps our body to heal and return to normal.
The Effects of being Earthed (or Grounded)
Until recently, the physiological significance and possible health effects of stabilizing the internal bioelectrical environment through being earthed (or “grounded”) have not been a significant topic of research. However, according to emerging research, being earthed (or “grounded”) can be beneficial in:
- Reducing inflammation by defusing excess positive electrons
- Reducing chronic pain
- Improving Sleep
- Increasing Energy
- Lowering stress and promoting calmness by reducing stress hormones.
- Normalizing biological rhythms including circadian rhythm
- Improving blood pressure and blood flow
- Relieving muscle tension and headache
- Lessens menstrual and female hormone symptoms
- Speeds healing- used in some places to prevent bed sores
- Can eliminate jet lag
- Protecting the body from EMFs
- Shortens recovery time from injury or athletic activity
- Reducing or eliminating snoring
- Helping support adrenal health
Easy Ways to Incorporate Being Earthed into our life
Obviously, walking outside barefoot is the easiest and cheapest way if you are able and will also help speed up tissue repair and ease muscle pain due to strenuous exercise. To work, you must be barefoot and in contact with rock, dirt or water.
If you aren’t able to walk barefoot each day, there is now an alternative conductive systems that transfer the Earth’s electrons from the ground into the body, these are usually called earthing sheets, or earthing mats.
We are testing some of these out currently and hope to be able to provide guests the option of an “earthed” or “grounded” sleep in the near future.
Does Science Back It Up?
There are studies on the health benefits of being earthed. We have provided a list of some of the studies that we came across below. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, there are more studies that we have not provided links to. We are only attempting to provide a ‘taster’ and we will leave it to you to explore those on your own.
Chevalier G, Changes in Pulse Rate, Respiratory Rate, Blood Oxygenation, Perfusion Index, Skin Conductance, and Their Variability Induced During and After Grounding Human Subjects for 40 Minutes. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol 16/1, 2010