Earthing, or grounding/connecting with the Earth, is a beneficial practice that involves having direct skin contact with the surface of the Earth (soil or grass). The science behind it is fascinating and you can learn more about it by watching the Earthing documentary on Amazon Prime. The premise is that our body takes in a lot of negative electrical energy/charge throughout the day that causes illness or inflammation in the body. The Earthing technique helps to rebalance our energy and rid our body of inflammation leading to many reported benefits including:

-Better sleep
-Reduced inflammation
-Improvement in mental health management
-Improved cardiovascular function
-Improved immune system function
-Pain reduction

It is ideal to do this practice by walking barefoot in the grass (another great idea is gardening with soil) we don’t always have access or time for that. The founder of the concept of Earthing (https://www.earthing.com/) has made it super convenient for those of us who work office jobs to ground at work or at home! A couple of our therapists in office have grounding mats that can be used during session. Other products include socks, flip flops, and pillow cases.

If you are going to begin practicing this technique, start with 5-20 minutes per day and try to get a sense of how it might be helping you. Whether there’s a universal placebo affect or not, I can tell you that myself and my clients have always walked away after using the grounding mats feeling calmer and more centered. I strongly encouraged you to give it a try.

-Angelica Luna, LMSW