{"id":311,"date":"2019-09-11T06:33:21","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T06:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humancoachsa.com\/?p=311"},"modified":"2019-09-17T11:36:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T11:36:59","slug":"get-grounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"Get Grounded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling really grounded today<\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all said or heard that, but what does it actually mean? Why use the word \u201cgrounded\u201d? Well, at the most surface level we\u2019re simply expressing a feeling of balance and stability, that we are feeling solid and secure in ourselves within time and space in that moment. But, the word ground is significant as we are communicating a feeling of being strongly connected to the ground beneath our feet. And though it\u2019s easy to forget and we far too often do, that ground is The Earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what grounding<\/strong> is, simply connecting to The Earth<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s one proper powerful yet practical health and wellbeing practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The science behind grounding comes down to electric charge. Our bodies are a hub of electro-magnetic activity, resulting in atoms within us living as positive, negative, or neutral charges. Now, evolution and our connection with nature meant that in a natural setting all these contrasting charges would be in balance, leaving us fit and healthy. However, the modern environment, particularly our disconnection from nature<\/strong> (just ask yourself how often your bare feet touch the natural surface of Earth) and the presence of ever increasing electrical components around us, means our electric charges are effectively short-circuiting<\/strong>. Which is resulting in negative health outcomes<\/strong>, specifically poor sleep<\/strong> and effectively through that mechanism alone increased inflammation<\/strong> which means pain<\/strong>, anxiety<\/strong>, depression<\/strong> and a poorly functioning immune system<\/strong> [to name but a few]. Sleep is a fundamental topic I have already addressed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grounding with the Earth reverses that electric dysbiosis<\/strong> [by flooding the red blood cells with negative ions] and with it a slew of negative health outcomes. The first person to tackle this scientifically was Clinton Ober, a communications industry veteran who worked day in day out with electricity and having fallen victim to a debilitating mysterious illness that the medical field could not figure out (a common story nowadays), had an inkling his close proximity to copious amounts of artificial electric and magnetic fields (EMF) could be the culprit<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ober eventually designed and conducted an experiment to investigate grounding\u2019s effect on sleep and pain and it showed \u201csignificant improvement in sleep, reduction of pain and other things like PMS issues disappeared, TMJ disappeared, just all kinds of issues [disappeared]<\/em>\u201d. That inspired him to conduct more research, which he did with a doctor who only agreed in order to prove Ober\u2019s  \u201cnutty\u201d theories wrong, yet to that cynical doctor\u2019s shock the study showed positive statistically significant results with respect to cortisol levels<\/strong>. What Ober\u2019s study showed was that grounding \u201c<\/strong>synchronized<\/strong><\/em>\u201d the subject\u2019s cortisol levels, spiking it in the morning and leveling it at night<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cortisol is a critical hormone connected to your <\/strong>circadian rhythm<\/strong><\/a>, or natural waking and sleeping cycle. It should spike early in the morning to get your body moving and energized for the day and tapper off over the day so that by nightfall you\u2019re ready to sleep and get much needed rest. These days, many people\u2019s cortisol cycle is upside down<\/strong>, with too little action in the am leading to fatigue, sluggishness, fogginess, etc and too much in the pm meaning insomnia and its legion of downstream effects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That successful study inspired Oben to pursue grounding as a health intervention and over the years in conjunction with a host of medical professionals has published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers<\/a> showing benefits related to sleep, inflammation, stress, anxiety, heart rate variation, vagal nerve tone, blood glucose, serum electrolytes and wound healing<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you getting grounding? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It couldn\u2019t be easier \u2013 just touch the Earth with your skin<\/strong>. Walk barefoot, take a snooze in the grass, garden without gloves, anything that puts you back in touch with the natural surfaces of Earth. And although even concrete actually works fine (but asphalt does not), the best stuff to be in contact with is grass and soil\/sand<\/strong>. And there\u2019s even one better surface than that \u2013 salt water<\/strong>. So, if you\u2019re lucky enough to be by the beach, take regular dips because \u201cyou can\u2019t get more perfectly grounded than jumping in the ocean<\/em>\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time wise? More is more<\/strong>. You can\u2019t overdue grounding. But as a rule of thumb, 30 minutes is recommended<\/strong> as within that time your body will have complete a complete circulation of the blood in the body.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But given the context of so many of our lives, getting on or into nature isn\u2019t always possible. Step forward the modern solutions to the problems of modernity<\/strong>. Grounding sheets and mats and other gizmos and gadget are available to integrate into your lifestyle. Using them for sleeping and at your computer workstations are ideal solutions given the time we spend in those places. For all you non-subscribers, subscribe now and in all the next article\u2019s emails you can access my three bonus tips and tricks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that about says it all. Connecting to the Earth is a powerful way to connect to the healing power within yourself and your body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, whip off those shoes and get your feet nice and dirty and EARTHY!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All information and quotes above are drawn from the Ben Greenfield Fitness<\/em> podcast, episode 1086<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image credit:
Photo by Heather Morse<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Disclaimer:
Remember dear reader, I am neither a doctor nor any sort of medical physician in any capacity. None of the information presented above can be construed as any sort of medical advice in any sort of manner. You as the reader is solely responsible for creating and implementing your own physical, mental and emotional well-being, decisions, choices and actions. As such, the reader agrees that the author is not and will not be liable or responsible for any actions or inaction taken by the reader or for any direct or indirect results. This information is simply presented and whatever you decide to do with it is your choice and your responsibility. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grounding is simply connecting to The Earth.<\/p>\n

And it’s one proper powerful yet practical health and wellbeing practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,37,16],"tags":[5,67,63,64,62,13,52,53,65,17,66],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-grounding","category-life","category-sleep","tag-circadian-rhythm","tag-cortisol","tag-earth","tag-emf","tag-grounding","tag-inflammation","tag-pain","tag-pain-relief","tag-pms","tag-sleep","tag-tmj","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humancoachsa.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}