Grounding: the art of walking barefoot on the ground

Keeping your feet on the ground will change your life. Literally. Walking in the grass or on the sand on the beach means having a more special and direct connection with nature. We know it’s pleasant and it’s reassuring, but it’s much more than that.

Numerous research studies claim that walking with your feet on the ground relieves the inflammation behind diseases such as diabetes, asthma, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and some heart ailments. It also improves sleep quality, reduces muscle pain, improves mood, increases energy levels and has a beneficial effect on stress by normalising cortisol (stress hormone) secretion and stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.

The scientific term is grounding or earthing and all its benefits are explained by the fact that we are electrical beings, which emit and pick up energy waves. An imbalance between positive and negative ions can cause health problems. “We vibrate at the same frequency as the planet, and we need its energy to recharge ourselves. That’s why we feel better when we get in touch with nature,” explains Amalia Rubio, head of the SHA Wellness Clinic’s Energy Health unit.

Tiredness and fatigue can be related to a loss of electrons, and thus to a lack of connection to the ground. The causes can be varied, ranging from air pollution, the toxins we eat, the products we use, and also our management of emotions and stress.

On the other hand, we spend many hours indoors with lots of electronic devices and poor ventilation. Grounding benefits us because the earth is charged with electrons, which are absorbed by bare feet when we walk, and their powerful antioxidant effect is harnessed. The devices and electrical connections that surround us all day long make life easier, who would doubt that, but they also pose a health risk that could be alleviated by systematic grounding.

“The human being is frequency, we are electric charges and we need them to function. We cannot lose that energy that is at risk due to stress, the way we live, the amount of electronic devices around us, even the food itself which has hardly any nutrients and is highly processed. The lack of motivation and the tiredness we feel is because we have become disconnected from life and nature,” explains the expert.

Amalia Rubio confirms that grounding – the ideal is walking in nature or on wood – charges us with negative ions, which are alkaline, very positive for the body, but the expert says that working with clay or ceramics also achieves good results. “All living matter provides us with negative ions. We are highly charged with positive ions from the frequencies of mobile phones, computers, fibre in clothing, asphalt, electricity pylons, electromagnetic frequency and artificial light. There is a lot of scientific evidence that keeping the skin in contact with nature is very healthy. We all have an electromagnetic field and walking barefoot on the ground is good because we ground ourselves and recharge ourselves with negative electrons.

Systematically practising grounding charges us with vitality and eliminates stress,

reduces chronic inflammation, improves sleep, balances cortisol and strengthens the immune system.

“30 minutes a day of grounding would suffice,” says Rubio, who believes that a dip in the sea would be even better. “In addition to the negative ions, there are the benefits of water, iodine and the sun’s rays”.