This is the story of my personal adventure with the healing modality called grounding, which is also known as Earthing.
Grounding has been an absolute wellness adventure for me personally.
It meets my criteria for what can be a wellness adventure – being simple, effective, and accessible.
I believe it has potential to benefit everyone, based on the available research.
As always, please read my full disclaimer and remember that this article is a personal story. It’s provided as education and is not in any way to be construed as medical advice.
What Is Grounding?
Grounding is a term that is used in yoga and mindfulness to describe the experience of centering yourself.
The term also applies to what happens when the human body is connected to the natural electrical charge that is present in the surface of the planet. This charge is a source of electrons. And it turns out humans as a species need regular access to these electrons.
Grounding is also called “Earthing” so keep in mind that you may hear the two terms used interchangeably and they mean the same thing.
Looking to better understand grounding? Here are some quick resources to get you started:
- New to Earthing by Earthing Institute
- What is Earthing by Earthing.com
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2017 – The Year I Learned About Grounding
Well I should back up a smidge because the truth is I had been told about grounding in 2013 or 2014.
But the modality of grounding is so simple that it is very easily dismissed. And dismiss it I did back in 2013 or 2014.
Then 2017 arrived. I had overworked myself. Had traveled too much. Pulled too many late nights, Ate too much non-nourishing food. And to top it all off was pushing myself too hard at the gym.
End result – In January 2017 I started having a cough. I was sick and it just wouldn’t go away.
Mid-February I went to the doctor and darn it both she and I missed that it was serious. I had walking pneumonia but we only realized it looking back.
By the first of March I had a more serious type of pneumonia and spent four days in the hospital. Followed by two months of being miserable at home. The antibiotics did a number on my digestive system. I knew what to do to improve that but I was also iron-deficient anemic and still worn out. I would have a good day or two, then a bad day.
My Friend Had a Grounding Mat
When I was in the hospital I was messaging with a good friend. She was also in the hospital, in another city, and for a different reason. Thing is she was recovering super fast. I knew her, knew her medical history, knew this particular ailment she had – which usually takes months of bed rest to recover from. But no, at the end of that week they sent her home and 6 weeks later she was nearly all healed.
I asked her how this could be? She said … “my grounding mat”.
I thought to myself “what ridiculousness is this?” Truly I was not getting it. It sounded like hogwash to me.
And Then I Bought a Grounding Mat
On May 7 I was messaging with her again – still stunned at her quick recovery. And struggling with my own. She said – “You have to get a grounding mat.”
She sent me a link to a Universal Mat from the company Earthing. I bought it from Amazon’s website.
The mat arrived on May 9. I still thought it was hogwash. But I took it out of the box, read the directions, plugged the cord into the ground port of a properly grounded electrical outlet, snapped the other end of the cord to my mat, and put my feet on the mat.
And wow! I felt better. I wondered if it was psychosomatic. But I sat there for 20 minutes on that mat and I was sure I was feeling more normal.
And then …
My husband walked into the room and asked me what I was doing. I told him. He said … “Huh. Well you look better than you have in weeks.”
And it’s true. I did look better. Reason? Earthing boosts circulation. And for me that meant my skin tone looked better. Especially on my face.
Grounding 24/7 to Recover
For the next few months I kept a grounding mat with me everywhere I went in the house. I worked with it, slept with it, grounding 24/7.
And I got better. Finally.
My husband said later that summer that he had never seen me have so much energy.
I ordered more grounding products to use inside the house. I went barefoot as much as possible outside the house. To ensure I was grounded constantly.
I read every piece of information I could find. I watched the two movies available at that time plus a short film that had been made. I read the entire Earthing book, every grounding article on Intuition Physician’s website, and the full Earthing Institute website.
Read More About My Grounding Adventure
In June 2017 I connected with people working on grounding. Martin Zucker, who co-wrote the book Earthing, interviewed me and published my story on the Earthing Institute’s website. You can read it here.
I also spoke with the blog That Organic Mom and she authored a wonderful article that is a great place to start to understand grounding and all that it can do for you. Read her piece “The Ultimate Guide to the Health Benefits of Grounding.”