The Science of Grounding - Heal Using your Bioelectrical System
Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2021. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!
Grounding, also known as “Earthing”, is a wellness therapeutic technique (1) which has been practiced multi-culturally for thousands of years and is now beginning to be take root in western wellness practices.
Geophysicist Stefan Burns with a Geometrics G-858 magnetometer
Grounding is the practice of connecting your physical body to the Earth, which can be as simple as standing barefoot on grass, or as intentional as grounded meditation and self healing. To explain it simply, when your exposed skin is in contact with the Earth, typically your feet or hands, your body and the Earth connect electrically, supporting the movement of electrons throughout your body, the surrounding earth, and in-between. The effects of grounding depend on the method and duration, and can result in simple easily quantifiable effects such as a sense of calm and well-being, to transformative but hard to quantify healing experiences.
It All Starts with The Earth
Grounding is the connection between the Earth and the physical body. In fact, you connect electrically to every object you interact with in some capacity. For this discussion, we start with the Earth because it is the largest and strongest electrical object that humans (and all other living organisms) can connect to currently.
How you connect electrically with any object depends on the size of the object, how it is in contact with you, the starting electrical state of both objects, and its inherent conductivity/resistivity.
The Earth is a massive object with a large potential to store, move, and transmit electricity.
The rough physical statistics for the Earth are:
Diameter - 7900 miles
Surface Area: 200 million sq miles
Volume: 2.6x10^11 cubic miles
Mass: 6.0x10^24 kg
Magnetic Field Strength at the Poles: 70,000 nT
Magnetic Field Strength at the Equator: 30,000 nT
To protect life from the relentless bombardment of solar rays from the Sun, the Earth needs a very strong magnetic field.
Magnetic fields have been known of for thousands of years, and it was in the 1600’s that scientist concluded that the Earth behaves like a magnet except on a solar system scale. But how are magnetic fields created?
Magnetic fields are created by moving charged particles. In the case of the Earth, the movement of the Earth’s metallic molten core (2) and magnetotelluric currents throughout the mantle and crust generate and shape the Earth’s magnetic field.
Magnetotelluric (3) currents are naturally varying electric currents that are continuously flowing through the Earth over a wide range of frequencies ranging from 10,000 Hz to 0.0001 Hz. Lower frequencies mean larger wavelengths. Geophysicists have been studying magnetotelluric currents since the early 1900’s, and it is well understood and accepted in the scientific community that magnetotelluric currents are created through the constant influx of charged particles from the sun in addition to the thousands of lightning strikes that discharge massive amounts of energy into the Earth every day.
These high and low frequency electrical currents exist deep within the Earth, from surface to core. Different Earth materials (rock, soil, water, etc) have an effect on the strength and propagation of electrical currents. For example, a nice grassy meadow after a rain would be an excellent conductor, but an electrically resistive geologic layer underneath the meadow would make the area overall more resistive to the Earth’s deeper magnetotelluric currents. Since geology varies across time and space, the electrical status of any area can vary. Areas with only minor geologic and hydrogeologic activity will electrically remain fairly constant. Areas with rapid geologic changes (landslides, earthquakes, floods) will vary electrically over time.
Magnetotelluric waves can be detected at the surface, but trees with deep extensive toor systems are able to bring lower frequency and stronger waves to the surface. Trees are incredible conductors of electrical energy, and it is through trees that most lightning strikes “deposit” their energy deep into the Earth.
Trees are very powerful grounders (4). I had a powerful grounding experience with this tree at the botanical gardens in Rio De Janerio, Brazil.
Geology and trees can affect how well the natural electrical currents of the Earth are present at the surface, and other factors can also influence how easy it is to ground to these currents.
Hydrocarbon based materials like asphalt, plastic, and foam are very resistive. In the modern world, many layers of resistivity are built up that separate humans from grounding to the Earth. Wearing socks, running shoes, and standing on asphalt separate you from grounding to the Earth by three layers of various resistivity and thickness.
“Until connected with nature you are highly insulated from Earth’s electrical life force”
We are Bioelectrical Beings
Electromagnetic fields have a profound effect on the human body and mind and to use an obvious example there’s a reason no one wants to be struck by lightening. 10-30% of those struck by lightening die, and 80% of those who survive sustain long-term injuries to their nervous, muscular, and cardiac systems. The fact that we can survive lightening strikes at all is incredible and worth thinking about (6). Our brains create subtle electromagnetic waves and our hearts have a strong consistent magnetic field 1000x stronger than the brain. I’ve measured mine directly before, and when your heat beats the magnetic field amplitude increases the same as a pulse wave. Blood pulse waves strongly generate lower frequency 8-12 Hz alpha brainwaves. The human body utilizes electromagnetic energy across a variety of scales, from very subtle strengths to easily measurable with a magnetometer from a few meters away. In a lightning strike, the electromagnetic fields are so strong that they will override any balance of electromagnetic energy someone has maintained.
If hit by lightning, a massive amount of electricity conducts down the nervous system from the highest part of the body, through the torso and trunk, into the legs, and then discharged out through the feet into whatever is being stood on.
It’s the central and peripheral nervous system that is largely the main system responsible for moving electrical currents through the body. Nerves transmit electrochemical signals from one part of the body to another, and the nervous system is the foundation of your bodies bioelectrical system (7), with other components of the bioelectrical system including the endocannabinoid system, muscle tissue, fascia, and even your blood.
With a lightning strike, in just milliseconds 5 gigajoules of energy travel through an individual, the same amount of energy as 36 gallons of gas. To survive 10-100 million volts from a lighting strike, the human bioelectrical systems must be incredibly well developed and capable of transmitting and grounding the huge amount of energy rapidly. Some people don’t have this ability, their hearts and minds fry, and they pass on. A lightning strike is very dangerous. If lightning is striking within 10 miles of your position head for shelter.
Lightning is an extreme example, but there are other electrical objects we connect with daily. When you hug someone you share electrons, and sometimes a handshake results in a spark! Driving your car or typing on your laptop places you in indirect contact with electronic circuitry. Most appliances are electrically grounded for safety reasons in order not to spark you. Not all electronics are directly grounded though, such as your cellphone, and with the average cellphone containing an energy dense lithium ion battery (8), during use it will ground and discharge some electrons to the most conductive object it is in contact with. Most often, that is you, specifically your hands, which are packed with conductive nerve endings.
Charged or Discharged
Throughout the day, you are in various electrical states. Early in the morning while still in bed, you’ll have had 8 hours to discharge electrons. Depending on your choice of bedding material (conductive natural fabrics vs resistive synthetic fabrics) you either fairly effectively grounded yourself or you remain some percentage charged up from your electrical exposure the day before. Daily grounding is an important part of getting a good nights sleep.
If your activities for the day are active and outdoors, say taking a swim or reading a book on a lawn, you would have grounded throughout the day and therefore would have discharged whatever human charge you had built up.
If your activities for the day instead included heavy cellphone and computer usage, surrounded by low levels of electromagnetic energy in the form of 4G, 5G, and WiFi networks, then you’ll have absorbed more of a charge than you have given off throughout the day, and you’ll be at a higher energy level.
Going to sleep in a charged state, you might find your thoughts scattered, your body restless, and your mind fatigued.
Going to sleep grounded, you’ll discharge the extra energy quickly, your mind will become calm, and you’ll reach a stable baseline charge in sync with the Earth. It’s the stability of the electrical charge that’s important for your wellness. Having a stable electrical balance allows the body to jump right into 8 hours of restorative healing (9), memory maintenance, and smooth digestion.
A grounding bed sheet, connected to the ground plug of an electrical outlet, can quickly rinse you clean of your charged load every night, allowing the body to rest in an electrical environment the same as we evolved with for millennia.
What’s so special about grounding is it allows us a way to discharge and reduce the impact on our mind and body from being in elevated electrical states. Just as modern technology has provided us with revolutionary technology such as the computer and phone, new technology allows people to ground to the Earth in the comfort of more human environments such as your office, living room, or bedroom.
Methods for Grounding
Grounding is one of the most easily accomplished, widely available, and free wellness initiatives you can start at any time. All that is required is a connection to the Earth’s surface, the more conductive the better. That can be problematic in the context of a modern lifestyle, which has made it increasingly difficult to accomplish this seemingly simple task.
For example, in public it’s expected and practical to wear footwear. When was the last time you saw someone walk around barefoot? Aside from the chunky foam of your sneakers, in an office or apartment building you’re at best indirectly connected to the Earth through the many floors of the building, the building’s foundation, carpeting, and more. At home while you lay asleep plastic bed sheets keep you insulated and the bed frame elevates you from the floor which itself is elevated from the ground.
To ground yourself consistently, there are a few lifestyle practices you can make habits of, and their are products you can buy to make the grounding process less conscious and something that just happens. The goal is to always make living a happy healthy life, and to stay grounded, the path of least resistance.
The best way to start grounding is to spend some time outdoors everyday, whether that’s at a park, the beach, hiking, in your backyard/communal living space, where ever. It’s well understood that time spent in nature is fantastic for your health and wellness, helping to boost energy levels, reduce stress, promote a sense of relaxation and calm, reduce risk of disease, and so much more (10). All of these beneficial health effects are synergistically linked with grounding, and thirty minutes a day spent grounding outside in these environments is likely to provide the most wellness benefits of all the methods listed here. Kicking off the shoes and spending time in nature is completely free. If you practice mindfulness during these moments, you’ll quickly experience that the wellness benefits of spending time in nature grounding outweigh the use of time. When connections like these are made, that’s when wellness practices become consistent lifestyle practices.
Another way you can incorporate grounding into your everyday life is to do your exercise grounded. Swimming is a great example of a completely grounded activity any sizable body of water is very well connected to the Earth’s natural electrical currents. Walking and/or running is another activity that can be done grounded, granted you wear the right shoes (or go barefoot). For this I recommend Earth Runners adventure sandals. Earth Runners sandals, made for walking or running, feature a conductive lacing which holds snug to your feet, and terminates at a copper grounding plug on the underside of the sandal. You can also transform your own footwear into grounding footwear with Earth Runners DIY Earthing Shoe kit. I personally have grounded my three favorite pairs of shoes this way (two from Vivobarefoot) and enjoy the fact that I’m efficiently grounded anytime I step outside now!
Vivobarefoot Borough (left), Vivobarefoot Primus Lite (middle), Outer (right). Copper Grounding plugs on each situated at the K1 meridian channel.
Another common way to incorporate grounding into your lifestyle is to add a grounding to a common activity you do daily.
If you go walking everyday, stop by the park and walk across it barefoot. If you meditate or exercise with yoga or calisthenics, then do these activities in direct contact with the ground barefoot.
Swimming in a creek, river, lake, or ocean is an excellent way to ground very rapidly to the Earth’s natural electromagnetic currents. Taking cold shower grounds you more effectively to the Earth than the grounding wire in a house.
Contrary to many, I do not typically recommend grounding mats or bedsheets. If you live in a rural area free from large industrial electrical infrastructure, and you drive you own iron ground in at least 50 feet away from your house, then using a grounding bedsheet in these conditions can be transformatively healing. If using a grounding sheet plugged into a modern house’s wall socket, then you are connecting to the same ground all the 50 or 60 Hz electronics in the house use. In an urban environment this ground is right next to the building and in close proximity to other electrical sources. Using a modern house’s grounding system exposes you directly via the earthing sheet to these electric fields, which may or may not be good. The best grounding is always done in direct contact with Earth free of manmade electromagnetic fields.
Using a grounding mat in a home or an office carries the same problems and is best avoided.
Quick Start Grounding Guide:
Spend ample time outdoors in conductive contact with the ground, either barefoot, with Earth Runners sandals, or your own grounded footwear.
Meditate grounded, and enjoy how clear your mind is during meditation and afterwards.
Exercise grounded, either by swimming or by running/walking/exercising barefoot or with grounded footwear.
Work, study, and relax grounded by installing a grounding mat in your office, at your desk, or your favorite lounging spot.
Get Ahead, Ground!
Depending on how nature oriented your lifestyle already is, the effectiveness of using grounding tools can vary. For those very disconnected from nature, incorporating earthing practices and tools into a daily routine can be transformative. For the tree huggers, the additional benefits of being grounded more often will be less obvious. The important thing with grounding and any wellness endeavor is to be consistent. If you forget to ground for a day or a week, don’t sweat it, simply pick up where you left off.
The wellness effects of grounding are not as quickly obvious as say with techniques like fasting or pain-relieving supplements like turmeric and curcumin since the beneficial health effects are much broader in scope. People more in-tune with their body will notice the effects of grounding very quickly, for others still developing electromagnetic awareness, it might take up to a month to really feel the effects of grounding and to understand how earthing is beneficially impacting them.
Use grounding to connect to your mind and body more than ever before.
Updated September 2021
References:
Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015;8:83-96.
National Science Foundation, Earth's Core Spins Faster than Earth, Research News
Louis Cagniard, Basic Theory of The Magnetotelluric Method of Geophysical Prospecting, SEG Library
Seeker Project 4 Spiritual Exploration (SP4SE), Tree Grounding Exercise — Connecting with Nature
Quora, What parts of the human body have the most nerve endings and why?, Meet Humunculus Man
ABC News, 13-Year Old Kid Survives Lightning Strike, says he feels “Like Superman” after CPR, 2008
Levin M. Bioelectric mechanisms in regeneration: Unique aspects and future perspectives. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2009;20(5):543-56.
Wikipedia, Lithium-Ion Battery
Müller E, Pröller P, Ferreira-briza F, Aglas L, Stöggl T. Effectiveness of Grounded Sleeping on Recovery After Intensive Eccentric Muscle Loading. Front Physiol. 2019;10:35.
Scientific Reports, Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing, Nature