BALTIMORE – An ancient practice is the latest health trend to hit social media.
This is called grounding or grounding. It is a therapeutic method that aims to reconnect the person electrically with the Earth.
This practice has been widely adopted. People who practice and study it say it provides health benefits and a feeling of calm.
"What people say you'll experience is that you'll feel less pain in areas where you might have foot pain," Debbie Yell said on TikTok. “Some people say there will be less inflammation in the body.”
Some people may remember the scene from the movie Pretty Woman where Richard Gere's character is shown walking barefoot on the grass.
It's very similar.
Some methods include walking outdoors barefoot, gardening, swimming, or bathing.
Think of it as taking care of Mother Nature.
“Basically, through contact with the Earth, we have discovered that contact with the Earth has health benefits,” said Gaetan Chevalier, director of the Earth Institute.
Chevalier says there's also proven scientific evidence behind this.
“Earthing is a great way to help us calm inflammation in the body,” she said. “What happens is that when we are not on Earth, we actively regulate the positive charge of our body. For example, our food is processed, but if we eat food from the garden, it contains electrons and will give us antioxidant power.
Free Earth electrons neutralize free radicals in the body that are known to contribute to tissue damage.
“What we saw as the most dramatic changes happened in patients with arthritis because most of them couldn't function and the medication didn't work well for them.”
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