Alexandra Farmer: "Ways to Earth"
Happy Earth Day š
In a world where weāre more disconnected from the ground beneath us than ever, my dear friend and exceptional writer Alexandra dives into what earthing is, ways that she incorporates it into her daily life, and why itās so important for our overall health and wellness.
My second of many collaborations with this Lex, please enjoy reading and be sure to incorporate this simple way to calm and soothe anxiety, as well as connect back to who we truly are (because we are nature).
Read below, and then get outside today. Rain or shine. āļø
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___________________āEarthingā on Earth Day___________________
As a kid, I spent hours playing outside. I felt connected to the woods around my house, aimlessly wandering through them, collecting treasures (read: feathers and weirdly-shaped rocks) until sunset most days.
Once I got older and moved away for school and jobs in big cities, this connection to the Earth faded, and in its place, anxieties grew. While many things contributed to this, Iāve been wondering lately whether my alienation from nature also affected my mental and physical health.
In our āmodernā world, most people in the U.S. rarely touch the Earth. We walk down our concrete sidewalks in our rubber-soled shoes, but any direct connection with the ground is generally saved for camping trips or vacations to the beach.
This separation may seem normal to us, but it is a relatively new phenomenon. Homo sapiens have been around for over 300,000 years and only started living in cities around 7,000 years ago. By 1800, still only 3% of us lived in cities. Whereas, today, half of the worldās population can be found in urban areas.
And we didnāt even start wearing shoes until about 40,000 years ago, much less the rubber-soled ones that were invented in the late 1800s.
While this may seem like āprogressā (and it is for many reasons), some researchers are starting to wonder whether our lack of connection with the Earthās surface is contributing to widespread health issues, including chronic illnesses and immune disorders.
To treat these ailments, some have turned to āearthingā or āgrounding,ā a practice many cultures have been using for thousands of years for regulation and healing. Earthing is accomplished by simply touching bare skin to the ground, or by utilizing shoes or other products made out of conductive materials (i.e., not rubber) to mediate this connection.
While the science is still out, the idea is that touching the Earth enables free electrons from its surface to spread into the body and stabilize our internal bioelectrical environment. For instance, free radicals, which scientists link to cancer and other diseases, have atoms with unpaired electrons. Advocates of earthing argue that the Earthās free electrons pair with these unpaired ones to neutralize them and reduce damage to the body.
More research is needed, but thereās no denying the fact that humans evolved for thousands of years with this direct electrical connection to the Earth. So it stands to reason that this sudden separation could have destabilizing and disregulating effects.
I certainly canāt say for sure. But what I do know is that reconnecting to nature has changed my lifeāboth physically and mentally.
So for this Earth Day, be grounded and let Mother Nature do the rest.
Earth Day earthing ideas:
Do some barefoot tai chi or yoga in the park
Lay in the grass and read that book thatās been sitting on your nightstand
Play barefoot frisbee with friends
Do some gloveless gardening (check out my gardening post from last month for inspiration)
Sit on a rock and meditate
Swim in an ocean or lake
For more on earthing, check out: