Health Benefits When You Connect with Earth
Connecting with Earth
As natural creatures of the earth, it may come as no surprise that humans benefit greatly from interacting with nature and the earth’s environment.
This has gone to the extent that humans benefit from earthly connections and is now a topic of study. Scientific studies are now showing that direct physical contact with the earth allows for exchange and connection to the “vast supply of electrons on the earth’s surface” (Chevalier et al., 2012).
In many places, we are disconnected from the earth’s surface in our regular modern lives; shoes, flooring, cement, etc. “The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and un-wellness. Reconnection with the Earth’s electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being” (Chevalier et al., 2012).
By setting aside time to remove these everyday barriers for direct contact with the earth’s surface, such as standing with naked feet on bare ground, people can begin to reap the rewards and physiological benefits the earth is naturally providing.
Some of the medically proven benefits reported from this activity are; a reduction in inflammation, which has been documented through infrared medical imaging as well as blood chemistry measurements of white blood cell count (Chevalier et al., 2012). “The logical explanation for the anti-inflammatory effects is that grounding the body allows negatively charged antioxidant electrons from the Earth to enter the body and neutralize positively charged free radicals at sites of inflammation” (Chevalier et al., 2012).
The occurrence of the flowing of electrons from the earth’s surface into the human body has been scientifically documented (Chevalier et al., 2012). Other benefits individuals can receive from going outdoors are viewing or experiencing the natural environment. “Several trials have revealed the beneficial effects on mood and mental health of simply observing nature, or even images of natural scenes.
In a Japanese study, viewing plants altered EEG recordings and reduced stress, fear, anger, and sadness, as well as reducing blood pressure, pulse rate and muscle tension” (Thompson, 2018).
Connecting with nature via visual appreciation or physical contact such as “grounding” or “earthing”, as some refer to it, has been shown to increase heart health by way of inflammation reduction, a decrease of blood viscosity as well as stress reduction. These positively impact the effects of diabetes, heart health, and the immune system, a switching of sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system and normalization of muscle tension has been a notable part of these studies (Chevalier et al., 2012).
Benefits of Gardening for Mental Health
Gardening has long been a part of human existence. People from many various cultures find nourishment, joy, and exercise from gardening practices.
Studies show that gardening is not only beneficial for the obvious reasons of providing food, beauty, and enjoyment but also for less commonly known mental and physical benefits as well. Mental health benefits of gardening include an improvement in mood, a boost of self-esteem, an improvement of attention span, exercise, and encouragement of social connection (Thompson, 2018).
Gardening can provide an outlet for focusing attention and detail while nurturing growing plants. This gives a sense of accomplishment, connection, and positive feelings watching the hard work come to fruition. Being around plants, in general, has also been shown to positively increase mood and affect. “If you struggle with staying focused on tasks, conversations, or topics in your daily life, gardening can help you learn to concentrate on what’s right in front of you without getting distracted” (Thompson, 2018).
Regular exercise can help reduce many health risks as well as improve mental health. Gardening has many physical moments needed to complete a task; by raking, weeding, digging — a person is expending energy as well as using strength to pick up and move tools, plants, and soil.
Social interaction is another contributor to positive well-being, gardening can be a solo activity or can be done as a group. This may be a good option for socialization, such as spending time gardening with a friend or family member or helping out at a local community canter garden. Being part of a community center where the garden or produce directly helps a cause can be another way to boost self-esteem and feelings of well-being, as you are contributing an act of kindness for others.
Why Connecting with the Earth is Important to Your Overall Wellbeing
Spending time in nature, physically connecting to the earth’s surface as well as gardening can give you these health benefits: decreased stress, decreased inflammation, decreased health risks for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, decreased blood viscosity, increased positive mood, feelings of accomplishment, increased focus and attention to detail, physical exercise, reduced blood pressure, reduced muscle tension, increased reporting of subjective wellbeing.
Tips to Connecting with Earth
- Get outside!
- Take some time during the day or week to ground yourself and connect to the earth’s surface.
- Find a place outdoors that brings you joy and peace, use this as your special spot to have a few connecting moments.
- Take a walk through a garden or sit near a beautiful plant.
- Don’t have time to garden or space? enjoying houseplants or growing herbs in the kitchen window can also bring positive feelings!
- If interested in gardening, think about what you would like to grow! Let your excitement motivate you to get started. Both indoor and outdoor gardening can be beneficial for feelings of well-being.
- Think about which things you want to grow and do some research, some plants grow better in certain environments than others.
- Get involved with a community garden space.
- Teach a child or loved one how to connect with nature, plants, or gardening. Sharing these tips and trying them out with those you love can feel very rewarding.
- Check out if there is a botanical garden or park nearby.
Citations
Thompson R. (2018). Gardening for health: a regular dose of gardening. Clinical medicine (London, England), 18(3), 201–205. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.18-3-201
Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S. T., Oschman, J. L., Sokal, K., & Sokal, P. (2012). Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth’s surface electrons. Journal of environmental and public health, 2012, 291541. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/291541
