Grounding FAQs

Here are the answers all of the grounding questions I am asked most frequently!

Have you ever wondered any of these questions yourself?

 

Here is a YouTube video I created to answer the most common questions I am asked, and I also have tons of additional FAQ info for you below the video! 

 

 

Top 20 grounding questions, answered:

 

1. Is there anything I can do to enhance grounding?

Yes! There are several things you can do to make your body even more conductive and ready to ground:

  • stay well hydrated
  • correct any mineral deficiencies
  • remove dead skin from your body
  • and have well moisturized skin.

In the human body, conductivity requires two things: water and electrolytes.This creates an electrolytic solution that can pass the flow of an electric potential from cell to cell to cell, spreading instantly throughout your entire body.If you are dehydrated or mineral depleted, you decrease your body’s conductivity.

So drink a big glass of water before and after all grounding sessions, and make sure you are eating mineral rich foods (like nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, chlorella, spirulina, kvelpand other sea vegetables, bone broth, darkly leafy greens, avocado, wild caught fish, fermented foods, free range eggs, grass fed beef, grass fed cheese and grass fed butter) and/or taking a trace mineral supplement that will supply plenty of magnesium and calcium and potassium to your cells.

Dry brush your body to encourage removal of dead skin cells, and treat yourself to routine pedicures to remove callouses on feet.Thick layers of dead skin will block grounding, similar to a thick layer of bark on a tree — you want to remove dead skin so that your fresh hydrated skin is easily accessible by the earth’s energy.

Lastly, moisturize that fresh soft glowing skin with a moisturizer, my favorite is this ground enhancing, trace mineral rich lotion. Get into a habit of rubbing oil or lotion over your body daily, particularly after every bath or shower, to be sure that your body is hydrated inside and out and primed for grounding.

 

2. Is it better to ground through feet than other body parts?

No, absolutely not, this is a myth.Grounding does not have to be through your feet by any means.

Because your entire body is conductive, any body part can ground your entire body immediately.Resting your face against a tree, running your hands through a garden bed, sitting with bare legs touching the sidewalk, holding hands with someone else who is grounded, all of these ways and more are equally effective as standing outside barefoot.

The easiest way for you to get grounded, whether it is through your feet, hands, face, legs, arms, neck, back, etc.. is the best way, because whatever way makes grounding most accessible to you is the one you are most likely to do!

However, walking barefoot is a very simple way to ensure you are absolutely grounded. Prefer wearing shoes? There are ways to ground through your feet even though shoes — I’ve tested them all for you and written an article on the best of the best ways to walk outside grounded, even when barefoot just isn’t possible:

The Best Grounding Shoes On Earth

3. Is it okay to ground if the lawn is treated with chemicals?

Although you will still be grounded outside even when pesticides have just been sprayed, I don’t recommend it.Pesticides have been linked with many harmful long term effects on our body from dementia to autism and even cancers such as lymphoma.

Do not to use home, garden and yard care products that include pesticides, insecticides and chemical fertilizers, and if you use a public space that has been treated with chemicals that you can’t do anything about, the best idea is to ground immediately after a nice ground-soaking rain, or wait at least 48 hours after any chemical application.

4. How do I prevent sun damage when grounding outside?

There are lots of things you can do to protect yourself from too much sun exposure, so don’t let fear of sun damage keep you indoors. Hop over here to read my blog post on protecting your skin naturally.

5. How can I keep bugs from biting me while grounding outside?

You can keep bugs away from you naturally with the use of cedar oil. Cedar oil can be sprayed directly on skin, on pets, around doorways and porches and windows and anywhere inside or outside of your home that bugs tend to congregate — safe to use directly on the skin –when sprayed on exposed skin it helps deter them from landing on you at all. I use this so often that my daughter tells me that this cedar oil spray is (and I quote her here:) “the smell of my childhood.” She says that every time I spray it and she catches the scent. I just love that!

6. What can I do to prevent a tick bite?

Cedar oil will also deter ticks, so use this liberally on all exposed areas of skin to deter tick bites. In addition, there are lots of other ways to dramatically decrease your risk of a tick bite, including:

  • keeping your yard and outdoor living space trimmed
  • removing piles of leaves and other debris
  • adding a few free roaming chickens to your yard space (chickens eat ticks and constantly scavenge for ticks and other pests that are harmful to humans)
  • installing a fence or keeping pets confined only to yard areas that are mowed short
  • daily brushing pets and keeping pets out of bedrooms and off of furniture during tick season (late spring, all summer & early fall.)

How else can you deter ticks and what should you do if you find a tick on you? Hop over here to read my blog post on treating tick bites holistically.

7. How can I introduce grounding to my children?

Incorporating grounding routines into childhood is truly one of the very best things you can do to instill in your child a lifetime of Well Being and infuse in them a healthy lifestyle that includes plentiful connection with the earth.

Childhood is a dangerous time of disconnection in this modern electronic age when smart screens, computers and television shows vie for their attention.It’s super important to instill in them the habit of touching the earth every single day.

Your job as a parent is to be very clear that it’s okay to get dirty and that in fact we want to get dirty enough each day to warrant taking a bath or shower that night. I am so passionate about this that I wrote and illustrated a children’s book on introducing your child to the earth… you can find that here.

8. Is it better to have more surface area touching the earth?

This is probably the most common question I am asked. Because every single cell in your body is conductive — skin, bone, nerves, GI tract, kidney, cerebrospinal fluid, connective tissue, muscles, everything — if one cell is grounded, your entire body becomes immediately grounded.Therefore, touching the earth with one foot or one fingertip is every bit as grounding as burying yourself up to your neck in sand at the beach!

In this picture below, even though the young man is wearing plastic soled flip flops, he is still totally and fully grounded through his bare arm touching the earth. Any skin touching the earth will ground your entire body from head to toe:

9. Is a longer amount of time in contact with the earth better?

This is a fantastic question. I like to tell people that while there are cumulative benefits over time to prolonged grounding, your body is instantly supported at first contact, so there is really no time too little or too long for grounding. I never want you to miss an opportunity to be grounded just because it’s might only be for 30 seconds while you walk barefoot to your mailbox, or lean against a tree while you take a break on a hike.

Within seconds your skin surface conductance has changes throughout your entire body, and your muscle tension has decreased. As seconds turn to minutes, your brain and vagal tone have gotten a calming boost from grounding, and you might notice pain decreases and mood lifts. Over time, as minutes turn to hours, your metabolic processes get a boost and your circulation (which supports every single organ system in your body) is running more smoothly. Grounding day after day means nighttime sleep is more restorative, stress hormones normalize, inflammation decreases, and health benefits begin to accumulate, often resulting in noticeable health benefits on a large scale.

On thing you can do to totally transform how your body feels, even with very limited time in the day to get grounded outside, is to simply eat one meal a day outside. In this video I explain why this one practice may be the only thing you ever need to do to heal your body inside and out:

10. Is it still working if I don’t feel anything when I touch the earth?

As a natural sequel to the question above, the next question I get is folks wondering if there are still health benefits if you don’t feel different while grounding. Yes, absolutely. Whether you can feel the shift or not doesn’t matter to the cells in your body, which are reaping the benefits of touching the earth. On a macroscopic level, you may not feel any change occur but on a microscopic level, your blood is flowing more freely, your central nervous system has been soothed, your inflammation is being reduced as electrons wash all over your body, removing some of the wear and tear your body has weathered since your last grounding session. Don’t get frustrated and stop grounding if you don’t feel immediate benefits. Your body will thank you for the consistent support over time.

11. Are trees grounded?

Yes. Anything rooted, living and growing out of the earth’s crust is grounded. So that means every blade of grass, every bush, every vine, every tree, every flower, every leaf, every bud, every crop, every shrub is fully grounded and has the ability to ground you from head to toe with one touch. All you have to do is touch a living rooted plant and you are instantly grounded. If you remove a plant from the earth, such as a potted plant growing inside, it will no longer be grounded, so unless you run a ground stake in to it it will not ground you.

When touching a tree, the most conductive thing to touch is the most moist part of the plant, which is generally the leaves or flowers. Grounding needs moisture to work, which is why dried and treated wood lumbar will not ground you. So reach for the green parts of any plant for a sure way to get grounded.

12. Is water grounded?

Yes! I love grounding through water, especially in the warmer months! Not only does water enhance grounding, but the water itself becomes grounded when it is on the earth, so you don’t have to touch the ground below the water to be grounded. Skimming your fingertips across the top of a lake will ground you every bit as much as if you were totally immersed in the water with your feet on the lake floor. Floating on top of the ocean waves will ground you even if you are not touching the sand beneath the water at all. The water itself grounds you every bit as much as the solid earth below the water.

In this video below, I demonstrate how powerfully water is grounded, both indoors and outside!

13. Are rocks grounded?

Yes! Just like cement and concrete, rock is conductive. So even with all of your best hiking gear on and thickest most protective hiking boots covering your feet, the moment you stop at the top of your trail and sit on a rock to grab a drink of water, if you have any skin touching that rock (for example on your leg or your hand) then you are entirely grounded. Same goes for river rocks, gravel, decorative patio stones, you name it, it’s all conductive and will ground you if you will only touch it.

In this video, I demonstrate grounding through both rocks and trees:

14. Are sidewalks grounded?

Absolutely.Every inch of any sidewalk that is poured directly on the earth is grounded and waiting for your touch.So are cement parking lot and road curbs,cement stairs and all other concrete paths and walkways that lay on the earth… all outline a beautiful healing grounded journey for you to step onto any time.

One thing to note is that while asphalt is made from cement and crushed rock (both conductive) it is held together with bitumen, a petroleum by-product which helps weatherproof the road, extending longevity… but sadly it is not conductive and because it coats the rock and cement, it will block you from grounding. Stick with concrete sidewalks for grounding instead of asphalt roads.

15. Are pets and other animals grounded when they are outside? Am I grounded if I touch my pet while outside?

Yes and yes.Your pets and other animals are all grounded outside when they touch the earth.Give your beloved pets as much time as you can outside on lovely walks, or at dog parks, or if you are lucky enough to have a yard, give them lots of yard time and while you are at it, join in with them!

When it is too cold for bare feet outside in the colder months you can simply touch your pet and be grounded while they stand or lie on the earth for you.Look for areas with thinner fur or no fur, such as belly, ear, and nose.Dense fur is the same as thick dead skin — it keeps animals warm because it is insulating, and that means it blocks conductive flow from your pet to you if you simply pat on top of thick dry fur.So instead, give their ears a rub, kiss their nose, give them a great long tummy rub, or massage their fur so that you are reaching into the fur to touch their skin underneath.

In this video below, I show you demonstrate that you are grounded by touching my own beloved dog outside on the earth:

16. Are electrical therapies such as PEMF, TENS and other therapies the same thing as grounding?

Because modern medicine is finally beginning to understand the depth and breadth of how very conductive the human body is, there are many new healing modalities that utilize magnetic and electric pulses and frequencies that simulate the earth’s frequency, to try to encourage healing.Although these therapies have their own merit, without direct contact from the earth there are no electrons flowing into the body to neutralize inflammation and stabilize the entire body the way grounding does.

No battery, crystal, manmade electrical impulse, or vibrational healing tool can connect you directly to the earth without you physically touching the earth. No manmade tool can approximate the healing reservoir that is the earth. Getting grounded is totally natural, with no batteries or wires or artificial products necessary. Our bodies have literally evolved to benefit from the direct support of Mother Earth, with no comparable substitute. So be sure to include grounding as part of your balanced healing plan.

17. I can’t always get outside to ground directly to the earth. Are there ways to get grounded indoors, safely?

Absolutely.

I’ve got you. I have organic, eco-friendly, ethically hand crafted, made-in-the-USA grounding tools waiting for you right here. Whether you want to sleep grounded, work grounded, ground while relaxing, watching TV, reading, or even ground outside through conductive shoes and gloves, I’ve got all the very best grounding tools in the world waiting for you right here:

 

18. I feel worse when I use an indoor grounding tool. Is this just a grounding detox?

No, there is no “grounding detox”, this is actually you being sensitive enough to feel the AC current that travels up the line of a standard ground tool.

If you are electrohypersenitive, I highly recommend upgrading to an EMF filtering PureGround ground cord. Here is a quick video demonstrating why you may feel worse when grounding through a standard ground cord and what you can do to feel better:

There is more information on electrohypersensitivity waiting for you right here, including free printable assessment forms and free printable information you can take to your physician to help diagnose and treat electrohypersensitivity.

19. How can I share grounding with my loved ones?

Here are a few ideas to get you excited to grab a friend and get grounded together!

Idea #1: Share this free Grounding Idea Book with them:

Anyone and everyone you love can download my Free Grounding Idea Book from my homepage right here, right now!

You absolutely can feel better in just a few days than you do right now. In this free ebook I will outline how just 10 minutes can make a big impact in your state of well being… nothing to buy, no time to wait for supplements to kick in, no barriers to access.

Grounding is for EVERYBODY. Just enter your email address in the sign up box on my homepage to get instant access to this fun Idea Book and healthcare guide!

Idea #2: Host a Grounding Film Screening!

Movie nights are always fun, and you can up the meaning behind our connection to Mother Earth by hosting a film screening to share the healing practice of grounding with your family and friends.

You can grab your own copy of Heal For Free right here, or if you want instant gratification, you can watch the original documentary that started it all, The Grounded, on YouTube right here. If you want to own your own copy of the film that led the entire movement, you can grab that here.

Pop some popcorn and click play… and share grounding with the people that you love.

Idea #3: Go outside and go heart spotting!!!

Nature is sending you love notes every single day. Take your camera and grab some pics of them… I love finding hearts in nature, here are some of my favs that I’ve captured:

20. How can I go further with grounding to improve specific aspects of my health?

If you are not sure how to get grounded when the weather gets extreme, when the seasons change, how to use grounding for specific health issues to get specific health results, I wrote this book for you.

If you’ve been grounding for a while and want some new, fun, inspirational ideas to shake up your normal grounding routine, then I’ve got you covered with hundreds of new ideas, and then some!

If you have specific health questions and want to know how you can use grounding to sleep better, or stabilize your mood, or decrease blood pressure, or help with balancing hormones, or for other specific health needs, I wrote this book to help.

If you have zero time to fit something else on your to-do list… then oh my goodness I wrote this book for you. I’ve got answers that will get you grounding in no time.

If you live in a city and don’t have any access to a safe greenspace, if you are not sure what earth surfaces will actually ground you, if you have dozens of other questions that can’t fit into this one blog post… I’ve got an entire book full of uplifting answers for you.

The practice of grounding, one person at a time, on minute at a time, can help save the entire planet and put it on a different trajectory than the doom-and-gloom path it’s been on. I wrote this book to tell you how, to give you hope, to empower you in your own health journey, and to help you feel interconnected to this world we live in and all the people on it.

The book is called The Earth Prescription and it’s waiting for you right here, right now:

 

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To your natural, innate, resilient health… a health that you boost any time, just by getting grounded.

xoxoxo, Laura