Do you like spending time in nature?
Do you feel like you think more clearly after you have spent a little time outside?
It’s not just a coincidence, your brain is actually being put into a healing state and helping you think more clearly, and we have several great medical studies to explain why.
We already know that grounding to the earth outside immediately impacts our brains. This fantastic medical study, published in 2018, documents the brain wave shifts that happen near instantaneously, within milliseconds, recorded via an EEG (electroencephalogram) when the human body is grounded. Alpha wave patterns increase, meaning our brain goes into a healing, receptive state — similar to the healing state the human brain goes into during prolonged meditation — alert, calm, centered.
But beyond putting the brain into a healing state, might the earth actually be transmitting electromagnetic information to us through it’s natural, healing DC energy output? How are these natural frequencies impacting our brain? Does the earth transmit information to us through the electrical output of the Schumann Frequency and the Carnegie Curve? (If you want to know more about the earth’s natural electrical activity, hop over to this article right here and I’ll go into a bit more detail for you: Why Grounding Works, No Matter Where You Live In The World)
Might the earth’s output be transmitting helpful information to us? Scientists think maybe so. And I think you might too by the time you are finished reading this article. Because even though we can not see or hear this Schumann Resonance, our brain not only registers it but our cerebral cortex is actually cohesive to it. In fact, our brain’s resonance with the Schumann Resonance just may explain why you can think better when you spend time outside.
We know the Schumann Resonance is part of the electromagnetic navigational system that the earth pings out to help animals seasonally migrate. Many animals, including fish, reptiles, insects and mammals cover incredible distances by land, sea and air, sometimes even returning with pinpoint precision back to a specific spot at a specific time. Is it possible the earth’s electromagnetic output informs their brains of meaningful context and spatial awareness to know when, where and how to make that journey? Yes, says a fabulous overview of research published in Conservation Physiology in 2016. There is even some evidence to suggest even plants are affected and informed by the earth’s electromagnetic output (published in Plants in 2022.)
So it’s not the hugest surprise that it’s been suggested that the Schumann Resonance acts as a globally available synchronization system to our own brains (published in Medical Hypotheses in 2003.) And even more recently, further research in this field has given us even additional exciting evidence that the earth is informing our brain, even though we can’t hear it. In 2015, researchers used electrical brain imaging (EEG machines) and mapped the Schumann Resonance frequencies to see if there was any interaction between our human brains and the earth’s energy output. Published in the Journal of Signal and Information Processing, these scientists found that electrical activity from the earth makes a measurable synchronization in our cerebral cortex that allows for real-time coupling between the Schumann resonance and cerebral activity.
The researchers found that this activity is the exact amount of time, length of time, amplitude of signaling, and frequency of time that would be required for a “ping” from the planet to our human brains to occur. The frequency of this brain ping is once every 30 seconds, which is the brain’s short term memory decay time, indicating that the earth provides perfectly timed “micro-guidance” in a subtle, yet measurable and consistent way that informs our brain, but not long enough or strong enough to disrupt cognitive thought and disturb us as we go through our daily life.
The duration of coherence was long enough to give rise to the possibility that the earth itself may send electrical signaling, or electrical information our brain, just long enough to allow an intuitive insight, or a flash of understanding to occur, but not long enough to disrupt our stream of consciousness. In other words, it’s possible that the earth boosts our ability to receive orienting information without disrupting cognition.
Even more exciting, the highest cohesion between the earth’s Schumann Resonance and our human brains is in the parahippocampal gyrus of the brain’s cerebral cortex — this in an area of the brain that provides spatial awareness, navigation, and meaning.
Research into the parahippocampal gyrus of the brain utilizing fMRI (published in Frontiers In Neuroscience in 2015) has found that brain damage to that area of the cortex results in patients being able to generically identify images and items that are viewed, but not be able to meaningfully interpret these images. Victims of stroke or other damage to the parahippocampal areas of the brain have a feeling of being lost, disconnected, or un-anchored from the deeper meaning of visual cues and lose purposeful and relevant life navigational tools.
In fact, this area of the brain is also a highly sensitive early indicator of Alzheimers disease (research published in Brain Structure and Function in 2011) showing signs of atrophy prior to other areas of the brain showing changes. For example, if you have damage or atrophy in your parahippocampal gyrus, you may know that a female person is standing in front of you, but not recognize that this person is actually your own daughter. Or you may see that there is a car parked in front of you, but not recognize that it is actually your own car. The parahypocamppal gyrus is responsible for accurate and meaningful interpretation of our surroundings, our environment, and for support in making life decisions contextually appropriate way (as research published in Biomedical Research International in 2016 found.)
This gives a very real explanation for why time spent in nature, on the earth, grounded, helps to give rise to a feeling of centeredness, helps to give a deeper perspective on our personal life’s journey, and may even help open our subconscious up to reframing and refocusing our life’s meaning through these environmental “pings” from our planet.
Has this panned out in any research studies to actually show cognitive benefit? Yep. Thank you so much to my colleague Cynthia Seitz, MD an amazing holistic pediatrician who first sent this medical study my way. Just published in the Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology on July 1, 2024, researchers followed three groups of adolescents for 12 weeks to determine if walking barefoot outside for 40 minutes in the morning, four times a week, had any impact on their cognition.
One group of participants walked barefoot outside, one group walked over the same area at the same time and for the same duration but wore sneakers, and another group spent that same time each week in “self study” instead of walking outside. Researchers used an electroencephalogram (EEG) to record brain wave patterns on all participants before the intervention began and immediately following the 12 weeks. While hooked up to the EEG, the participants were asked a series of questions and performed tasks to examine spatial perception, memory, cognitive speed, concentration, and levels of brain stress.
The results were super interesting.
Only the barefoot ground showed significantly decreased Beta waves (associated with anxiety-dominant attention and when in this state most people feel on alert) and significantly boosted Alpha waves (associated with relaxed, creative thinking and when in this state most people feel calm and at ease.) The barefoot group also had a significant increase in cognitive speed and concentration and a significant decrease in brain stress.
The sneaker group, that did the same walking activity but wore sneakers the entire time, had no change in brainwaves except a decrease in sensorimotor rhythm brain waves. They also had no siginficant change in any of the mental performance tasks.
The control group that did schoolwork had a decrease in sensorimotor rhythm brain waves and an increase in Theta waves (associated with learning, anxiety and behavioral activation and inhibition.) In addition, the brains stress score of the control group went significantly up, and interestingly, the concentration score went significantly down.
The researchers state:
“These results indicate that barefoot walking can effectively activate cognitive ability, especially in regions associated with information processing and complex reasoning…. Furthermore, the reduction in mental fatigue and brain stress observed in the barefoot group suggests that this form of exercise may be particularly useful for individuals who experience high levels of stress or mental fatigue.”
Is it just me or do these results suggest that it actually might be more beneficial to get outside and walk barefoot than even to study or prep for a work event? Seems like studying made the control ground more stressed and actually less able to concentrate, while the barefoot walking group had less stress and was able to concentrate better and think more quickly. Remember that next time your high school or college student is stressing about an exam or paper. It might be the best advice of all to have them take a break and get outside on that earth instead. And remember that yourself the next time you are stressing about a work related issue or a personal life decision that feels overwhelming. Stop analyzing it and get outside. Your brain just might start working with more clarity with all the stress cleared out.
None of this is probably much of a surprise, because if you think about it I’m sure you’ve already experienced what these studies are revealing. Have you ever spent time in nature when you are mulling over a big life decision, or feeling distraught, overwhelmed or confused, and then you suddenly have a deeper insight, a gut feeling, a pull, or an intuition that provides greater clarity? I think of grounding as hitting a reset button, a chance for a pause that brings clarity into focus. By connecting with the earth, we can shift the brain from high strung beta waves to calming alpha wave patterns, and improve mood (as I talk about here) all naturally.
Want to hear me talk more about this concept? I have a 5 minute YouTube video for you here that you can watch (& share with all of your friends who enjoy the great outdoors!) as well as a shorter 2 minute TikTok about it here.
Grounding is an instantly accessible healing tool that can provide immediate support during times of stress, no matter where you are or what you are doing. Whether it’s just a few deep breaths as you sit on a patch of grass, taking a walk through a local park, or standing outside at night looking up at the stars… grounding supports your mood, enhances brain function and boosts clarity.
And the effects of grounding the human body start instantly, so there is no time too short for getting grounded — if it can only be 30 seconds, so be it. If it can be 15 minutes, or 30 minutes, all the better. If you have one rock outside you can touch, one blade of grass you can touch, one leaf on a tree outside, or one square inch of sidewalk you can stand on, you can be instantly grounded. Even in an urban location, or in the winter, or when you travel… you can and should get grounded outside to help keep your brain functioning at its best.
- For more tips on grounding in a city or urban area, watch my video here.
- For more tips on grounding in the cold, hop over to my blog post here.
- For more tips on grounding without being barefoot, hop over to my blog post here.
Forward this article to any of your loved ones that would find this research on the earth’s coherence to our brain (and the cognitive boost that brings) and if someone forwarded this article to you and would like more holistic healing tips to come directly into your inbox, sign up for my newsletter right here:
xoxoxo,
Laura Koniver MD
