Do
you automatically plug your mobile phone in the charger when you get into your
car? Feel an immediate panic if you forget your device at home when running
errands? Guilty here. I let my gas tank fall well below a quarter, yet feel
uneasy if my phone’s charge is less than 35%. It’s incredible how tethered we
are to technology, yet we intrinsically know that separating ourselves is
healthy, (as I type with my laptop warming my legs and my phone to my left).
How
connected are you? And does checking whatever online pursuit make you happy?
More stressed? Does it drain you?
Made
me think how much truer to myself I feel when I separate myself from
technology.
So
when I read an article a month ago in Rodale
Wellness about grounding I related to it. “Grounding” means connecting your
body directly to Earth and experiencing the benefits of the electric
fields. Manifested, grounding means walking barefoot in sand or letting your
sockless feet feel natural elements like wood and grass. And if anyone knows
me, I hate bare feet. I never even let my summer babies go sockless, fearing
they would pick up germs, thinking they looked part-naked. But what if
barefooting, a term just concocted, brings better health?
The
article’s author, Dr. Steven Sinatra, writes about the healing impact that
grounding has on blood viscosity, that when blood is thick it causes clots and
inflammation. But when our body is connected to Mother Earth’s energy our red
blood cells repel against each other and blood’s consistency is thinner, more like
red wine, because it’s more oxygenated—which is healthier for our tissues and
organs. So, in an effort to be more like red wine…
…I
tried it.
On
a cool October afternoon I actually went barefoot and stood on my sunny deck
for a few minutes. I immediately felt the warmth through my soles. Then I stood
on our pavers for a bit, progressing to grass to absorb the different textures.
Did I immediately feel electrons zip through my body? I’m not sure, but I did
feel more connected to Mother Earth, and it felt good. I could feel my mood
lighten, and a more solid, relaxed presence filled my body.
Some
of my friends tease me that I become a hermit during the colder months, and for
someone who thrives when outdoors I do miss the solidarity of feeling the
elements, hearing the birds, sensing the wind on my cheeks. I’d just rather do
that in warmer seasons. So….what to do as the temperature dips and there’s no
way I’ll go outside without wearing my Ugg knock-offs? Ways to ground indoors include
sitting in the sun, taking a salt bath, picking up a rock and feeling it, and eating
healthy foods.
In
this high-paced, linked in world where we jump to a text’s chime, remember the raw
power of connecting to nature. Try your own method of grounding, a way to
recharge sans technology. Take a
shoeless walk…a step good for your “sole.”
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to
go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature
and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that
God wishes to see people happy amidst the simple beauty of nature. ...I firmly
believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
--Anne
Frank
For the Rodale Wellness article:
http://www.rodalewellness.com/mind-spirit/forgotten-health-trick-you-need-do-150-minutes-week
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