Tag: grounding

Can Grounding Reduce Stress and Improve Sleep?

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The modern movement of grounding or earthing began in the early 2000s when Clinton Ober began to research the effects of grounding on the body. Since then, numerous studies and research have been conducted on the efficacy of grounding, and the results have been promising.Here are some examples1:

  1. In a 2004 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, researchers found that grounding the body during sleep can improve sleep and reduce pain and stress levels in people with chronic pain.
  2. In a 2010 study published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, researchers found that grounding the body can reduce inflammation in the body and improve blood flow.
  3. In a 2012 study published in the Journal of Inflammation Research, researchers found that earthing the body can reduce inflammation in the body and improve immune function.
  4. In a 2013 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, researchers found that grounding the body can reduce pain and improve mood in people with chronic pain.
  5. In a 2015 study published in the Journal of Inflammation Research, researchers found that grounding the body can reduce inflammation in the body and improve sleep quality.
  6. In a 2018 study published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, researchers found that earthing the body can improve balance and stability in older adults.

The Earthing Institute, a pro-grounding group, says that spending time connected to the ground can improve sleep, lower inflammation, ease stress, improve blood flow, and boost physical healing, among other things.2 

Researchers attribute many of their positive findings to the changes in cortisol levels of those who practice grounding. Results indicate that grounding during sleep reduces night-time levels of cortisol and resynchronizes cortisol hormone secretion more in alignment with the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm profile. Furthermore, subjective reporting indicates that grounding during sleep improves sleep and reduces pain and stress.3

The only true way to see if grounding can improve sleep or reduce stress for you personally is to try it for yourself. Allow your bare skin to be exposed to the elements on a daily basis, especially the earth. Consistency is key, so give yourself a few weeks or months of grounding to see some positive results!

 

1 https://www.nestacertified.com/earthing-exercises-for-improved-mental-and-physical-health/ Studies and Research on the Efficacy of Grounding or Earthing

2 https://www.webmd.com/balance/grounding-benefits

3 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15650465/

Beginner’s Guide to Reconnecting with the Earth’s Energy

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You don’t have to be a guru to connect with the Earth’s energy and stay connected! According to Jagadish “Jaggi” Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, “The Earth is the basis of life. The more you are in touch with it, the better it is. If your hands and your bare feet are in contact with the earth, it will harmonize the physiological process in your system. Whenever it is in contact with the earth, the body reorganizes itself. Try to spend at least a few minutes a day in the garden, barefoot, touching plants or trees. This is a simple way to connect with the earth.”1

Primitive peoples (think cave men) lived similarly to animals, a way that was “down to earth.” With industrialization, the human race started distancing from the earth. Sadhguru explains, “Animals are very connected to the earth because they do not have the intellect and awareness that human beings have. When it comes to humans, their psychological space dominates over their existential presence. In a way, an earthworm experientially knows the connection to the earth, but it cannot consciously realize it. If you pull it out of the earth, it wants to go straight back into the earth. If you pull a fish out of the water, it wants to go straight back into the water. This is not only essential for survival but also just because of the familiarity of habitat. In that sense, they know the connection.”2

In recent decades, “grounding” and “earthing” have been studied and known to be simple and effective ways to incorporate connectivity in your daily regimen. Here are a few grounding activities to help you reconnect with the Earth:

•          Practice deep breathing. Count to four as you inhale, hold it and exhale twice as slowly. Slow breathing is a way to become aware of your body and to release tension.

•          Stretch. Notice how a dog or cat stretches throughout the day, especially when they are rising from a nap or a night’s sleep. It doesn’t have to be specific “poses” or asanas as in yoga or Pilates. Just stretch and focus on how you feel—try a combination of toe touches, arm raises, side bends or windmills.

•          Get wet outdoors. Taking a shower may help wash away some anxiety, but have you seen the joy that running on the beach and taking a dip in the ocean can bring to children and grownups alike? Look at the children playing with the garden hose on a summer’s day—they’re barefoot and spraying each other and without knowing it, connecting to the earth’s energies!

•          Be aware of your surroundings whenever you are outside. Use all five senses to connect. Consciously see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Obviously if you are not eating something, you are not actually tasting, but you can sense the “flavor” of the air around you.

•          Visualization can be powerful for grounding. Imagine roots growing from the soles of your feet into the earth, providing stability and strength.3 Visualization is a way for you to become physically one with the natural environment.

Grounding is another facet of empowered living and a way to help you feel good every day. When you can’t connect with the earth outdoors, the KenkoGround® is a simple way to bring grounding indoors—inspired by nature and adapted for contemporary lifestyles.

1, 2 https://isha.sadhguru.org/en/wisdom/article/connecting-with-earth-methods-significance

3 https://www.coreenergetics.org/grounding-techniques-in-body-psychotherapy-finding-stability-in-a-chaotic-world

5 Simple & Neat Grounding Techniques!

Do You Practice Grounding?

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We talk about being connected to nature as a way to get back to the way we were intended to live. In the beginning of time as we know it, humans lived like all other creatures, with nothing separating us from the earth beneath our feet. That means there was direct contact with the ground and its negatively charged electrons. These beneficial electrons help us to stay in balance and creates the effect that is now known as grounding or earthing.

Grounding has been researched over the years, and it has been found that “when connected, the electrons we absorb work as natural antioxidants that neutralize the positively charged free radicals that can damage the body. Exposure to the electrons is vital for functioning at our best.”1 In fact, grounding has been found to improve sleep, support the healing process, and support the reduction of inflammation linked to a variety of health ailments.2

As we consciously work to get reconnected to nature, our contemporary lifestyles pose a challenge in that we spend so much more time indoors than our ancestors did.

The upcoming generations are even more cloistered as they fixate on video games and all manner of electronics rather than on outdoor activities and sports. We can set a good example by taking our youngsters to the beach, to lakes, to natural parks, to wherever being barefoot is safe so connection to earth, sand and natural bodies of water can be made—in order to allow natural grounding to take place. When going barefoot outdoors is not an option, Nikken has an alternate solution.

Nikken is serious about the importance of reconnecting with nature. Our products therefore often emulate or replicate what is found in nature. One prime example is the KenkoGround®. The name really helps to define what the product is about: Kenko means “health” and Ground is for grounding. The KenkoGround plugs into a grounded outlet. When you expose bare skin—whether it’s your feet, arms, shoulders, neck, etc.—to the KenkoGround, you receive the beneficial electrons that neutralize the positive ones that are potentially harmful.

How and where you use the KenkoGround® is up to you. Some people sit at a computer with the KenkoGround under their bare feet. Others drape it around their neck and shoulders while relaxing on the couch. Many sleep with the KenkoGround underneath their bodies. Grounding researchers recommend doing it regularly and building up to longer periods of time, for example, starting out with 10 minutes a day, then increasing to 20 and more than 30 if you can.3

The KenkoGround® is made of conductive fabric that is silky to the touch: it’s 20% silver and 80% nylon and is made to be anti-radiation, anti-bacterial and anti-odor.

As we are already approaching the hectic holiday season, try out the KenkoGround to help maintain your equilibrium. Also be sure to check out the 2024 Holiday Gift Guide!

1, 2, 3 https://www.webmd.com/balance/grounding-benefits

What Does “Being Active” Mean to You?

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Being active is a personal physical and mental state. It’s all relative to how you have lived over the long-term and how you want to live in the near and distant future. The dictionary defines someone who is active as moving around a lot and doing many things, and an active mind as always thinking of new things.

Take a look at two examples:

1.  Jeanne works long hours at the office. She is seated most of the time. After work, she goes to the gym, lifts weights and runs on the treadmill for a total of an hour and a half. When she gets home, she eats a quick meal and spends the rest of the time on the couch, watching TV. On the weekends, she runs 5-10 miles and spends time with her girlfriends.

2.  Joanne is a stay-at-home mom. She rarely has time to sit down during her day, as she takes care of two children, one learning to walk and the other in elementary school. She spends the day cooking, doing laundry, feeding and entertaining the baby, grocery shopping, picking up the older child, overseeing the kids’ yard activities, getting dinner on the table, making sure both kids have a bath before putting them down for the night. On the weekends, she takes the children to the playground or has play dates, and she uses an app to practice yoga when her husband entertains the kids for a couple of hours.

Who is more active, Jeanne or Joanne? Or, are they equally active? The more interesting aspect is perception. If the question is posed to Jeanne, she likely responds that she works out every day but wishes she didn’t have to sit in her office so much. If the question is posed to Joanne, she might say she doesn’t even belong to a gym and really doesn’t have time to be active the way she would like. But clearly, if the dictionary definitions come into play, Joanne is just as active, if not more active than Jeanne. Synonyms for active include, busy, involved, occupied, strong, energetic, committed and engaged. Those descriptions pertain to both Jeanne and Joanne.

When striving to achieve a more active lifestyle in order to thrive, don’t let preconceived notions of what being active means get you down. On the other hand, don’t use the excuse of not having enough time to get more active. Here are some daily activities that don’t require much discipline or a membership fee:

• Put on fast music and dance in your living room!

• Do chair yoga.

• Do some stretching on a mat in your bedroom.

• Take a walk around the block (with your dog, friend or by yourself).

• Some people pace while on the phone!

• Garden (pull those endless weeds, plant flowers and veggies).

• Wash the car!

• Spend more time outdoors! Even sitting on the grass helps you get grounded and activate your cells!

Ease Your Stress at Work

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The so-called “9 to 5” grind can get you down, whether you’re a worker bee or a manager. Some stressors for employees include low salaries, workloads that are too heavy, lack of growth or advancement opportunities, limited or no managerial support and the feeling of having no control. On the other hand, being a boss can be overwhelming with endless meetings, hard-to-make decisions, budgetary concerns, disgruntled workers and decreased earnings.

So, what’s a body to do when there’s too much stress at work? Be self-aware. Listen to what your body is telling you as it reacts to stress. Once you identify the stressors, be proactive so those stressors do not chronically bother you. Here are some possible stress-busters:

•          Write it down. Make this recording of your experience as detailed as possible. Who or what was the source of the stress? How did you feel? Where were you? How did you react? Was the issue resolved to your satisfaction? If it occurs again, would you behave differently? Writing it down helps clarify what actually happened. It also helps you have closure and to put it in the past so you can move forward.

•          If the tension is caused by a person, talk it out when calmer and even if you don’t achieve the ideal response, you will feel better having given it your best effort.

•          Exercise regularly. The reason health experts are constantly encouraging exercise, exercise, exercise, is because it works. Exercise helps you relax, sleep better and have a calmer mindset.

•          Get grounded. Many therapists recommend the 5-4-3-2-1 technique because it engages all five senses. List things around you, working backward from 5. You could start by listing five things you see, then four things you hear, three you can smell, two you can touch or feel, then one you can taste.1 Connect to nature on a regular basis.

•          Breathe! Be mindful of your breath and inhale slowly, hold, then exhale slowly. Try this right in the middle of a stressful situation, and you might be happily surprised at how quickly it works to calm you down.

•          Don’t take work stress home with you. Give yourself boundaries and permission to relax and recover from daily work stress.

From now until May 31, you can get the KenkoGround® earthing mat and the Kenko Precision Set at 40% off. They may help you bust your stress!

1 https://www.tcimedicine.com/post/managing-stress-with-grounding-techniques

Why Do Grounding and Magnetics Make Such Great Partners?

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When we describe someone as “being grounded,” it means he or she is steadfast, centered and balanced. Grounded people are not “up in the air”; they are strong and focused, regardless of the chaos that may be around them. Their feet are planted on terra firma.

Being grounded is not just a metaphor. It’s a physical fact. Before civilization, homo sapiens actually lived on the ground: walking, sleeping and sitting all took place on the Earth itself with nothing in between—no furniture, no shoes.

“Only recently has the knowledge and significance of this connection been explored and explained by scientific experts. From them, we are learning that the Earth’s electrical energy maintains the order of our own bodily frequencies. We all live and function electrically on an electrical planet. We are each of us a collection of dynamic electrical circuits in which trillions of cells constantly transmit and receive energy in the course of their programmed biochemical reactions. Your heart, brain, nervous system, muscles and immune system are prime examples of electrical subsystems operating within your bioelectrical body. The fact is, all of your movements, behaviors and actions are energized by electricity.1”

Most people are totally unaware of their bioelectrical nature or the energetic connection between their bodies and the earth’s surface. Many of us don’t even realize that we’re disconnected from Mother Nature. Our feet and the rest of our bodies rarely touch real ground. We keep insulated with layers of clothing, rubber soles, mattresses, any assortment of chairs and accessories.

Science informs us that the Earth’s electrons contain a natural, negative charge. Maintaining contact with the ground allows our bodies to naturally receive and become charged with these electrons. When we are “grounded,” we absorb these beneficial electrons that “reduce electrical imbalances in the body.”2 Since our bodies are composed of mostly water and minerals—just like the Earth—we are mutually electrically conductive.

Then there’s massage. Massage is a general term for pressing, rubbing and manipulating your skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Massage may range from light stroking to deep pressure. Some common types include:

  • Swedish— gentle with long strokes and deep circular movements
  • Deep—slow forceful strokes to target deep layers of muscle and connective tissue
  • Sports—similar to Swedish but geared toward athletes to help loosen muscles and to prevent or treat sport injuries
  • Acupressure or trigger point—focuses on areas of tight muscle fibers that also converge with nerves

Offered more and more often as a standard treatment for a wide range of muscular conditions and situations, massage has proven to be effective for reducing and managing stress, for soothing aches and pains and for decreasing muscle tension. Practitioners have also found massage to be helpful in dealing with anxiety, digestive disorders, headaches, insomnia related to stress, soft tissue injuries and aching joints.

As soothing and relaxing a massage can be, another person is generally required. You go to a spa or a massage therapist and have a “hands on” experience. The human touch of another often has a therapeutic result, because it gives a feeling of connectedness and warmth.

But what if you don’t have the time, energy or resources to go to a massage therapist? What if you desire immediate relief? Now more than ever, there are products for self-massage and grounding indoors. Nikken is at the forefront in the development of these products.

Numerous products that provide a massaging effect include permanent magnets that generally work slowly and gently. They are especially appropriate for long-term self-administration. Fixed magnetic therapy is usually applied for longer periods to be optimally effective. Permanent magnets come in great variety. There are magnets of various sizes and pulsating magnets work by mimicking the kneading sensation produced by human fingers. Pulsating magnets allow you to feel the sensations that are similar to a regular massage, while reaping the benefits of magnetic penetration.

When you practice indoor grounding and magnetic massage, you essentially are blending two easy-to-use modalities, to achieve double the benefits for Active Wellness. These include:

• Helping to relieve stress

• Maintaining overall wellness

• Stimulating local blood flow

• Reducing muscle tension and discomfort

• Reducing stiffness and fatigue.

• Creating an overall sense of relaxation

When you combine grounding and magnetic massage in the comfort of your own home, you are really taking mind and body balance to a higher level. Nikken makes it easy for you with the Kenko Precision Magnetic Grounding and Massage Set!

1 Ober, Clinton etal, Earthing, Basic Health Publications, Columbus, OH, 2014, p.8.

2 Ibid, p. 9.

Stay Grounded Even When Secluded at Home

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With social distancing, seesawing merchant closures and openings, seclusion, and various unwelcome kinds of fear—we live differently now than ever before. Some fears cause excitement and nervousness in a positive way, but fear associated with possible life-ending illness causes distress. During these troubling times, even the most positive minded individuals may succumb to bouts of irritability, depression, anxiety and resentment—none of which help on the path towards Active Wellness.

How can we avoid falling into the rabbit hole of despair during these trying times? There is no simple answer, but reconnecting with nature might help in more ways than one.

Emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness.

Reconnection with the Earth’s electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being. Grounding refers to the discovery of benefits—including better sleep and reduced discomforts—from walking barefoot outside or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth’s electrons from the ground into the body.1

Grounding is being studied and researched for its potential benefits for countering inflammation, cardiovascular disease, muscle damage, chronic pain and mood. Researchers measured white blood cell count and pain levels before and after grounding with both grounding patches and mats. Blood work indicated that grounding helped reduce muscle damage and pain in participants.2

Some massage therapists have incorporated grounding in their practices. Evidence shows that after grounding therapy, stress, depression and fatigue were reduced among participants.3

Urban living often prohibits the natural ways to reconnect with nature. The KenkoGround® makes grounding easy to accomplish indoors. There’s nothing that compares with feeling the earth under bare feet or swimming in a lake or ocean, so we should do those activities as often as we can. Meanwhile, indoor living continues and the KenkoGround can help make a difference in how we feel overall.

1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/

2, 3 https://www.healthline.com/health/grounding

Get Your Stress Under Control

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In these uncertain times, even the most stoic of us have our moments of doubt and anxiety. We get stressed out and it only makes things worse. But how do we control our stress levels when the world seems to be devolving?

When we take a hike on a nature trail, go camping or simply take a barefoot walk along the beach, we are doing something called grounding. We’re using all our senses to experience a piece of nature. In other words, communing with Mother Nature can actually help us de-stress by getting us out of our daily box and helping to lower our escalating cortisol levels.

According to Anchorage social worker and counselor Deborah Gonzales, the solution to panic and anxiety is grounding through our senses. This consists of making use of the environment. She clarifies, “Find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste.”1 After going through this process, it has a similar effect as taking slow deep breaths or counting to 10 when feeling anxious.

Grounding is not a new concept, but as our contemporary lives ricochet between overwork at “work” and being stretched too thin at home with multi-generational responsibilities, grounding is a necessity for Active Wellness.

But what about those of us who are confined at home? There is nothing to perfectly replicate the feeling of soil underneath our feet, but there is something that comes close in its effect. At Nikken, we call it KenkoGround®—it serves as an indoor and portable way to reconnect with Mother Nature.

Feeling grounded is the opposite of feeling stressed or anxious. Realizing that every living creature is bioelectrical in nature, Nikken created the KenkoGround which made with 20% silver, one of the best known conductors of electricity. KenkoGroundKenkoGround is a lightweight, three-layered rectangular cloth that can be placed under your feet or draped around your shoulders to impart a feeling of balance and calm—it is a wonderful example of technology culled from our knowledge of Mother Nature.

Another known de-stressor is massage. Can’t leave the house to visit your favorite massage therapist? No problem. The KenkoTouch® is a handheld self-massage unit with patented DynaFlux® magnetic technology. KenkoTouchWith three settings, you control the amount of pressure.

No matter where you are, Nikken is committed to supporting you through thick and thin. Inhale slowly, exhale slowly. We are together.

 

1 deboramgonzales.com