Love my (earthing) shoes!

Earthing shoes? You may not have heard of them but here’s why you should …

Yes, we all love our shoes. But I go for comfort over fashion. That means the sort of footwear that comes with pinched toes and aching arches are not my choice! Nope, happy tootsies mean a happier me!!

There’s another dimension to shoes you may not know about – Earthing or Grounding shoes.

I love them for their unique health benefits (read onto find out more), but they are so, so comfortable. This is especially important for me because I do have ‘unhappy’ feet due to some bumpy bunions sigh. But, anyway, I wear the shoes often, even when travelling and doing heaps of walking. The other best part is that they look good. Mine are a ballet slipper type so I’ve even worn the black ones to evening functions.

I have 2 (free) pair of these wonderful shoes from Pluggz. The first pair is a kind of interesting story as they were gifted to me by Jim Oschman – author of the scientific article mentioned below – a story which I may (or may not!) share another time.

The second pair were a very lucky chance via the company website. You know, opt in to our email list and have a chance to win a pair of shoes? As I said, lucky me!! Now, I’m now a regular customer, with several more pairs in the closet.

Basically, the idea is that’s the earth’s energy can have positive effects on your body. Activities that reconnect you to the earth can act therapeutically in various ways. An excellent explanation can be found here at the Barefoot Healing site.

If you’d like to learn a whole lot more about the hows and whys of earthing, head to this excellent book by Clinton Ober, Stephen T. Sinatra and Martin Zucker: Earthing

“… living in contact with the Earth’s natural surface charge – being grounded – naturally discharges and prevents chronic inflammation in the body”.

If you’re into the science of things …

then this article from The Journal of Inflammation Research is worth reading. Here is a summary of the findings:

“Grounding appears to improve sleep, normalize the day–night cortisol rhythm, reduce pain, reduce stress, shift the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic toward parasympathetic activation, increase heart rate variability, speed wound healing, and reduce blood viscosity”.

‘The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases’.

Other ways to get ‘grounded’ – reconnect yourself to the earth!

Walk barefoot. Take off your shoes and walk on the grass, or run along a sandy beach. Touching any natural surface can give you grounding energy.
Lay on the ground. Increase your contact with the earth by stretching out on the sand at the beach or on the grass in your backyard or in a park.
Use grounding equipment. Grounding mats, sheets and even pillow cases are available. Plus bands for specific parts of the body.