Why grounding – walking barefoot on grass or earth – could improve your health, from better sleep to lower stress

Time spent in the great outdoors is good for you. For years, researchers have been detailing how people who live near green spaces – parks, tree-lined streets, rural landscapes – have better physical and mental health. Meanwhile, practices such as Japanese forest bathing and Nordic hygge, which has a strong outdoorsy component, are being embraced around the world. Could “grounding” be next?

I was intrigued when a colleague recently recommended that a mutual patient – who was seeing her for stress management and me for nutritional advice – experiment with walking barefoot in the grass for a short time each day. A few weeks later, I stumbled across an article that gave a name to that practice: grounding.

The idea behind grounding, also called earthing, is that humans evolved in direct contact with the Earth’s subtle electric charge, but have lost that sustained connection thanks to inventions such as buildings, furniture and shoes with insulated synthetic soles.

Advocates of grounding say this disconnect might be contributing to the chronic diseases that are particularly prevalent in industrialised societies. There is actually some science behind this. Research has shown barefoot contact with the earth can produce nearly instant changes in a variety of physiological measures, helping to improve sleep, reduce pain, decrease muscle tension and lower stress.

There are many reasons why connecting with nature is good for mind and body, but electricity is probably not one you have considered.