Your 20 Toughest Grounding Questions, Answered.

Here are the answers to all of the grounding questions I am asked most frequently!

Have you ever wondered any of these questions yourself?

1: I don’t like being barefoot. How can I get grounded?

You absolutely do not need to get grounded through your feet, this is a total myth.

Your entire body is conductive, every single cell of your body is conductive. That means that any body part can ground your entire body immediately. The moment one cell on any part of your skin touches the earth, you are grounded from head to toe.

Resting your face against a tree, running your hands through a garden bed, sitting with bare legs touching the sidewalk, touching a flower, dipping toes into a pond, resting on a rock, holding hands with someone else who is grounded… all of these ways and many more are equally effective as standing outside barefoot.

Whatever is the easiest way for you to get grounded, whether it is through your feet, hands, face, legs, arms, neck, back, etc.. is the best way, because whatever way makes grounding most accessible to you is the one you are most likely to do! Read on for more ideas on unique ways, beyond just going barefoot, to get grounded daily.

2: I live in a city and have no access to a lawn or green space. Can I still get grounded?

Oh my YES. Every inch of any sidewalk that is poured directly on the earth is grounded and waiting for your touch.

So are cement parking lot and road curbs, cement stairs and all other concrete paths and walkways that lay on the earth… all outline a beautiful healing grounded journey for you to step onto any time.

So are bricks, pavers, any unpainted metal (like the metal post that street signs and crosswalk signs are posted on — just touch it with your fingertip and you are grounded while standing there waiting to cross the road!).

Parking garages, building basements, sidewalks, brick walls, gates, metal fences, metal posts and more are all waiting to ground you.

One thing to note is that while asphalt is made from cement and crushed rock (both conductive) it is held together with bitumen, a petroleum by-product which helps weatherproof the road, extending longevity… but sadly it is not conductive and because it coats the rock and cement, it will block you from grounding.

Stick with concrete sidewalks, brick, cement and metal for grounding… not asphalt roads. Want more ideas on what can ground you outside, whether you are in an urban or rural setting?

In this video I demonstrate 15 other surfaces — besides grass — that you can get grounded each day. You are very likely pass by grounding surfaces every single day of your life and never knew it!

3: I’ve heard I need to ground for at least 30 minutes, but I don’t have that long.

Grounding is as instantaneous as flipping on a light switch. When you turn on a light, the entire room is illuminated — that’s what happens when one cell in your body becomes grounded: your entire body is grounded.

While there are cumulative benefits over time to grounding, because your body is instantly grounded at first contact, there is really no time too little (or too long) for grounding.

I never want you to miss an opportunity to be grounded just because it’s might only be for 30 seconds while you stop at a street crossing, or lean against a tree while you take a break on a hike, or pull a weed from your garden.

Within seconds your skin surface conductance has changes throughout your entire body and your muscle tension has decreased. As seconds turn to minutes, your brain and vagal tone have gotten a calming boost from grounding, and you might notice pain decreases and mood lifts. Over time, as minutes turn to hours, your metabolic processes get a boost and your circulation (which supports every single organ system in your body) is running more smoothly. Grounding day after day means nighttime sleep is more restorative, stress hormones normalize, inflammation decreases, and health benefits begin to accumulate, often resulting in noticeable health benefits on a large scale.

So while benefits accumulate with grounding over longer periods of time, even one second is long enough for your tension headache to ease and your mood to lift.

4. I see people verify they are grounded by measuring AC current. Why?

Unfortunately this is a a trick that most grounding companies does not want you to know: AC current is manmade and does not test grounding. Seeing a change in AC current just tells you if you are allowing an AC current to travel into your body or not. Natural currents are all DC currents… DC current is a natural grounded energy, and AC current is a man-made voltage.

When grounding sales people try to show a drop in AC current to convince you that you are grounded, all they are really showing you is that a manmade current is reaching your body and running into your human tissues. Sadly there is no such thing as a Faraday Cage around you, the AC current drops because it is disappearing into your body. It is actually your own body that is absorbing the AC current, and it does not mean you are grounded at all.

Watch the video above to find out why this is harmful and why you do not want AC current running through you. And remember when you see people using a multimeter to measure AC current, it’s a trick — they are not talking about grounding at all. Grounding is a natural flow between the earth and our bodies which is a DC current.

5. Is there anything I can do to enhance grounding?

Yes! There are several things you can do to make your body even more conductive and ready to ground:

• stay well hydrated
• correct any mineral deficiencies
• remove dead skin from your body
• and have well moisturized skin.

In the human body, conductivity requires two things: water and electrolytes. This creates an electrolytic solution that can pass the flow of an electric potential from cell to cell to cell, spreading instantly throughout your entire body. If you are dehydrated or mineral depleted, you decrease your body’s conductivity.

So drink a big glass of water before and after all grounding sessions, and make sure you are eating mineral rich foods (like nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, chlorella, spirulina, kvelpand other sea vegetables, bone broth, darkly leafy greens, avocado, wild caught fish, fermented foods, free range eggs, grass fed beef, grass fed cheese and grass fed butter) and/or taking a trace mineral supplement that will supply plenty of magnesium and calcium and potassium to your cells.

Dry brush your body to encourage removal of dead skin cells, and treat yourself to routine pedicures to remove callouses on feet. Thick layers of dead skin will block grounding, similar to a thick layer of bark on a tree — you want to remove dead skin so that your fresh hydrated skin is easily accessible by the earth’s energy.

Lastly, moisturize that fresh soft glowing skin with a moisturizer, my favorite is this ground enhancing, trace mineral rich lotion. Get into a habit of rubbing oil or lotion over your body daily, particularly after every bath or shower, to be sure that your body is hydrated inside and out and primed for grounding.

6. Is it okay to ground if the lawn is treated with chemicals?

Although you will still be grounded outside even when pesticides have just been sprayed, I don’t recommend it. Pesticides have been linked with many harmful long term effects on our body from dementia to autism and even cancers such as lymphoma.

Do not to use home, garden and yard care products that include pesticides, insecticides and chemical fertilizers, and if you use a public space that has been treated with chemicals that you can’t do anything about, the best idea is to ground immediately after a nice ground-soaking rain, or wait at least 48 hours after any chemical application.

7. How do I prevent sun damage when grounding outside?

There are lots of things you can do to protect yourself from too much sun exposure, so don’t let fear of sun damage keep you indoors. Hop over here to read my blog post on protecting your skin from burning and photo aging, naturally.

8. How can I keep bugs from biting me while grounding outside?

You can keep bugs away from you naturally with the use of cedar oil. Cedar oil can be sprayed directly on skin, on pets, around doorways and porches and windows and anywhere inside or outside of your home that bugs tend to congregate — safe to use directly on the skin — when sprayed on exposed skin it helps deter them from landing on you at all.

I use this so often that my daughter tells me that this cedar oil spray is — and I quote her here: “the smell of my childhood.” She says that every time I spray it and she catches the scent. I just love that!

9. But what about ticks?

Cedar oil will also deter ticks, so use this liberally on all exposed areas of skin to deter tick bites.

In addition, there are lots of other ways to dramatically decrease your risk of a tick bite, including:

• keeping your yard and outdoor living space trimmed
• removing piles of leaves and other debris
• adding a few free roaming chickens to your yard space (chickens eat ticks and constantly scavenge for ticks and other pests that are harmful to humans)
• installing a fence or keeping pets confined only to yard areas that are mowed short
• daily brushing pets and keeping pets out of bedrooms and off of furniture during tick season (late spring, all summer & early fall.)

How else can you deter ticks and what should you do if you find a tick on you? Hop over here to read my blog post on treating tick bites holistically.

10. How can I introduce grounding to my children?

Incorporating grounding routines into childhood is truly one of the very best things you can do to instill in your child a lifetime of Well Being and infuse in them a healthy lifestyle that includes plentiful connection with the earth.

Childhood is a dangerous time of disconnection in this modern electronic age when smart screens, computers and television shows vie for their attention.

It’s super important to instill in them the habit of intentionally touching the earth every single day. Your job as a parent is to be very clear that it’s okay to get dirty and that in fact we actually want to get dirty enough each day to warrant taking a bath or shower that night.

I am so passionate about this that I wrote and illustrated a children’s book on introducing your child to the earth, From The Ground Up. You can find that here.

11. Is it better to have more surface area touching the earth?

This is probably the most common question I am asked.

Because every single cell in your body is conductive — skin, bone, nerves, GI tract, kidney, cerebrospinal fluid, connective tissue, muscles, everything — if just one cell is grounded, your entire body becomes immediately grounded.

Therefore, touching the earth with one foot or one fingertip is every bit as grounding as burying yourself up to your neck in sand at the beach!

Any amount of skin, no matter how small, directly touching the earth will ground your entire body from head to toe.

12. Is it still working if I don’t feel anything when I touch the earth?

As a natural sequel to the question above, the next question I get is folks wondering if there are still health benefits if you don’t feel different while grounding. Yes, absolutely. Whether you can feel the shift or not doesn’t matter to the cells in your body, which are reaping the benefits of touching the earth.

On a macroscopic level, you may not feel any change occur but on a microscopic level, your blood is flowing more freely, your central nervous system has been soothed, your inflammation is being reduced as electrons wash all over your body, removing some of the wear and tear your body has weathered since your last grounding session.

Don’t get frustrated and stop grounding if you don’t feel immediate benefits. Your body will thank you for the consistent support over time.

13. Are trees grounded?

Yes. Anything rooted, living and growing out of the earth’s crust is grounded.

So that means every blade of grass, every bush, every vine, every tree, every flower, every leaf, every bud, every crop, every shrub is fully grounded and has the ability to ground you from head to toe with one touch. All you have to do is touch a living rooted plant and you are instantly grounded.

When touching a tree, the most conductive thing to touch is the most moist part of the plant, which is generally the leaves or flowers. Grounding needs moisture to work, which is why dried and treated wood lumbar will not ground you. So reach for the green parts of any plant for a sure way to get grounded.

14. Is water grounded?

Yes! I love grounding through water, especially in the warmer months! Not only does water enhance grounding, but the water itself becomes grounded when it is on the earth, so you don’t have to touch the ground below the water to be grounded.

Skimming your fingertips across the top of a lake will ground you every bit as much as if you were totally immersed in the water with your feet on the lake floor. Floating on top of the ocean waves will ground you even if you are not touching the sand beneath the water at all. The water itself grounds you every bit as much as the solid earth below the water.

In this video, I demonstrate how powerfully water is grounded, both water flowing inside your home and natural bodies of water waiting for you outside!

15. Are rocks grounded?

Yes! Just like cement and concrete, rock is conductive.

So even with all of your best hiking gear on and thickest most protective hiking boots covering your feet, the moment you stop at the top of your trail and sit on a rock to grab a drink of water, if you have any skin touching that rock (for example on your leg or your hand) then you are entirely grounded.

Same goes for river rocks, gravel, decorative patio stones, you name it, it’s all conductive and will ground you if you will only touch it.

In this video, I demonstrate grounding through both rocks and trees.

16. Are pets and other animals grounded when they are outside? Am I grounded if I touch my pet while outside?

Yes and yes. Your pets and other animals are all grounded outside when they touch the earth. Give your beloved pets as much time as you can outside on lovely walks, or at dog parks, or if you are lucky enough to have a yard, give them lots of yard time and while you are at it, join in with them!

When it is too cold for bare feet outside in the colder months you can simply touch your pet and be grounded while they stand or lie on the earth for you. Look for areas with thinner fur or no fur, such as belly, ear, and nose. Dense fur is the same as thick dead skin — it keeps animals warm because it is insulating, and that means it blocks conductive flow from your pet to you if you simply pat on top of thick dry fur. So instead, give their ears a rub, kiss their nose, give them a great long tummy rub, or massage their fur so that you are reaching into the fur to touch their skin underneath.

In this video, I show you demonstrate that you are grounded by touching my own beloved dog outside on the earth.

17. Well if I can ground through a pet, can one human ground another human?

When you are touching someone who is grounded to the earth, you are grounded as well — instantly — even without touching the earth yourself. Your partner becomes a grounded contact, like a grounding cord, that tethers you to the ground.

In fact, this is how I discovered grounding for myself — holding my infant daughter in my arms while I was barefoot outside, I noticed she immediately calmed and the pain from her colic was soothed. It never failed. It turns out, I was grounding her right through me, even while she never directly touched the ground.

Read this blog post I wrote for you on creative ways to use the healing power of grounded touch to support the health of your loved ones.

18. Ok I want to try grounding. Is there a simple way to get started?

Yes! I have four very easy ways to make it super simple to introduce grounding into your daily routine:

#1: Find a Grounding Tree. To get started, I like to recommend you find a favorite tree and make it your special grounding tree. You can leave your shoes on and even be bundled up in a jacket and simply touch a bare finger to a leaf on any living tree growing out of the earth and you will be immediately grounded. Return to this tree daily, even visiting it year round to have a

#2: Find Your Favorite Patch Of Sidewalk: The second easy way to get started is to find one little patch of sidewalk somewhere that you feel safe to touch. Sit on the sidewalk and touch it with your hand, or slip one foot out of a shoe and stand there on your little patch of sidewalk and enjoy being grounded. One minute makes a difference, so if you only have a few minutes, don’t let that stop you. Bring chalk and doodle or play tic tac toe, simply stand for a moment taking a few deep breaths, or sit down and catch up on a phone call or two.

#3: Eat One Meal A Day Outside: The third thing you can do to totally transform how your body feels, even with very limited time in the day to get grounded outside, is to simply eat one meal a day outside. In this video I explain why this one practice may be the only thing you ever need to do to transform your health through grounding.

#4: Look Up At The Moon And Stars: The fourth thing you can do that only adds one minute to your nightly routine is to go outside and look up at the moon and stars. Standing barefoot in the warmer months, touching a tree or rock with a fingertip during the colder months (you can grab fingerless gloves to make this easy!) look up at the stars overhead, see what phase the moon is in, and reconnect with the fact that you are an absolute miracle — a beautiful human being standing on a planet that is orbiting through space. Take three deep breaths and soak this moment in on your way up to bed each night.

Having a safe grounding tree, a safe grounding sidewalk spot, taking a deep breath under the moonlight each night and aiming to eat a meal outside whenever you can gives you an arsenal of ways to get grounded daily.

These four simple tools can give you many many years of being grounded and boosting your body’s health resiliency.

19. What is the easiest way to explain grounding to my friends who are skeptical?

20. Are electrical therapies such as PEMF, TENS and other therapies the same thing as grounding?

No. Because modern medicine is finally beginning to understand the depth and breadth of how very conductive the human body is, there are many new healing modalities emerging that utilize magnetic and electric pulses and frequencies that simulate the earth’s frequency, to try to encourage healing.

Although these therapies have their own merit, without direct contact from the earth you are not truly grounded. Without direct conductive contact there are no electrons flowing into the body to neutralize inflammation and stabilize the entire body the way grounding does.

No battery, crystal, manmade electrical impulse, or vibrational healing tool can connect you directly to the earth without you physically touching the earth.

No manmade tool can approximate the healing reservoir that is the earth.

Getting grounded is totally natural, with no batteries or wires or artificial products necessary. Our bodies have literally evolved to benefit from the direct support of Mother Earth, with no comparable substitute. So be sure to include grounding as part of your balanced healing plan.

Ready to give it a try? I’ve got you.

To your natural, innate, resilient health… a health that you boost any time, just by getting grounded.

xoxoxo, Laura