Grounding with ME/CFS: what earthing is and what it changed for me

Grounding, also called earthing, is a practice in which we make direct physical contact with the earth, usually barefoot on the ground. Because leaving the house or even the bed is often not possible for us, I tested grounding products that create the connection through the earth pin of a wall socket. Only the socket’s earth is used, so no electricity is consumed and the socket can stay switched off.

Clint Ober, one of the pioneers in this field, researched in depth how our modern way of living isolates us from the natural electrical energy of the earth and what that does to our health. For more background I recommend the documentary The Earthing Movie.

A world full of charges

Our world is electrically charged, and so are we. Every cell communicates through electrical signals, and heart, brain and muscles work on electrical impulses.

But in our modern world we are surrounded by insulating materials. Our shoes have thick rubber soles, our floors are covered with carpet or wood, and we spend most of our time in buildings insulated with non-conductive materials. An imbalance between the positive and negative charges in the body can develop as a result.

The imbalance of charges

This imbalance can work against our health. Too many positive charges in the body are associated with inflammation, stress and problems with sleep. Nature has an elegant solution for this: the earth itself.

What earthing does

The earth is a huge natural battery with a negative charge. When we sit barefoot on the ground or use grounding products, we allow direct contact with that negative charge. A few of the connections that have been described:

• Balancing charges. Grounding equalises your own electrical potential with that of the earth, which may reduce inflammation in the body.
• Less stress. Grounding helps lower cortisol, a hormone connected with stress, so you feel calmer.
• Better sleep. Grounding can regulate the sleep cycle and lead to deeper, more restorative sleep, through its effect on melatonin.
• Circulation and energy. Better circulation supports the oxygen supply to the cells and can mean more energy.
• Immune system. A balanced electrical potential may strengthen the immune system.

Grounding as science and as practice

Clint Ober and other researchers have studied these connections and documented positive effects of grounding on health. It is a practice with a scientific basis that deserves more attention than it gets. Through grounding we can restore the natural flow of earth energy into the body, a simple but powerful way to support wellbeing.

How I put it into practice

After researching grounding I looked for ways to bring these principles into my life and into being bedbound. I chose two products: EarthRunners and grounding products from Groundology, an earthing mat and an earthing sleeping bag.

I have been using and testing them since September 2023 and I can see some positive changes. After four days I had more than three hours of deep sleep and my pulse at night was 74 bpm, which honestly stunned me. It was not like that every night, because how I am doing overall seems to matter too. During overexertion, an adaptation phase or a crash my sleep is clearly worse.

Overall my sleep has improved, even if not as fast or as dramatically as I had hoped after the documentary and those first four nights. I feel calmer and more rested. There were several nights with longer deep sleep phases, deep sleep in the normal range, which I had never had before. I wake up less often at night and fall asleep again quickly, and my sleep is longer. Those are big improvements, and they may keep getting better.

I love the EarthRunners, although I can really only speak about them as barefoot shoes, since I also use the grounding sleeping bag and cannot separate the effects. Beyond the earthing they are a shoe I can adjust individually to my foot, which matters a lot after so many months in bed. They support mindful walking and simply feel good. Walking is easier in them, my calves are less strained. At the start I got blisters because I could walk longer in them, my first ten thousand steps, and my feet were not used to it. Now they are simply comfortable and my gait feels safer.

There is much more to this topic and questions will come up. My resources are very limited, so I cannot moderate comments under the blog. Questions are welcome on Instagram under the relevant post.

📖 More in my book

In Beyond Survival you will find grounding explained alongside other ways of regulating the nervous system, prepared for everyday use.