A therapeutic method called 'earthing' offers health benefits

BALTIMORE -- A centuries-old practice is the latest wellness trend sweeping social media.

It's called grounding or earthing. It's a therapeutic method that aims to electrically reconnect a person to the Earth.

This practice is being widely embraced. People who practice it and study it say that it promotes health benefits along with a sense of tranquility.

"What people will say you are going to get is that you will feel less pain in an area that you might feel pain or your legs," Debbie Yelle said via TikTok. "Some people say you will feel less inflammation in your body."

Some people might recall the scene from Pretty Woman where Richard Gere's character is filed walking barefoot in the grass.

It's a lot like that.

Some methods include walking outside barefoot, gardening, swimming, or taking a bath.

Think of it as Mother Nature's cure.

"So basically, to be in contact with the earth and we have found that there are health benefits in being in contact with the earth," Gaetan Chevalier, the director of the Earthing Institute said.

Chevalier said there's a proven science behind it, too.

"Earthing or grounding is a very good way to help us actually to quench inflammation in the body," he said. "What happens is when we are not grounded, we actively regulate positive charge in our body. For example, our food has been processed, but if you eat food from a garden, it has electrons and will give you antioxidant power."

The Earth's free electrons neutralize free radicals in the body known to contribute to damaging tissue.

"What we see as the most dramatic change is in people with arthritis because most of them are not able to function and medication does not work very well for them."