How to Ground Yourself: Earthing Outdoors & Indoors

You step outside, slip off your shoes, and feel the soil underfoot.

Within seconds, your body softens and your mind steadies. That shift is real — electrical, chemical, and psychological.

Grounding links the physics of life with the psychology of presence.

We ground within through breath and attention, and to the Earth through direct contact and rhythm.

Both restore the quiet coherence modern living erodes.

This in‑depth CEOsage guide—part of the Energy Science & Environmental Physiology Hub—shows practical ways to stay balanced both indoors and outside, blending mindfulness with the science of earthing.

Let’s dive in …

What Is Grounding and Why It Matters

Grounding is both a psychological and a biophysical process.

Mentally, it means returning awareness to the body instead of getting trapped in overthinking.

Physically, it means re‑establishing direct electrical contact with the planet beneath you — what modern researchers call earthing.

Our ancestors lived in constant contact with soil, stone, and water.

Today, rubber soles, high‑rise floors, and digital saturation keep us permanently insulated. This separation distorts natural circadian cues and increases internal tension.

When you ground, your body literally re‑syncs. Electrical charge equalizes, and the nervous system shifts from “fight‑or‑flight” toward equilibrium.

Psychologically, your attention descends from swirl to stillness: breathing slows, thoughts clarify, priorities reorder.

The Science of Grounding and Earthing

Research over the past two decades shows that earthing influences key physiological markers.

In controlled studies (Chevalier et al., 2015; Oschman et al., 2015), a single hour of grounding reduced inflammation and normalized blood viscosity — one of the most measurable indicators of cardiovascular strain.

From a biophysics perspective, the Earth’s surface carries abundant free electrons generated by lightning and solar radiation.

When bare skin meets the earth, these electrons flow into the body and neutralize excess free radicals — the unstable molecules tied to chronic inflammation.

This isn’t mystical; it’s electrochemistry in action. Regular earthing has also been correlated with better sleep, faster recovery, and improved heart‑rate variability — a marker of balanced autonomic function.

For many, it’s the simplest way to downshift from constant stimulation back to the body’s baseline coherence.

Signs You May Be Ungrounded

Ungroundedness is the background noise of modern life.

It rarely appears dramatic but erodes focus, mood, and physical stability. Common signs include:

• Racing thoughts or looping rumination
• Chronic tension, anxiety, or irritability
• Sleep difficulty or shallow breathing
• Cold hands and feet, poor circulation
• Feeling “spaced out” after long screen time
• Clumsiness or forgetfulness when overstimulated

Digital overload acts like electrical insulation—it traps charge within the body and keeps the mind spinning.

Recognizing this pattern is half the re‑grounding process.

Once identified, short respites such as mindful breathing or a few barefoot minutes outside can re‑establish the equilibrium you didn’t realize you’d lost.

Your Bioelectrical Body: An Eastern Perspective

Humans are beings of electromagnetic energy. Electrical currents and their associated magnetic fields fill and surround the human organism.

These currents comprise a web or system of interactive energy fields that govern the body’s functioning. In energy medicine, it’s called the human biofield.

This subtle energy is called prana in Ayurvedic medicine and qi, or chi energy, in Chinese medicine and the Taoist arts.

However, these ancient terms likely include other forms of energy beyond electromagnetic fields (for example, sound energy and vibrations).

In ancient Indian and Chinese philosophies, the understanding is that a life force energy flows through the body and extends beyond it.

Blockages and imbalances in this energy’s flow lead to physical, mental, and emotional illness.

The Electromagnetic Earth

In Chinese thought, the qi from our bodies partly comes from what they call Heavenly Qi and Earth Qi.

Heavenly Qi refers to the energy of the sun and the cosmos.

Earth Qi is formed from the Earth’s natural web of energy, its magnetic field, and its natural heat.

As it turns out, the Earth also has an energetic anatomy consistent with our own. (As the saying goes, “As above, so below.’)

Energy centers, channels, and magnetic fields emanate from the Earth (sometimes called ley lines).

The Earth is like a massive battery that’s replenished by solar radiation and lightning. It gets recharged every minute by 5,000 lightning strikes somewhere in the world.

The principles of earthing tap into this powerful, natural source of grounding energy.

Outdoor Grounding (Earthing) Techniques

Grounding begins where your skin meets the living earth.

Although the practice looks simple, technique and attention change the outcome.

The key to using any of these types of methods is to pay attention to how you feel both during and after using the technique.

By paying attention and noticing positive results, you help anchor the experience.

Doing so will help you remember to use these techniques again in the future.

What follows isn’t a checklist; it’s a progression — from contact to awareness to resonance.

Standing Barefoot

Grounding techniques to connect you to the Earth are straightforward: take off your shoes and socks and get outside!

Taken from a modern perspective, walking barefoot on the ground might seem primitive.

From an instinctual perspective, however, walking barefoot is how we are meant to travel.

Stand on the Earth: grass, stone, sand, or dirt work best. You can stand in one place, walk, or lie down.

As in any electrical circuit, you only need one point of contact to establish a ground connection.

One foot alone on the Earth will ground you, but I’ve found that two feet on the ground provide a more substantial grounding effect.

For healing, the researchers behind the Earthing movement recommend staying barefoot on the Earth for at least 20 minutes, twice a day.

But even if you can only walk barefoot for 10 minutes during lunch, it will still serve you.

• Avoid grass sprayed with pesticides, as they will get absorbed through your feet.
• Be careful in areas that may have broken glass or debris.
• Avoid walking barefoot on asphalt.

If you can’t be barefoot, you can also wear earthing shoes.

Time: 10 – 20 minutes.

Touching Trees and Living Surfaces

Don’t want to stand or walk barefoot? No problem.

Holding your hand on a tree will instantly ground you.

And no, you don’t need to be a “tree hugger,” although embracing a tree with both hands also works.

You can also sit at the base of a tree to receive strong earthing effects:

1. Find a tree that resonates with you
2. Sit in a comfortable position at the tree’s base
3. Take a few slow, deep breaths to settle yourself
4. Place your hands on nearby roots

Stay in this position for as long as you need, or until you feel revitalized.

Note: Avoid using this grounding technique in the winter when most trees are dormant—unless you’re using a conifer tree (like pine).

Time: 1 – 20 minutes

Grounding with Your Hands

What if you don’t want to take off your shoes or have no trees around?

You can still ground yourself!

Sit on the ground and touch your hands to the Earth.

As long as you’re wearing 100% natural fibers (like cotton), you can ground yourself simply by sitting on the bare ground (rocks, dirt, grass, etc).

But the effects are arguably stronger when you have direct skin contact with the Earth. So reach down and touch the earth to increase the earthing effects.

Time: 10 – 20 minutes

Immersion in Water

Flowing water is one of the strongest conductors.

Wading ankle‑deep in surf, lake, or stream offers the same electrical transfer with additional cooling for inflammation.

Imagine tension leaving through the soles while sensation returns up the legs.

Mind‑Body Grounding Practices

External connection alone isn’t enough; grounding also takes place within the field of perception.

When attention scatters across tasks, screens, and worries, energy consumption spikes and clarity drops.

Mind‑body grounding directs awareness inward so physiology and consciousness synchronize.

These practices are deceptively simple: mindful breathing, sensory anchoring, slow movement, posture awareness, and brief meditative stillness.

Each works by returning the mind to the body’s present‑tense data stream—breath, pressure, temperature, balance.

As internal noise fades, the electrical activity of the brain and the rhythm of the heartbeat align.

In effect, psychological grounding completes the same circuit earthing begins: external charge meets internal coherence.

Used together, the two form a closed loop—Earth to body to mind—where energy stabilizes and cognition sharpens. A few minutes each day can replace hours of distraction with collected stillness.

Observing Your Breath

Mindful breathing is a classic way of grounding yourself.

Direct your attention inward. Allow your awareness to sink inside your body. (One to two minutes.)

Now, witness the process of breathing—how your body inhales and exhales on its own.

Instead of trying to change your breath or improve it in any way, simply witness the involuntary process of inhalation and exhalation.

In Eastern traditions, this method is often referred to as “tuning the breath” or placing your mind on the breath.

This grounding technique gets more effective with practice. The key is to observe the breath instead of forcing it with your mind. Let your body lead, and your mind will follow.

Feeling Your Feet

This is another fast and effective method. I used to use this grounding technique with my clients because it’s so efficient.

Sitting or standing, place all of your awareness on the bottom of your feet.

Pay attention to any sensations. If you’re very unsettled, it can take a few minutes to start feeling any sensations.

(Using the above method on breathing first can make this technique more effective.)

Time: 30 seconds to 5 minutes.

Stand Like a Tree

Stand with your feet parallel and at least shoulder-width apart.

Keep your head floating above your body without letting it drop forward.

Your chin is slightly tucked. Your shoulders rest comfortably at your sides.

Rest your hands at your side or place them over your navel.

Allow the weight of your body, along with all the tension you’re holding, to sink downward without collapsing your posture.

If possible, allow this tension to sink into your feet and be absorbed into the ground.

If you like visualizations, imagine roots growing out of the bottom of your feet, extending deep into the ground beneath you.

This grounding technique works best in nature (or just outside). You’ll derive even more benefits if you combine this method with earthing. That is, stand barefoot on the earth.

The above is a very abbreviated version of an ancient standing practice called Zhan Zhuang.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

Photo by Shaurya Kauhsish

Mindful Stretching

Take any stretching routine you may already know from yoga, qigong, or elsewhere. (Or look one up on YouTube.)

It’s easy to mindlessly engage in stretching where you do the exercise while your mind wanders. (We’ve all done it!)

The key to using stretching as a grounding technique, however, is to bring your awareness to the act of stretching and the experience within your body.

Mindful stretching helps integrate the body and mind; it’s an underrated yet highly effective way to ground yourself.

Hint: It’s also wise to use this type of stretching before meditation training.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

Taking a Cold Shower

This grounding technique has many health benefits. It was popularized by Wim Hof.

Cold exposure has been shown to:

• Increase immunity
• Reduce fat
• Elevate mood (by triggering dopamine)

If you’re not accustomed to taking cold showers, make the water warm/cool for 30 seconds at the end of your hot shower.

Over the next three weeks, make the water slightly cooler and stay under it for longer.

By the end of the three weeks, your body will get used to the cold temperature. It’s an invigorating and grounding experience.

Especially target the cold water on the back of your neck and the top of your head.

I recommend experimenting with it unless you have high blood pressure. (Not “health advice”.)

Time: 30 seconds to 5 minutes.

Covering Your Crown

In Chinese medicine and the energy arts, there’s a point at the top of the head called Baihui.

It is the center point of the crown of your head.

Very simply, when you feel ungrounded, place one hand over the crown of your head. That’s it.

If it helps, close your eyes to avoid distractions.

Time: 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Mindful Body Scan

A typical mindfulness method is to perform a basic body scan.

You can perform a body scan while sitting, standing, or lying down.

First, settle your breath. Then, with your eyes closed, place your awareness within your head.

Slowly begin to scan down through your body as if you’re in a small sailboat following a natural current.

Scan down through your neck, shoulder, arms, chest, lower torso, hips, legs, and down into your feet.

A body scan can be a very settling and grounding process.

Time: 5 – 20 minutes

54321 Method

54321 is another popular method within the mindfulness movement.

The purpose of the 54321 method is to ground in your physical senses. For example:

5 – SEE: Notice and acknowledge five things you can see around you.

4 – TOUCH: Notice and acknowledge four things you can touch, including body parts, furniture textures, etc.

3 – HEAR: Notice and acknowledge three things you hear in your environment (focus on sounds, not your thoughts).

2 – SMELL: Acknowledge two things you can smell. This can be done outside, but virtually everything within your home has a distinct smell.

1 – TASTE: Acknowledge one thing you can taste. What did you eat for breakfast? How was that toothpaste?

You can repeat this process as often as you want.

Time: As long as it takes.

Photo by David L Smith

Immersing in Nature

It’s difficult for many people to appreciate the connection between nature and our overall mental health.

Being divorced from the physical world, in general, is a clear sign that we’re ungrounded.

Thankfully, reforging our connection to the Earth takes no advanced methods.

Instead, make a conscious effort to spend less time indoors and in front of a screen and more time in the woods, fields, beaches, or whatever you have easy access to.

Central Park is nearby, even in a bustling city like New York. And if you can find nature in NYC, you can find it anywhere!

If you’re “wired” from a lot of screen time, spend as much time as you can walking, sitting, or standing in nature to counteract the many harmful effects of technology.

It works!

Time: 30 minutes to all day long.

Mindful Walking (Barefoot or with Shoes)

Walk and stay present in the process of walking.

My preferred way of earthing is to walk barefoot on my property. Depending on how active my mind is, it takes only a few minutes before I am more mentally calm and centered.

Walking barefoot has the added benefit of massaging acupuncture points in your feet, like in reflexology.

A point of particular interest is the Kidney-1 (K-1) point or “bubbling well” in the center of your foot.

Walking barefoot helps stimulate this point. Be sure to use your whole foot when you walk: heel, ball, toes.

But you don’t need to be barefoot to ground yourself with mindful walking. Just keep your attention directed inward. Watch your thoughts without engaging with them.

Time: 10 to 20 minutes.

Squatting (Garland Pose)

Want to increase the benefits of grounding with your hands?

Perform a squat while you ground yourself with your hands

In Yoga, the Garland Pose (also called Malasana) is known to be grounding. Qigong has a similar position/stretch used to help strengthen and align the body.

This type of squat requires a certain level of flexibility, but can be performed by virtually anyone with a bit of practice.

In general, squatting has loads of benefits for your body, so if you learn how to squat correctly, you can perform this vital exercise AND ground yourself to the Earth at the same time.

Note: In the image above, the woman is extending the stretch by curling her spine and reaching with her hands behind her feet. Alternatively, you can keep your spine straight and head upright. Then, place your hands on the ground in front of you while your elbows gently push your knees outward to stretch your hip flexors.

Time: ~ 5 minutes

Consuming Grounding Foods

If you pay close attention to what you eat, you’ll notice that certain foods have more of a grounding quality than others.

Grounding foods include:

• Meats
• Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, turnips, and ginger
• Winter squashes like acorn and butternut

Simply eating these types of foods can help ground you. A warm sweet potato can often do the trick.

Roll Around Like a Cat

Have you ever noticed how cats and some dogs roll around on the Earth?

I suspect that they instinctively know how to discharge negative energy.

Try getting dirty and rolling around on the Earth. You’ll understand why cats do it. It feels good!

Earthing Visualization

Feel the ground beneath you and center yourself.

Now, focus on your heart.

Become present with the energy of life emanating from your heart.

Now, imagine the center of the Earth. It could be a magma core, a circle of light, or whatever comes to mind.

Next, visualize a curved beam of light or energy from your heart to the Earth’s core.

A complementary curved energy beam extends from the core to your heart (completing a pointed oval).

Feel the connection between your heart and the Earth’s core.

Time: 2 to 5 minutes.

Photo by Martin Bennie

Grounding Combo Methods

Before we move on to grounding indoors, I wanted to highlight how you can combine the abovementioned grounding techniques to improve their overall efficacy.

By stacking various grounding techniques, you can:

1. Achieve results more quickly,
2. Ground more deeply, and
3. Have the positive effects last longer.

For example, if you’re wound up and you try standing barefoot on the Earth, you may not feel any different right away.

However, if you breathe deeply for a few minutes, direct your awareness into your body, correct your alignment (Zhan Zhuang), and stand barefoot, you may find your anxiety level drop substantially within minutes.

For illustration purposes, here are a few grounding technique combos you can try:

Grounding Combo #1

1. Stand barefoot
2. Observe your breath
3. Sink your awareness into your feet
4. Cover the crown of your head

Grounding Combo #2

1. Stand barefoot
2. Squat (Garland Pose)
3. Observe your breath
4. Sink your awareness into your feet
5. End with a gentle upward stretch

Grounding Combo #3

1. Sit down at the base of a tree
2. Place one hand on the exposed roots
3. Observe your breath and breathe deeply
4. Gently smile

I’m sure you get the idea. These types of combinations will help you calm down and settle yourself rather quickly.

Time: However long it’s necessary to achieve the desired result.

Indoor Grounding Methods

Most people spend nearly 90 percent of their time inside, far from soil or stone. The challenge isn’t simply a lack of fresh air—it’s electrical isolation.

Carpet, rubber soles, and multi‑story living replace the planet’s steady current with artificial fields that keep the body in a mild “standby” mode.

Indoor grounding restores that connection using conductive surfaces, environmental awareness, and conscious posture.

Begin by identifying what in your home still conducts the Earth’s charge: concrete, tile, brick, unpainted metal pipes, and even certain plants with moist soil.

When you touch or stand on these materials barefoot, your body links indirectly to the Earth’s reservoir.

Pair this with simple electronic hygiene—less Wi‑Fi exposure, more natural light, fewer screens after sunset—and the body’s voltage gradually normalizes. Think of it as bringing natural design into a manufactured world: subtle engineering for resilience.

How to Ground Yourself Indoors (Electrically)

There are numerous ways to ground yourself indoors:

• Assuming your house is wired with a ground (copper rod), you can touch your finger to the center screw in a wall electrical outlet to yourself yourself
• Touching a radiator
• Touching a copper pipe
• Using a grounding mat (see below)

If you have a concrete basement, you can stand barefoot to ground yourself as well.

When indoors, ceramic tile and concrete flooring can ground you if you walk barefoot. (Carpet, vinyl, and wood flooring will not ground you.) But the effects aren’t as powerful as direct contact with the Earth itself.

Computer Grounding

It’s also a good idea to stay electrically grounded when working in front of a computer or any device.

Earthing pads are made of conductive material plugged into any electric outlet’s grounding port.

You’re technically grounded as long as your skin is in contact with the pad.

You can purchase a universal earthing mat or make your own.

To make your own, you need a conductive material like copper mesh and a grounding plug with an alligator clip to connect to the copper. (See this review for step-by-step instructions.)

Earthing Products

When I first read about earthing years ago, it was during the winter.

I wasn’t ready to walk on the frozen ground, so I invested in some Earthing products.

Behind the Earthing movement is a new industry of products designed to ground you by connecting the product to the ground wire in your home.

You can now find earthing bed sheets, pillows, mats, patches, and even grounding shoes.

Can You Feel the Effects of Earthing Products?

While earthing shoes don’t provide me with the same experience as being barefoot, I can still feel a grounding effect.

If I tried earthing twenty-plus years ago, I probably wouldn’t have felt anything. I had minor energetic sensitivity to the movements and sensations in my body.

However, I have greater body awareness after practicing Qigong for over 15 years.

I can instantly observe specific sensations when I connect my feet to the Earth. I can also detect a slight vibration emanating from the ground when I’m centered.

I have used earthing pads and sheets for years, believing the principle behind earthing is sound.

However, except for earthing shoes, I can’t detect many, if any, effects from using these products. Of course, this doesn’t mean earthing products don’t work. Had I not already blocked out blue light and restored my circadian rhythm, I might have experienced the benefits of earthing sheets, as many others report.

Integrating Grounding into Daily Life

Consistency matters more than duration.

Brief, repeated contact resets your physiology far better than an occasional “earthing session.”

Frame grounding as a rhythm woven through work, rest, and movement — not a separate wellness chore.

Start by syncing natural light with your schedule: step outside within ten minutes of waking, and again at sunset.

Go barefoot when possible, or rest a hand on a tree while taking calls.

At home, touch conductive surfaces — metal faucets, stone counters, concrete floors — to discharge built‑up static.

During screen time, pause for one slow breath cycle every fifteen minutes; even awareness alone lowers electrical tension in the body.

The goal isn’t perfection; it’s re‑patterning. Each micro‑moment of connection reminds the nervous system what stability feels like. Over weeks, calm becomes baseline instead of “reward.”

Recap & Key Takeaway

Grounding is the interface where physics meets psychology.

Outdoors, it’s earthing — conductive contact returning electrons to the body’s living circuitry.

Indoors, it’s small design adjustments and mindful attention that keep the balance intact.

Internally, it’s presence itself: the ability to inhabit your own body fully.

Practice all three, and a pattern emerges: anxiety eases, sleep deepens, thought slows to the body’s tempo.

You become less reactive and more responsive, not because of discipline, but because your system no longer needs to defend against overcharge.

In short: grounding restores coherence — the state in which energy, emotion, and awareness flow together without friction. When that coherence holds, clarity follows. And clarity, lived day to day, is the quiet definition of being well‑grounded.

Related Books

Earthing by Clinton Ober, Stephen Sinatra, and Martin Zucker

The Body Electric: Electromagnetism And The Foundation Of Life by Robert Becker and Gary Selden

Cross Currents: The Perils of Electropollution, the Promise of Electromedicine by Robert Becker

Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis by James L. Oschman

Read Next

Grounding Sheets: Do They Really Help Improve Your Sleep?

How to Use Earthing Shoes to Increase Energy and Mental Clarity

How to Block Blue Light and Restore Your Sleep Cycle

Blue Light Glasses Benefits: What the Science Really Shows

What Do You Think?

Add your comments below.

Scholarly References

• Chevalier, G. , Melvin, G. and Barsotti, T. (2015) One-Hour Contact with the Earth’s Surface (Grounding) Improves Inflammation and Blood Flow—A Randomized, Double-Blind, Pilot Study. Health, 7.
• Oschman J, Chevalier G, Brown R. (2015) The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 8:83-96.
• Chevalier, G. (2015). The Effect of Grounding the Human Body on Mood. Psychological Reports.
• Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S. T., Oschman, J. L., & Delany, R. M. (2013). Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity-a major factor in cardiovascular disease. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 19(2), 102–110.
• Gaétan Chevalier, PhD; Stephen T. Sinatra, MD. (2011) Emotional Stress, Heart Rate Variability, Grounding, and Improved Autonomic Tone: Clinical Applications. Integrative Medicine, Vol. 10, No. 3, Jun/Jul.
• Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S. T., Oschman, J. L., Sokal, K., & Sokal, P. (2012). Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth’s surface electrons. Journal of environmental and public health, 2012, 291541.
• Shevchuk, N. A., & Radoja, S. (2007). Possible stimulation of anti-tumor immunity using repeated cold stress: a hypothesis. Infectious agents and cancer, 2, 20.
• Ouellet, V., Labbé, S. M., Blondin, D. P., Phoenix, S., Guérin, B., Haman, F., Turcotte, E. E., Richard, D., & Carpentier, A. C. (2012). Brown adipose tissue oxidative metabolism contributes to energy expenditure during acute cold exposure in humans. The Journal of clinical investigation, 122(2), 545–552.
• Srámek, P., Simecková, M., Janský, L., Savlíková, J., & Vybíral, S. (2000). Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. European journal of applied physiology, 81(5), 436–442.