(Illustration: Onya Hogan-Finlay)
You probably remember the last time you were grounded. And no, I’m not talking about that time you snuck out in high school.
I’m talking about the bioelectrical high you get from getting your toes in the sand, the grass, the dirt. Didn’t that feel AHH-mazing?
Getting your bare skin against the earth sounds almost too simple but it can be nothing short of lifechanging. Earth has a negative charge and when we “plug in”, we output our excess energy and experience healing on a cellular level.
I’m talking positive physiological changes to our immune systems, blood chemistry and inflammation. WOAH.
On top of all that, it also helps us get deeper sleeps.
Okay, I just re-read that, and it sounds fake, but I promise you, the research backs up all of this.
It’s the early days of April and just a few hours ago, I watched my daughter kick off her shoes and run joyfully through the grass like only three-year-olds can.
She called to me to join her. Smiling, I stepped onto the grass.
Thank you for this, Kelly – you are right on! As a mother who raised three boys, and now a grandmother, I made a point of connecting my children to nature whenever and however I could. They were happy and endlessly occupied with the simplest play and exploration in dirt, water, plants, insects… We were always at our best in those times!
Now I am lucky to help raise the Food Forest at Bluenose Academy – we are trying to create a natural asset right in school grounds so that all students and teachers can learn and experience nature up close, and connect that also to growing our own food. It’s a fun project too as our community comes together to learn, play, eat and connect. I hope we will see more families and friends there this season!