When (to paraphrase Carole King’s lyrics on ‘Tapestry’) did you last feel the earth move under your feet…? Maybe not move – unless you’re in an earthquake zone – but experience its grounding, balancing and (literally earthing) benefits? Well, if it’s been a while, can I recommend that this lunchtime, you get out there, lie down on some lawn or in a park, and soak up the soothing vibes?

Oh, this is going to sound all very woo-woo, no doubt. Perhaps you don’t feel that you need ‘grounding’. But in a world in which I spend most of my time ‘in my head’ – thinking, looking at a computer, and thinking some more – I know that there’s almost nothing that makes me feel better, quicker, than a bit of earth energy. Without it, I feel vulnerable and liable to be thrown off balance at any time. A bit like a leaf, fluttering in the wind, sometimes.

But give me a good grounding session, and I’m rooted – like a big tree. Resistant to the daily equivalent of strong winds – those inevitable events which can throw you off course. I sleep better. I’m more focused, have fewer scattered thoughts (and am less likely to pick up my phone every two minutes to check something or other completely irrelevant). I am also probably kinder to everyone around me. Less snarly, more smile-y.

If you’re feeling cynical, think back to the last time you were on a sandy beach. Wiggling your toes. Walking along the shoreline. You were connected to the earth’s powerful energy. (Let’s not argue about this: gravity is what stops us from floating off into the universe, weightless as astronauts. It’s powerful stuff.) Didn’t it feel good? I’ve a hunch, actually, that one of the reasons we feel so good after a seaside holiday isn’t just the sea itself, but the time we spend with our feet on the sand.

As a child, there was nothing I liked more than going out and lying in the garden, looking up at the sky. My mother accused me of being a daydreamer – but actually, on some level I’m sure I knew I was soaking up the earth vibes. Crammed into shoes, sitting at a desk for much of the day, rushing from A to B, it’s easy to lose touch with how that feels. For me, my love of deep, vibrational music (see my article ‘Good Vibrations’) is part of that need to feel grounded.

I am drawn to essential oils with a grounding effect, too – resinous and resonant oils like frankincense, sandalwood, vetiver and patchouli (old hippie that I am), which to me almost thrum. (Myrrh, cedarwood, benzoin, black spruce, petitgrain and rosewood are said to have a similar effect, though I don’t have them in my arsenal.) Inspired by my friend Kathy Phillips (creator of the This Works range), I often wear a drop of pure frankincense oil on my chest. I find this incredibly ‘tethering’, particularly on days when I have to take the Tube (which may actually be beneath the ground but definitely doesn’t have a de-stressing effect on me, anyway).

And I now discover there’s an actual ‘earthing’ movement going on, driven by the belief that being isolated from the Earth – by rubber and plastic (our shoes), wood, plastic, laminate and asphalt – creates a disconnection from the earth’s energy that can result in a feeling of fatigue. They go so far as to call the earth’s energy ‘Vitamin G’ (and even Shabir hasn’t managed to find a supplement which captures that, yet!) My husband, meanwhile, is a massive devotee of ‘earthing’. I always poked fun at him for getting out into our garden in the morning for his regular dew bath, and wearing Vivo Barefoot shoes – but now I totally get where he’s coming from. (NB I’ve come to realise it is usual for Craig – as the man who introduced us to brown rice, sesame, patchouli oil and even the Afghan coat, for his sins – to be about two decades in advance of the rest of the planet. And indeed his wife.)

Earthing, or grounding, works – so it’s believed – because the body is mostly water and minerals, and is a good conductor of electricity (electrons). There are gazillions of electrons on the Earth’s surface – but synthetically-soled shoes stop us receiving that energy. The idea is to get out there, shoe-less, and connect with it as often as we can. Not easy, in a city or for someone who lives in a flat. But definitely not impossible.

Having said that, when I’m feeling particularly frazzled, I still find that I can still effectively ‘ground’ myself, just sitting in my desk chair – so long as I’ve got bare feet. (And as long as the weather permits, I always go barefoot at home. Winter? You’ll find me in tights, socks and furry slippers – and definitely feeling way less grounded, as a result.) I place my feet flat on the floor and b-r-e-a-t-h-e for a couple of minutes – counting to ten, with one for in, two for the out-breath – imagining the feeling of rooting down into the floor. When life feels overwhelming, I find it an amazing quick fix.

It’s not the only weapon I have in my arsenal for dealing with a crazy-busy, too-fast-paced life. I meditate, do yoga – also wonderfully, famously grounding – and listen to Native American drumming music, as well as gongs and handpan music (which you can find on iTunes if you’re unfamiliar with it). But more and more, when life threatens to overwhelm, I just like to get out there and make like a kid, lying flat on my back and staring at the clouds, or walking barefoot in the dew.

Carole King was definitely onto something.

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