Earthing Benefits and How to Stay Grounded When Living in China

Posted: January 30, 2020 by Kelly Branyik

If many of you don’t know much about me, I’m big on holism and natural remedies to keep me healthy. I very, very rarely rely on western medicine to cure basic things my body can cure on its own. I also rarely get sick.

The only time I ever get really sick is when I consume dairy and wheat. I have allergies and everything gets stuck in my nose. I really should stop drinking coffee with cream. Regardless of that little pesky thing, I consider myself pretty healthy in general.

My View on Health

I have a lot of things to thank for my ongoing great health, one of the big things being, energy healing, or what my family has come to know as awakenings. Awakenings are a form of energy healing and counseling to help you dig into the shallow and even deep parts of yourself that need healing. Once you release those things or talk through them, the block is cleared from the energy fields of your body by sweeping the energy away. It’s a beautiful process that has changed my life and been a big part of my health regime for the past 20 years.

I also think a lot of my health has to do with how I view illness. For as long as I can remember, my mother didn’t really use medicines when her children got sick, even when we were young. She didn’t vaccinate us either. **Note, I say this to give context and perspective for my life, not to tell parents how they should or shouldn’t care for their kids. These are just my personal experiences.

My mom made sure we were always outside, getting dirty, getting sun, and she made dinner for us every night from scratch. And obviously, if there was a serious health concern, my mom isn’t an idiot, she would take us to the hospital and whatnot.

How Awakenings and Energy Healing Factor In

When my mom met my dad, my siblings and I were introduced to awakenings, or energy healings. From then on, my physical and mental health and the way I thought about illness changed forever. The topic of energy healing in itself could be a book, and I won’t get too far into it. But if you would like a nice segue into the topic, one of the best books I know that speaks to the relationship between physical and mental health is Louise L. Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life.”

If you have other questions about energy healing, contact me here. I know a guy who’s good at that.

The combination of my mom never using medicine and my dad bringing awakenings into my life I see health much differently than most. However, I know many can relate. Even now, when sickness becomes a topic, I acknowledge that it is a real thing, but I choose not to welcome it into my life or worry that I’ll be sick being in the same room with a sick person. It’s a weird mentality, I know, but I swear, I never get sick.

The point of this whole explanation is my parents wanted us to have good, strong immune systems without relying too much on medicines, and I thank them every day for that.

Where Grounding and Earthing Come in

When I look back on my childhood, I remember one thing very clear thing about my mother. She was almost always barefoot. Like astonishingly always, or she was always finding a reason to take her shoes off.

When she met my dad over 20 years ago and he brought awakenings to us, we were introduced to this concept of grounding. Grounding was often a term introduced to us post-awakening, to help us stay connected. So from the age of 10 until now, grounding has been a part of my life. It’s been such a normal part that I didn’t even know people were studying the science behind grounding and earthing. I didn’t even know the science of it myself.

So my mom and dad encouraged me to watch this video called The Earthing Movie, which took a few months (I’m sorry mom and dad, please forgive me). YOU GUYS! There are so many wonderful and FREE health benefits for just taking your shoes off and putting them to the solid earth for 20 minutes. See the video below, I’m not kidding.

Immediately after watching I panicked, because I live in China and earthing is definitely not an easy thing to practice here. I’ll explain why. But first…

What is Grounding or Earthing?

Grounding, or earthing, is the act of literally taking off your shoes and putting your bare feet onto Mother Earth. And I’m not talking like asphalt or sidewalks. I’m talking dirt, grass, mud, snow, rain puddles, whatever.

There is actual science between the electromagnetic connection we have to the earth and the incredible health benefits it has for us. The video below explains this.

So back to my China panic.

People’s Relationship with Feet and the Ground in China

I’m not a super expert on China by any means, but I would say I know quite a bit especially when it comes to the average person’s relationship to the ground in China.

I’ll start off by telling you that when they wash their socks, it’s by hand in a washbasin and not with other clothes. From what I understand, feet carry a lot of germs, fungus, and whatnot, making them unsanitary.

The same can be said for the ground outside, although it’s much scarier to think about. Outside is just dirty, due in large part to the pollution. But on the ground are a lot of other things like dog poop, urine, baby poop (in some parts of China its true and very real, babies poop everywhere and wear little Chinese chaps), spit, and trash.

So when people get home after a long day of work, walking dirty streets and stepping into piles of … stuff. This is the biggest reason they take their shoes off when entering homes. I hope that didn’t scare you.

So knowing all this, you can maybe start to glean why I suddenly got a little panicked after watching this incredible documentary about grounding.

Grounding in China

I know full well how people in China view the dirty ground, and how weird it would be for a foreigner to be spotted barefoot in a park feeling the grass between her toes. As I put on my shoes to walk out the door, I rehearse, in Chinese, how I would explain to people what the hell I’m doing should the feel so inclined to ask.

The way I figure it. I’m a foreigner, an anomaly in China if you will. And this is simply because I don’t look like them. So people are going to look at me regardless. I might as well make it interesting.

So after watching this video, I marched out to the park nearest to my apartment complex on searching for the perfect place to feel the earth on my feet. After that, I tasked myself with 365 days of grounding in wherever I may be in the world.