Even though every day is Earth Day around here, I’m super excited to celebrate the official Earth Day this Wednesday, April 22nd. The earth provides us with so much nourishment, beauty, healing and also helps wash our spirits clean so it’s only appropriate we take a day to celebrate her. And my favorite ways to do that are “earthing” and “forest bathing”.
Before you think I’ve gone totally hippy on you, it’s important to note that Earthing really is a thing - and so is Forest Bathing! In the early 1980s the Forest Agency of Japan encouraged people to get out in nature and go “forest bathing” (orshinrin-yoku) this was not about literally bathing in a forest - it was about basking in the lush richness of forests. Since then, scientific research has pointed to the fact that forest bathing improves mood and energy levels while reducing stress. It has also proven to lower heart rate, blood pressure and boost immunity - something we all need right now more than ever before!
Forest bathing doesn’t involve major effort, like hiking - it involves just being, feeling, and soaking in mother nature. If you can’t get to a forest then a park or even patch of grass or earth will do. When we make contact with the Earth, our bodies receive a charge of energy that makes us literally feel better, sleep deeper and feel less stressed. Feeling the Earth under our feet helps ground us and this is so important.
In my latest book The Power Source I talk about the different areas of the body being associated with each element in Chinese medicine: earth, air, water, and fire. Our grounding chakra - the root chakra, a.k.a. our pelvic floor - is associated with the element of earth. So it makes sense that earthing can help balance and heal this area of the body. Another reason to make some time in your day - even if it’s just a few minutes - to get out and experience the sounds and smells of nature. Turn your phone on airplane mode or, even better, leave it behind. Look at the trees and how their roots connect them to the earth. Ideally you might even kick off your shoes and feel the earth beneath your bare feet as you walk. Soak in the smell of the grass, trees, plants, and soil. Sit on the grass under a tree and physically connect your pelvic floor with the earth - zone out, feel your body, meditate, read a book, or have a picnic. What you do isn’t as important as experiencing that physical connection to the earth.
The silver lining of this current time as we all go through the effects of Covid 19, is that our Mother Earth is having a chance to recover and realign. When go outside you can literally see cleaner air, bluer skies, less planes, cars and pollution. Birds are singing and wildlife is returning to tourist-free cities! Plusthe ozone layer above Antarctica has recovered so much, it's actually stopped many worrying changes in the Southern Hemisphere's atmosphere. How amazing is that? Now is our time to get outside in nature where we can.
If, like me, you are using this time of adjusting to look at old habits and create more vibrate and energetically positive ones, consider some earthing as part of your new daily ritual. And, if you get a chance for some earthing or ‘forest bathing’ try the new guided audio walking meditation LIVE now in the FREE ImmUNITY Boosting program. This 15 minute guided walking visualization helps you connect to the present moment, feel more grounded, more aligned, more grateful and supported by the energy and abundance of the earth.