There’s something soothing about putting your bare feet on a natural surface, like sand. It’s one of the main things country singers like to talk about, after all. But it might be deeper than that: proponents of “earthing” believe it has all types of restorative properties, from reducing inflammation to stress relief.

It’s more technical than just ditching your sandals. While most people would agree that touching grass (or sand) feels good, “earthing”—also called “grounding”—takes the feeling a step further. The concept is that the Earth has an electromagnetic field—undoubtedly true—and when we touch the Earth with our bare feet, all sorts of benefits occur—like the disappearance of chronic pain and insomnia. Connecting with the Earth’s magnetic field, the theory goes, provides our bodies with the nourishment of free electrons, as physicist and earthing proponent Gaétan Chevalier, Ph.D. told Woman’s World in May.

As with just about everything in wellness, there's a bunch of crap you can buy. For those moments where you can’t connect directly with the outdoors, there are sheets, flip-flops, wearable patches, yoga mats, and sleeping systems that connect to earthing cords, which plug into your electrical sockets, which, if installed correctly, are electrically grounded by a wire placed in the earth. So you can be connected to outside, while you’re inside.

It all sounds like a little much, if you ask us. On the other hand, the benefits of simply going outside are undeniable. 

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Ashwin Rodrigues is a freelance writer. He often covers health, fitness, and things you might've heard on a podcast. He previously worked at Morning Brew as a business features reporter. Even more previous than that, he was a staff writer on the culture team at VICE. His byline can also... Read moreXRelated Stories for GQHealth