Featured Photo Credit Boston.com
Grounding, also known as Earthing, has helped countless folks deal with chronic pain, stress, sleeplessness, and increase overall wellbeing. Even many professional athletes have turned to grounding as a way to relieve the numerous conditions associated with the highest levels of performance.
Whether you’re throwing thousands of pitches during a 26-and-a-half-week major league regular season or at a desk for eight hours a day, HARMONY783 understands that all people deal with various ailments, which can impact our well-being and performance. It’s just part of being human.
That said, it always helps to know that people in high places are using the same methods to feel better. Perhaps no athlete understands the benefits of grounding more than Adam Ottavino.
Who is Adam Ottavino?
Adam Ottavino is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Drafted in 2006, Ottavino spent four years in the minors before making his MLB debut in 2010. At 35, he’s not exactly a spring chicken, and you wouldn’t guess it given his outstanding (and unexpected) performance this season.
Ottavino was acquired by the Boston Red Sox this year from the New York Yankees, marking the first trade between the teams since 2014. He has since gone on to have quite a solid year.
In other Adam Ottavino news, he is a major advocate for grounding. The Red Sox reliever has made the practice part of his pregame routine, albeit in its simplest form. With his sensational season as proof, he doesn’t seem to be looking to change that anytime soon.
What is Ottavino’s Pregame Grounding Routine?
Many athletes have pregame rituals and superstitions. Soccer phenom, and Forbes highest-paid athlete, Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, always steps out onto the field right foot first.
Tiger Woods wears only red on Sundays, deciding it was his winning color before turning pro. U.S. tennis star, Serena Williams will not change or even wash her socks during a tournament, believing that even the smallest changes will bring about a loss.
Ottavino’s pregame ritual? Go for a barefoot stroll on the field. Seems pretty tame compared to some of the other more outlandish habits, and it has raised a bit of a “weird” moniker. Perhaps this is only because it’s a fairly new practice.
Is There Any Science to Back Up Grounding?
According to this article written by Stan Grossfeld of The Boston Globe, Ottavino believes that simply walking out onto the grass at the famed Fenway Park will help him connect with the environment where he will be playing.. While barefoot, he walks out to the mound and takes it all in, connecting to the earth’s energy..
Ottavino was quoted in the article saying, “For me, I know that there’s some science behind it, obviously, but I’m not trying to get too wrapped up in that. Basically, I’m just trying to connect with the environment I’m going to be in every day, and it just kind of helps.”
While he doesn’t read too much into the evidence behind earthing, there is solid evidence of its benefits.
A study done in 2012 suggests that earthing has numerous health benefits such as:
- Improved states of deep, restful sleep
- Less stiffness and reduction in chronic pains
- Improved stress management and less tension
- Improved balance
- Improved healing of wounds/reduction in pain of a wound
- Reduced inflammation
- Potential for treating chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorders
One 84-year old woman suffering from diabetes even reported wound healing from grounding. The elderly woman in this study had been dealing with her particular wound for eight months.
Ottavino has tapped into a phenomenon that has been growing in awareness around the globe .
If you’re looking to reap the benefits of grounding, look no further than HARMONY783 footwear, a full array of men’s and women’s grounding shoes with numerous styles, all Powered by Earth and our Groundworks™ technology.
Not only will you look good, you’ll also feel good. To quote Willem Dafoe’s Sergeant Elias from the 1986 Vietnam epic, Platoon, “feeling good is good enough.”
While still a pretty revolutionary practice that continues to be researched and studied all signs seem to point to grounding as a benefit to wellbeing and health which can be accomplished via shoes, mattress pads, mats for sitting or standing – the list goes on.
If you’re still unsure, , start by simply taking a daily stroll while barefoot in your yard. See how you feel in a week or two, and then decide for yourself if you have noticed the benefits of grounding for yourself. There’s no better investment than the one that benefits you.
With pro athletes getting into grounding and scientists researching with positive results, you’re hard-pressed to find a reason not to give grounding a chance. So whether you’re Ottavino facing Shohei Ohtani or a 9 to 5’er looking to get some relief from an unforgiving office chair, grounding is worth a go.
You can even wear your new HARMONY783 grounding shoes out to Fenway. Grab a ballpark frank, some peanuts, and crackerjacks and watch the man himself work on throwing a scoreless inning.
