Earthing Shoes for Winter

If you’re familiar with the benefits of earthing, you may wonder if it’s possible to stay grounded during the winter–because unless you’re Wim Hof, you probably don’t want to go barefoot in freezing weather!

The transition to the colder part of the year is the perfect time to break out winter earthing shoes. In fact, winter is perhaps the most important time of the year to make an effort to enhance your body-earth connection, which is made easier with the help of winter earthing shoes.

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The Importance of Earthing in Winter

Nature Connection Deficient 

While outdoor spring and summer pursuits are plentiful, the colder part of the year tends to be dominated by indoor activities: baking, reading, knitting, drinking hot chocolate by the fireplace (or under your fuzzy blanket and laptop). Our tendency to curl up and stay warm indoors during the winter leads to both a lack of time spent outdoors and lack of exposure to natural light, which can affect our circadian rhythm. Because of reduced nature time in the winter, it’s extra important to make the most of any time spent outside!

Winter, Holidays, and Immune System Connection

In addition to less time spent outside in the winter, the holiday season is one of gluttony. Starting with Halloween and continuing into the New Year, for many the winter is three months of candy, alcohol, baked goods, and other sugary treats. A lack of natural light and a surplus of sugar can impair immune system function, which can account for the rise of colds during the winter. Not to mention stress, which generally peaks during this time. An easy way to help boost the immune system, decrease stress, and regulate circadian rhythm is wearing winter earthing shoes for a health boost from the earth.

Embrace the Cold! It’s Healthy

• Fresh Air: If you spend all your time inside during the winter, you’re breathing in recycled indoor air full of bacteria and germs that gets circulated through the air vents again and again.
• Circadian Rhythm: Exposing your skin and eyes to the sun helps regulate your circadian rhythm–your body’s internal clock. Sunlight sets the stage for all biological processes in your body.
• Grounding: Benefits of earthing include better sleep, reduced inflammation, regulated circadian rhythm, and improved mood.
• Immune System: The lymphatic system assists in removing toxins from the body. Cold temperatures cause lymph vessels to contract, pumping lymph fluids throughout the body, flushing away waste. This triggers the immune system’s white blood cells to destroy undesirable substances and germs, like bacteria and viruses.
• Reduce Inflammation: There’s a reason you put ice on a sore muscle–the cold reduces pain, swelling, and inflammation!

Grounding in Winter via Footwear

While beneficial year round, it takes a more conscious effort to stay grounded during the winter. We are a lot less likely to be walking outside barefoot or having a picnic on the grass in icy temperatures! Winter earthing shoes are one of the best ways to maintain an earth connection during the cold part of the year.

The Most Efficient Earthing Shoe Material

It’s important to consider the material of your winter earthing shoes for the best grounding capability. Low impedance is what allows a material to conduct ions; this is measured in resistivity (ohms Ω). Some materials are completely insulating, some are very conductive, and there is a whole spectrum in between. Materials which fall in the middle portion, with moderate resistivity, may allow either static discharge or electron through conductivity, enabling the material the capacity to shield electromagnetic interference–a technology used to preserve the quality of data transmission.

Comparison of Different Conductive Earthing Shoe Materials

Winter Earthing Shoes -vs- Winter Earthing Sandals

When you think “winter footwear,” sandals probably aren’t the first thing that come to mind. However, depending on your lifestyle and the climate where you live, there may be a place for both winter earthing sandals and winter earthing shoes.

• Winter Earthing Shoes: If you live somewhere with thick snowfall or a lot of heavy rain, you may prefer a closed-toed shoe. Minimalist shoes can be converted via our Shoe Sync DIY Kit.
• Winter Earthing Sandals: If you live somewhere very cold, but moderately dry (no snow, occasional rain storms) you may actually prefer the total foot freedom of winter earthing sandals!

Benefits of Earthing Sandals:

• They can be worn with wool blend socks during the winter and fall.
• They can be worn without socks during the spring and summer.
• Earth Runners earthing sandals are grounded via a copper plug in the sole, and conductive stitching travels up the length of the laces. Anywhere the laces touch your skin (or socks), you are benefiting from the sandal’s earth-connection.

Grounding on Snow?

While snow is natural, it is not a surface conducive to grounding. The mobile ions needed to conduct electricity are not mobile in frozen snow, making it a poor conductor. You must be on earth (dirt, grass, etc)–better yet, moist earth–for the benefits of earthing.

Can You Ground in Earthing Shoes Through Socks?

We took matters into our own hands and decided to investigate this ourselves! By running voltmeter tests on shoes grounded with our Shoe Sync DIY Kit, with vs without socks, here is what we discovered:

• No socks: 100% grounded
• With socks:
• Initially 90% grounded as a result of conductive lace securely fastened around the foot making intimate contact through the sock.
• 99% grounded after 10 minutes as a result of foot perspiration under the laces.

Shop Winter Earthing Collection 

Winter Earthing Footwear