For years, I sat hunched over my laptop, cold-fingered and cold-toed. My breathing was shallow, my mind was on overdrive, and I was constantly hangry. But I didn’t connect any of these issues to grounding until I heard the term a few years ago.

I’ve since learned that grounding involves more than staying out of my head. Grounding, or lack thereof, is a full-body state involving energetic connection, posture, mood, and even breathing.

With this new understanding of grounding, I began a grounding practice that involves a grounding mat and regular grounding exercises.

Over the next several months, I noticed multiple changes, the most noticeable and surprising being that I had way fewer heart palpitations. By heart palpitation, I mean PVCs. PVC stands for pre-ventricular contraction. They feel like hiccups in the heart. Before working on grounding, I was having them so frequently that they affected my ability to concentrate.

The most important thing I learned is that grounding is not a one-and-done process. It’s cumulative and must be done consistently to get good results. It’s like going to the gym. If you let your gym membership collect dust, the results will be poor.

The more often I ground, the more grounded I feel. If I can ground for thirty minutes at a time, that’s far better than five. If I can ground five days a week, that’s better than three, and three is better than one. Though using a grounding mat hasn’t cured all my health issues, I’m a believer in its ability to improve certain conditions.