When Gwyneth Paltrow announced she was 'consciously uncoupling' from her lifestyle website Goop last year, we were (marginally) concerned the lifestyle publication might suffer from the lack of the actress' wisdom on vagina steaming and how eating pomegranate seeds will make men fall in love with you.
Of course, we need not have worried because the makers of Goop seem to have learned a bonkers thinking or two from 'Guru Gwyn', and when they're not telling us that anal sex is 'practically standard in the modern bedroom repertoire', they're now telling us we need to walk around barefoot.
Earlier this week, the publication posted a article titled 'Earthing: How Walking Barefoot Could Cure Your Insomnia & More', explaining to its readers how earthing therapy is the key to curing insomnia, arthritis, and depression.
Now, pardon our stupidity but one of the only things we remember from Year 9 physics was that earthing has something to do with electricity, static shock and basically prevents people from dying.
If our physics teachers had told us a) Gwyneth Paltrow does it and b) it could help stave off depression, we might have paid more attention.
According to the website, earthing is based on 'the intuitive assumption that connecting to the energy of the planet is healthy for our souls and bodies' as the 'abundant supply of free electrons in the (subtly negatively charged) ground can help neutralize free radicals'.
I mean, sure.
Earthing-movement leader Clint Ober divulges on the subject further, revealing the 'simplest and most natural method of grounding is to go outdoors and place your bare feet and hands directly on the earth — many people choose to go for a barefoot walk in the park or on the beach'.
However, you won't want to go whipping off your socks in public just yet as Ober says it takes 'at least a half an hour of exposure to access significant health benefits, so I recommend a minimum of thirty minutes of barefoot time outdoors daily, if possible'.
So, not only will you look like a plonker in Tescos with no shoes on, but you'll also be that plonker doing loops of the cereal aisle in an attempt to access the ground's energy long enough to prevent inflammation-related health disorders.
For those of us who don't fancy getting the souls of our feet dirty, Ober says you can purchase carbon-based polyurethane grounding mats for work or the home which can be plugged into a plug socket and buy bed pads made with a natural conductor like silver so you can sleep grounded, too.
Anyone else have a funny feeling grounding mats and bed pads might cost more than your average yoga mat?
Not only does earthing therapy reduce chronic pain and speeds healing, it allegedly also has emotional health benefits.
'If you reduce inflammation, the pain stops, you feel better, and the energy comes back. There have also been studies that indicate that grounding improves mood, reduces stress, and has a calming effect,' explains Ober.
Look, I'm sure if you live near Big Sur in California and can walk along golden beaches every day, then a barefoot lifestyle isn't so bad.
But, when you spend the majority of your time outside dodging chewing gum, Saturday night vomit and smushed cheesy chips, it might be worth protecting those flippers with those things us normal people call 'shoes'.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
