Grounding for Hot Sleepers: Can Earthing Help You Stay Cool at Night?

Do you often toss and turn at night feeling too warm or sweaty? If you’re a self-described “hot sleeper,” grounding might offer some relief and help you sleep cooler and more comfortably. Grounding (earthing) means connecting your body to the Earth’s electrical energy, usually by being barefoot outdoors or using special grounding sheets or mats indoors.

It might sound unrelated to temperature, but earthing affects your nervous system, circulation, and stress hormones, which can indirectly help regulate your body temperature at night. Let’s look at how grounding could benefit hot sleepers and how to incorporate it into your bedtime routine.

How Grounding Affects Body Temperature Regulation

Being a hot sleeper can be due to various factors: a high metabolism, hormonal changes (like menopausal hot flashes), high stress, or simply a warm environment. Grounding tackles a couple of these factors:

• Stress and Cortisol Reduction: One key thing grounding does is reduce stress and calm the nervous system. When you’re stressed or anxious, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline, which can raise body temperature and cause night sweats or a feeling of internal “heat.” Grounding appears to normalise the day-night cortisol rhythm (Oschman et al., 2015), meaning it helps bring your cortisol levels down at night when they should be low. In one study, people who slept grounded had more balanced cortisol levels and reported sleeping better (Ghaly & Teplitz, 2004). By keeping stress hormones in check, earthing prevents those late-night hormonal surges that might be causing you to overheat. You may not feel an instant chill, but a calmer body will naturally stay cooler.
• Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System: Grounding shifts your body into a parasympathetic (restful) state. This is the state your body is in when you’re cool, relaxed, and ready for sleep – think of how you feel after a nice evening walk or a warm bath. When the parasympathetic system is dominant, your heart rate slows, your breathing deepens, and peripheral blood vessels can dilate, releasing heat from the core. Essentially, it helps your body dissipate excess heat and reach a comfortable equilibrium. Many hot sleepers notice that if they can relax deeply, they cool down; grounding is a tool to help them achieve that state faster.
• Improved Circulation: Earthing has been found to improve blood flow and reduce blood thickness (Chevalier et al., 2013). Better circulation means your body can distribute heat more evenly and avoid heat buildup. Some individuals, upon grounding, experience a warming of their extremities (hands and feet) due to improved blood circulation. While that sounds like the opposite of what a hot sleeper wants, it’s actually helpful: if your hands and feet warm up, it signals that blood is moving to the skin’s surface to release heat. Often, hot sleepers may have warm core and head but cold feet/hands, indicating trapped heat. Grounding can balance that out, allowing the body to cool by sending heat away from the core to the extremities where it can escape. This can lead to an overall sensation of greater thermal comfort.

Benefits of Grounding for Hot Sleepers

1. Fewer Night Sweats and Overheating Episodes

By calming your internal systems, grounding may reduce the frequency or intensity of those sudden “heat waves” you feel at night. For example, if hormonal fluctuations are causing hot flashes (like in menopausal women), grounding’s stress-reducing effect might lessen how severe those flashes feel.

Anecdotally, some people have noted that after starting a nightly grounding routine, they wake up sweaty less often. While individual results vary, the logic is that a body not overreacting to minor triggers remains cooler.

2. Deeper, Cooler Sleep

Grounding often leads to deeper sleep (as noted earlier). When you sleep deeply, your body temperature naturally drops in the first half of the night – that’s a normal part of good sleep architecture. Hot sleepers sometimes don’t get that temperature dip, or they might experience a rebound of heat in the night.

With grounding, as your sleep quality improves, your body may better adhere to the healthy pattern of cooling down when it should. You might find that you fall asleep faster (so you’re not lying awake feeling hot) and then stay in a comfortably cool state through the night. Plus, if you’re using a cooling grounding sheet (some are made of breathable cotton or bamboo fabric), it can further help prevent heat from being trapped.

3. Reduced Mattress Heat Accumulation

This is a practical benefit if you use a grounding sheet on your bed. Grounding sheets are typically made from cotton with silver threads. Cotton is breathable and doesn’t hold onto heat like some synthetic bedding does. There’s no electrical heating element or anything in a grounding sheet – it’s not like an electric blanket. It won’t get warm on its own.

In fact, by being conductive, there’s a chance that it helps disperse static charge and maybe even heat away from your body (though heat dissipation is mostly about airflow). At the very least, a grounding sheet won’t make you hotter, and its smooth, conductive fibers might feel cooler to the touch initially. Many hot sleepers choose natural fiber bedding; a grounding sheet fits that requirement and adds the earthing benefit.

4. Possibly Help with Metabolic Heat

Some people run hot because their metabolism is in high gear (could be due to high thyroid activity or other conditions). Grounding has been noted in one review to potentially even affect basal metabolic rate (though more research is needed). If grounding helps normalize any hormonal or metabolic imbalances over time, it could indirectly make you run a bit cooler.

For example, if someone’s overactive thyroid hormone levels were moderated by reduced inflammation and stress (just a hypothetical), their symptoms of heat intolerance might reduce. This is more speculative, but it’s a hopeful area for those whose heat issues are tied to internal imbalances.

Tips for Hot Sleepers to Incorporate Grounding

• Use a Grounding Bed Sheet or Mat: The easiest way to ground while sleeping is to use a grounding sheet on your mattress or a grounding mat under your feet. This way, your body is connected to Earth throughout the night. It’s during sleep that being cool matters most, so this is prime time to be grounded. Make sure the room is also well-ventilated and your bedding is appropriate for the season (earthing won’t overcome a heavy down comforter in summer!). But with a lightweight grounding sheet, you’re set for a cooler night.
• Evening Grounding Routine: If possible, spend some time barefoot outdoors in the evening as part of a wind-down routine. For instance, you could take a short walk on the lawn after dinner or do some gentle stretches on a grounding mat before bed. This can preemptively relax your body. By the time you go to bed, you’re already calmer and cooler. Imagine it like “releasing the heat” before you sleep – connecting to the cool ground outside can physically and mentally prepare you for a cooler night.
• Stay Hydrated: While not directly about grounding, staying hydrated is crucial for regulating body temperature. Grounding helps your blood flow and body functions, but water is needed for sweating and cooling. Drink a glass of water an hour or two before bed (not right before, to avoid bathroom trips). A well-hydrated body will work better with grounding to keep you cool.
• Combine with Other Cooling Strategies: Grounding can be one part of your strategy. You can also keep your bedroom slightly cooler, use a fan, or wear breathable cotton pyjamas. The good news is that grounding complements these strategies. For example, a fan plus grounding sheet can simulate the feeling of a cool outdoor breeze while you’re connected to the Earth – quite a soothing combo for a hot sleeper!

What to Expect

Hot sleepers trying grounding should give it some nights to show effects. The first night you might notice you fall asleep relaxed, but you could still wake up warm if it’s a habitual thing for your body. Over a week or two, as your system adapts – reducing baseline stress and potentially tweaking your thermal regulation – you may find those hot episodes reduce.

Pay attention to subtle changes: are you pulling the covers off a little less? Do you wake up at 3 AM sweaty or has that stopped happening as often? These improvements indicate it’s working. Also, note how you feel in the mornings: any headaches or grogginess from overheated, poor sleep might lessen.

Some people might actually feel a slight warmth when first grounding (due to increased circulation, as mentioned). If that happens, don’t be alarmed. It typically stabilizes and doesn’t cause you to overheat; in fact, it’s helping blood move to your skin where heat can release.

Many report that after a short period, that sensation gives way to a comfortable feeling. If you do feel too warm initially, you can always remove a layer of bedding or keep a fan on until your body adjusts.

Conclusion

In summary, grounding can be a helpful tool for hot sleepers. By calming the body and supporting natural temperature-regulating mechanisms, it sets the stage for cooler, more restful nights. There’s scientific evidence that grounding improves the very processes (like cortisol rhythms and circulation) that are linked to temperature regulation at night (Oschman et al., 2015; Ghaly & Teplitz, 2004).

So if the heat is keeping you up, give our grounding bedsheets a try – it’s a refreshing way to sync with Mother Earth and possibly sleep more chill.

References

1. Oschman, J. L., Chevalier, G., & Brown, R. (2015). The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Journal of Inflammation Research, 8, 83–96. https://doi.org/10.2147/JIR.S69656
2. Ghaly, M., & Teplitz, D. (2004). The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 10(5), 767–776. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2004.10.767
3. Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S. T., Oschman, J. L., & Delany, R. M. (2013). Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity—a major factor in cardiovascular disease. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 19(2), 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0820