Earthing

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

How NOT to Ground

News reports recently described a growing practice among Indonesian villagers west of Jakarta claiming relief from a variety of symptoms by sitting on or straddling busy railway tracks. 

The practice apparently caught on last year after a man suffering from the consequences of a stroke decided to commit suicide on the tracks but instead jumped off after feeling rejuvenated by the electric current of an oncoming train.

According to one Indonesia newspaper account, the so-called “railway therapy” involves placing one’s hands and feet on the steel tracks. “By touching both sides of the tracks at once in this manner, one receives a low-voltage electric shock, which locals believe is a potent cure for many diseases,” the article said.

One enthusiast told reporters that she has gotten more relief for symptoms of high blood pressure and sleeplessness than any doctor since she was first diagnosed with diabetes more than ten years ago.  “If your body aches, have it cured here,” she told amused reporters. “Try it, it doesn’t hurt.”  Another advocate said, “I have wasted all my money on proper medication. Now I prefer coming here, because it is free.”

One local doctor was quoted as saying there was “no official research that had determined the true effects of railway-induced electric therapy. However, he added, the therapy was widely seen as questionable as it did not conform to medical norms.”

Concerned railway officials are obviously alarmed at the prospect of someone being killed by a train and so dispatch agents to expel locals from the tracks. 

We don’t know whether there’s something special about railway track energy. To us this seems like a variation of being barefoot on the ground, but for sure NOT a variation we would ever, ever recommend. 

In a glittering world away, in Hollywood, and the 2013 Oscar pageantry, here’s actor Jim Carrey looking like he’s into Earthing.  As in most things Hollywood, it’s an act. Those aren’t his feet.  They are shoes—faux feet.