Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-28
Written for The Evening Star.
THE FAD OF RESTING.

1
THE FAD OF RESTING.
How to Restore Wasted strength In very
Agreeable Way.
PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE RESTING WHEN THE,
| ARE EXTENDING NERVOUS sTRENGrH-DoN'1
IN HER BoUDoIR.
| YNHE LATEST BEAUTY FORMULA DE-
u mands neither cosmetics, nor massage. mol
athletics, but-rest. As James whitcomb Riley
SO pleasingly remarked to his audience few
weeks ago:
'Jes' git out and rest
And not work at nothin' else"
''Jes' restin through and through
could git along without
| Nothin' else at all to do"
And everybody who pretends to be anybody
Is doing it, too, and would no more think of re-
sorting to the frst-named devices for improv-
ing their looks than of wearing last year s bon
| net with that same great end in view.
'Why no, dear; certainly 1 am not i'll, said
| Washington belle, who ,.clad in bewldering
robe de chambre, spoke from the depths of an
Observation-Disclosures couch in a darkened
boudOir to girl friend who had Just been
granted the privilege of entering. II am just
resting. They are all doing it.
What for? Why, how funny! To make
one fresh and strong, of course. Haven't you
heard? Indeed, if it had been any one else in
the world but You conldn't possibly have seen
her, for this is my rest day, when i see no one;
have my meals served in my room, sleep all l
can, and if 1 cannot sleep lie still with my
eyes closed.
.sIt uonlJ +;ro yo,, ,,o,o to 10 4box tho,, a.,
make a round of calls. Well, that shows Just
what a state your nerves must be in when you
cannot keep quiet that length Of time, and adj
wise You when you go to bed tonight to not get
up for twenty-four hours and then only to re-
turn for the night. You'll feel like new the day
after that.
THE REST THEORY.
"Why, it stands to reason, said the fair roster,
propping herself in a more conversational
attitude as she saw an opportunity to dissemi-
nate her favorite gospel of rest-a chance not
to be neglected even at the sacrifice of some Of
her own repose-''that as long as we so I'M
necessarily waste our vital force by the nervous
tricks We all have of walking the floor, drum
ming on window panes, rockng-why, most as
suredly rocking tires one.' said she in answer
to an expostulatory ejaculation from her friend.
Every time you rock you are wasting Just that
much energy that might be expended in a far
wiser way.
swell, as l was saying, as long as we indulge
IN all these unnecessary movements, to say moth
ing of laboring beyond ones strength-as SO
many have to dove need day wherein to
recover from their bad effects. Just as worker
who has wasted time which should have been
employed in his business has to take day or
two to catch up
"Of course, soon as we become reposeful
and free from all these foolish WAYS we will no
longer need such period of recuperation but
ham ststs
will. Nor is it So easy to Danish those habits,
for till now L have been a devotee of the rock
ing chair. and you have no idea what time
am having breaking myself of rocking.
WHAT TO IMAGINE.
mo, indeed. People are not resting half the
time when they imagine they are." the learned
roster went on animatedly. "Now, you, Agnes,
said she, critically examining her friend. think
that that chair Is holding You. when. in reality
you are holding on to the chair. Now Jus. for
a minute imagine yourself heavy-devitaIize the
members, as the books say. Fancy that each
foot weighs several pounds Agnes here looked
the number of her shoe and promptly withdrew
her foot beneath her pettcoats-'and
your arms eight pounds, and SO on. There"
as Agnes, deciding there was no Insinuation in
tended by the westerns personalities, settled
obediently into her chair, look how Won relax
THAT shows that you were actual dissipating
strength, when careless observer would say
that you were in a state of complete repose.
And. by the way. that idea Just suggested
OF imagining yourself heavy is the new cure for
insomnia-far better than repeating the multi
phcation table or wearing wet towel OH the
back of the neck, which is liable to become any,
thing but piea-an. bed-felow in the course of
the night. Instead of these. upon hing YOUR
self out in bed begin with your fingers and
imagine that each one weighs "a pound: that will
have the effect OF making them lie entirely inert
-devltallzing them: from that go to your arms
which you are to imagine weigh eight pounds,
then your head, then down your body TO your
toes. which you to think OF as weighing
pound apiece, and the worst insOmniac in the
world won't have done this many times before
he is sound asleep, and sleeping right, too.
mo. Few people sleep properly; they are
twisted up in some fantastic shape are scowl-
ing up their faces when they really should be
resting with every muscle relaxed, like sleep
ing child on cot.
'Natrfe doesn't rest by halves-when it is
night it is night, there are not flashes of day
light every few minutes from dusk TO dawn, and
when the trees are resting i'll winter they do not
foolishly put forth bud every now and then
to get nipped in the chill air.
now TO AVOID FATIGUE.
"Oh, yes, if We would only reflect for mo-
IL
riding, for instance, if We are in a hurry to
reach our destination instead of leaning back
and taking it easy sit bolt upright and feel
anxious; and in writing with what unnecessary
force come OF us cling to that pen; and in lis
tening to music. If We are keen lovers OF har-
mony, instead of letting tine music come to US
we go to it, straining every nerve to do it,
Why, my mother has fairly worn herself out
looking at the pictures over in the Smithsonian,
when. since they are a pleasure to the mind,
they should have been rest to the body.
There are a lot of women" continued the
roster. who. because they tire easily. have
reputation for being very delicate yet who live
on and on ,like-well, like feminine Methuse
lah-while some other who apparently can stand
everything dies suddenly some day. DO you
know the reason of this?"
Agnes didn't.
well, the woman who tires easily has no
nervous strength. 70 that when her physical
force is exhausted she has to lay up for repairs,
30 to speak. and a result, when rested She is
as good as new. while the woman who to all
appearances can endure all things perhaps
really has no more physical strength than the
first woman. but she has nervous strength, and
she is going that. By and by that gives out.
and its repleni-hmcnt ia no. so easy a
matter as physical strength, SO as
o result she has nervous prostration or
perhaps dies outright. 1t is much better, in
deed, TO have no nervous strength, for if you