Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-03-04
THE GYMNASTICS OF REST.
A Physician's Suggestions to Alleviate the
Vital Xaata of Hurry.

A Physician's sugeestions to Alleviate the /
Vital Waste Of Hurry.
The Edinburgh health lecture was
delivered by DR.. George R. Wilson,
medical superintendent of Mavis.
bank asylum, on 1.-THE Gymnastics
Of Rest"
He said it was the unfortunate
habit of our times to measure the
welfare of the people only by their
material prosperity and to ignore
their mental distress. The waste Of
human material was greater than
ever, the tear and wear Of mems
minds increased, and now, in spite
of all our inventions-nay, because
of all of our inventions-the world
was more than ever in need of rest.
Tho nervous system was contrived
SO as to thrive in an atmosphere OF
mild impressions, not in one of con.
stant shocks and jars. True, we
could become accommodated to
shocks, to noise and din, but we be.
come accommodated to them only
by using up energy. 1t would repay
us to get away from noise and din
even for short time. Just as noise
was to the ear, dinginess and the
dull gray atmosphere of cities were
to the eye; our eyes and our brains
were adapted for richer colors than
the life of cities afforded. There
was perhaps a greater evil which
city life brought upon the eye. The
eye itself, and it's nerves and mus
cles, was SO contrived that in the
natural state-in the state of rest
we looked at a distance, but by con.
stantly looking at objects close at
hand we never gave the eye rest.
1t was not easy for older people to
learn new ways, but children should
be taught whenever a glimpse OF
distance could be had, to let loose
their eyes upon it, to turn to the
horizon and rest. One Of the first
steps to mental rest was the ability
to perform the feat-as to the re.
quirement of which the lecturer
gave some interesting hints-oi
looking at q distance when there
was no distance to look at and rest
ing the eye on an imaginary picture
of the horizon. A second step to
ward rest was the relaxation of thai
tension in the muscles round the
eye, and especially in the muscles
of the forehead, which characterized
men of the city and busy men every
where when they were attending in
tently to something which they con
sidered important. A third step wa
the teaching of the muscles rount
the mouth to stand at ease" rathe
than lat attention" This threefol'
process he called expansion of tn
attention" It was mistake to sup
pose that this whole subject wa
stupid. Nothing was more eviden
In this bustling age than that mos
men and women had not the mos
remote notion of keeping thei
minds at rest. In play and at wor
alike we were "pressing"-to use a
expression from the language G
;, golf-nearly all the time, anxiou
minded and strained. Passing on t
the subject of hurry" the lecture
E noted that there was world of di.
E ference between promptness {
quickness and hurry. The diffel
ence was that when we hurried W
were anxious minded-we wei
8 "pressing"-and the excessive to,
f sion disordered our activities. Mex
!. speaking of panic, the lecturer offe
t ed various hints for "squanderin
0 the attention" by way of minimi
ing the effect of shocks.
Closely allied to panic, but MOI
- lasting, more chronic, was the vii
II of the mind which we called worr,
e Worry was an inability to withdra
the attention from unpleasantnes
;, It was vice which was rampa,
20 among us-a most reprehensib
le vice, because so unnecessary and
It easily evaded. If we practiced VIII
/ he had called the egymnastics of ref
le we would never worry. We wou
J. feel pain and distress often enoug
20 but our minds would not dwell ,
le the feeling of them. Scotsman.
lg Etiquette.
a Books on etiquette are alwa;
"a among the most humorous publis
ve "a Tho buroor Ia uapal1v unco