Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-03
the arm is appraised and exhale as it is low


cred.
Stretching the body like an accordion is
one deep breathing exercise. which acts
IKE stimuant to the whole body. The
position is a reclining one After exhaling.
lnhale through the nostrifs slowly and
steadily and bring your Imagination into
play until you fancy yourself accordion
with the ingoing and outgoing breath be-
ing drawn through the feet as though the
legs were hollow; divert the same mental
idea to the hands and arms; to the knees
to the elbows The imagination requires
some training before it will respond to this
exercise. ITO breathe in their bones was
the advice of the celebrated Italian maestro.
Lamperti, to his pupils.
: Reducing the Abdomen.
There is a deep-breathing exercise which
Is invaluable where one would reduce too
prominent abdomen. Take correct standing
position; inhale as fully as possible; hold
the breath. and while doing so press in the
abdomen with both hands, making the chest
expand the abdomen is thus drawn in:
exhaie, and rest an instant. Repeat five
times, being careful not to let the slightest
quantity OF air escape while the chest is
peing expanded. One learns after while
ny thlS exercise, to hold the abdomen in
winch IS a great point gained, especially
Tor a short, stout woman
, 10 relieve an overtired brain, lie fiat upon
me MOOR and clasp the hands upon the top
five; hold the breath for an instant and
Ihen exhale while counting five. Keep the
lungs empty for an instant then repeat
,ne exercise. AS the air is held in the
lungs Tor less than second an excessive
llo" OF blood to the brain is prevented.
Important Details.
AS matter of fact, not one woman in a.
hundred breathes normally. The respira-
ton of the average woman varies with
every change of mental state or physical
condition; grief. depression. fatigue, all
nave their influence in lowering the amount
OF oxygen that goes into the system. and it
10 d rare thlns for a woman to use her
lungs to the best possible advantage nm
less she has had definite instruction in
breathing, incident to the vocal training
OF singer or elocutionist. No involuntary
action OF the body is habitually so careless
ly performed-so almost shirked-as this ono
of breathing, and upon no other does the
nealth so largely depend. Indeed proper
breathing is wonderful preventive of dis
ease VI ~
II you cannot give up even five minutes
daily to filling and emptying your lungs on
sclentlnc principles. while walking along
the street you can accustom yourself to
ooins SO: lnhale and hold your breath
while walking a certain distance and then
eXhale. Learn to accustom yourself To fire.
quent intervals Of conscious breathing
NOT one person in twenty. we are told. has
strens lungs and breathes fully. It is no
woLluerr tnen, that diseases of the lungs
destroy more lives than nearly ALI other
causes combined. In not a few cases a
lear Of the lungs being delicate superin
duces habit of shallow breathing from
an erroneous idea that he lungs are In this
way favored. ~ III '-'-'
The health of an organ depends largely
upon proper exercise of it's functions Dis
eases OF the lungs, of a chronic nature esne
ciaiiy, are often wholly, always partially
chargeable to an unhygienic method of
breathing. The part of the lungs most
iikefy to become affected with disease is
the apex or uppermost portion. The rea-
son for this lies in the fact that this mart
OF the lung is fully EXPANDED only on tax
ing deep inspiration
Correct Breathing.
The main point to be observed Is TO
breathe deeply and all the air you can.
1t Is the air that purifies the blood. so
get as much of it as you can with both
chest and abdomen. Breathing correctly
soon becomes second nature. and it is as
easy to breathe deeply and correctly as to
breathe badly. ~
Don't breathe through the mouth. but
through the nostrils. where provision is
made to catch impurities and foreign suh
stances which, if carried to the lungs. as
when breathing through the mouth might
cause serious trouble Breathing through
the mouth is often a cause of deformitv
of the jaws in childhood. as well as NAL
formation of teeth. Sleeping with the
mouth open often produces pressure by the
tension of the muscles, causing a contrac-
ton of the sides of the jaw, a protusion of
the teeth and an elevation of the roof of
the mouth.
An excellent exercise which will helm TO
overcome the heavy, torpid feeling so com
mon to corpulence is to contract and ex-
pand the muscles about the lower ribs by