Evening star., 1903-08-22
OUTDOOR ROLY-POLY
Will Take Business Man Back
to Boyhood's Days.
GIVE HEALTH, TOO
THE BRAIN AS WELL
as THE BODY.
Gives Gentle, Natural Massage With
out Any Ones
Help.

Written for The Evening Star by Prof. Anthony
Barker
Do you remember how, when you were
boy, you used to roll around in the grass
when you were taken to the country for
the summer Do you remember what your
father used to say: Let the rascal roll it S
good for hlm2' And, more important still,
do you remember how the tossing exhilarat-
ed you and sent you to bed o nights ready
for healthful sleep?
If there is any business man who remem-
bers these things let him lose his manhoods
dignity for the sake of his health when he
goes into the country this summer, in the
roly-poly system of outdoor, hot weather
physical culture.
1t will come easy to such man, for it is
| based on the rolling instinct that is natural
| with children and nearly all wild animals
| The child outgrows the habit because of his
environments. and thereby loses one of his
holds on health. but the wild animal keeps
it up through life, because instinct triumphs
over invented dignity and thereby insures
itself a splendid circulation of the blood to
all parts of the body.
Herein lies the chief value of the roly-poly
system Man scarcely ever aids the heart
in its work of lifting blood to those parts of
the body above it, principally the head. He
is so particular about keeping his head
higher than his feet at all times that he
sleeps on fat pillow and takes special care
not to bring his head into bodily exercise
any more than he can help. Consequently
! the brains blood supply is neither varied
nor stimulated, in contradistinction to other
portions of the body. So the brain goes on
craving for more blood and physical eXer-
else, which Is as necessary to 1T as to other
parts of the body, and the result is Ian
guor. stupor. headaches and other kindred
troubles
But roly-poly physical culture remedies
all this. 1t gets the body out of it's sitting
or standing posture. 1t pays no attention
| to customary positions. 1t does all 1t can
| to invert the body-to make the heels
| higher than the head, and to give the head
| a stimulated blood supply and all the
| ercise it needs, the latter of which it re-
| ceives by coming in contact with the
ground. In this way the brain gets It's
| physical culture through gentle vibration.
: At the same time that the usually neglect
ed parts of the body are brought into play,
no other part is neglected and for any
part the exercise can be made as SeYele or
gentle as desired
This instinctively natural exercise IS also
valuable for its massage effect, In fact,
natural massage can be got in no such
large measure in any other way. Just as
rolling on the grass-covered earth keeps an
animals coat glossy and fine, mother
earth will keep mans skin in the pink of
condition if only he will let her. The brain
duced by the brains being gently bumped
from side to side of the skull as the body is
rolled about.
Let the man who has been In his office
the year around, or who smokes TOO much,
or who has been living too high, start with
| the simplest roly-poly exercises and grad
ually work up to the harder ones. In this
way he will accustom his body to strange
| positions that once were natural and easy
| of accomplishmen without any accompany
| ing traces of dizziness. But If he should
| become dizzy let him rest and try 1t again,
| and before long no uncomfortable feeling
will be noticed
The exercises-four are described below
| will soon let the man know where he Is
| weak and what muscles need building up.
| Let him heed the warning, center the mind
| on these parts and strive earnestly to
| strengthen them against the day of dis
| ease. Let him not to be annoyed by any
| strain on those parts, for this will be a
| sure sign to him that his efforts are having
| beneficial effect
| l. Side Rolling-Iie down fat on your
| back on grass plot or the seashore. Bend
| the legs, grasp the toes on the outside In
| the hands and see that the feet are touch