Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-26
CORRECT POSTURES.
Learn to Sit Well and Walk Prop
erlv.

Half the bad figures one notices among
women who are more than forty years of
age are due to the incorrect way in which
1t has been the custom to sit and to walk
Carriage" and presence that do %
much to give one style and attraction are
entirely Impossible simply because the
woman has been careless and sloppy" in
her manner of holding herself, and
muscles that should give support are limp
and without strength.
To sit properly and maintain ones figure
1t is absolutely nece ssary that the spine
shall support the weight Of the upper part
OF the body. Now. as every one knows,
the spinal column Is long and thin. like
a pole. and 1t can form no support unless
the weight is hung from the top as 1t
were.
Put any load in the middle and the pole
Will bend. This is precisely what happens
in wrong sitting instead of the weight
coming on the top of the spine that is.
from the base of the head. and being
braced from the other end, the column is
allowed to bend at the small of the back,
the abdomen is thus thrown out Of plumb
trying to help the pole the tip of the
spine bows under. and the whole figure Is
wrong. Sit SO the end of the spine Is d.
rectly against the seat and the seat back
and the figure is properly held. There
will then be no bending of the pole
Let woman notice how she sits in a
street car. for instance Usually, instead
of being way back on the cushions she
has her shoulder blades against the back
and the tip of her spine Is at least four
inches in advance of that line on the seat
She can prove this to her satisfaction
merely by trying to get further back on
the seat. Nine times out of ten she will
find hot CHI ,,ct,
from three to five inches. Unless she does
this and forms the habit Of sitting with
the tip of the spine upright instead Of
curved she will have the usual large hips
and protruding abdomen with which most
women are disfgured To keep the spine
constantly curved while sitting is fatal
to any grace of figure.
1t is not sufficient. however to sit prop
erly. One must stand with the weight
evenly distributed. making the spine be-
tween the shoulder blades do its share:
not allowing 1t to slump and bow.
Also the abdomen must be held in. and
not unconsciously made to protrude.
Every woman knows that when she goes
to a dressmaker she holds herself we'll in.
trying to have her gown made to At. She
throws back her shoulders and generally
squares herself The same woman later
will let her shoulders come forward and
lean when she walks. Then she wonders
why her figure Is not good and that her
frocks do not fit.
l know of better way for throwing
back the shoulders and expanding the
chest than to try to make the elbows meet
behind ones back. Few persons can ac-
complish 1t. but the effort will be sufficient
to develop the chest and straighten the
upper part of the back. Another good
way is to try literally to raise the chest
This can be done somewhat. but not un-
less the shoulders are back to admit of it
To keep the proper poise of the body
means not to make the abdomen promi-
nent. but to hold it in. Once it grows in
size this is more difficult to do, but the
bending exercise will both help and pre-
vent enlarge ment 1t consists in trying
to touch the toes with the finger tips with
out bending the knees.
All women should try every day to do
this If they hope to preserve their waist
line 1t should be done without corsets
and the chances are that few women can
do it. certainly ct first But 1t Is worth
struggling for day after day, because the
longer one tries the more sure is success
and fufllment means that the waist line
has been decreased sometimes several
inches.
To try five times in succession is enough
at the beginning. but after the first one
may do 1t ten times, morning and night
and the putting and painting 1t produces
will do no harm. Raise the hands high
above the head at the start and try to
touch the toes.
This is good exercise for every member
of the family.