Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-04
To Save Strength.

There is just one person to whom life Is
more trying than to a nervous womaH's
relatives and that one Is herself. 1t is bad
enough to Jump, or wish to, at every uuex-
pected noise and to have a certain inf1ec-
ton of voice rasp one until upoa the
verge of despair, but even this unhappiness
I Is augmented by the oft-repeated remarks
of ones family that "this Is silly" or
don't be so fussy."
Once In a long while you run across
family who understand that curse OF
American women-"nerves," and who do
their best to help one through the worst OF
IL. She who Is so blessed In aid need not
stop to read this article. for this is tn
tended as "self help" when there Is no
other iInd in sight.
ParentheticaIly, by way of encourage
ment to a nervous woman-L mean by that
a woman who is positively physically i'll
because of her nerves-if she can possess
| her soul in patience the time may come
when the other feminines of the family
may beg her pardon for their lack of I'M
Outstanding and intolerance, learning by
experience that there may be illness even
! IL one does not take to ones bed.
For her who suffers alone, however, there
are; a few things besides sympathy that
may help a little. They are trifiing, but,
indeed, they are worth trying, and so L
am setting them down here.
The basic necessity Is rest. 1t depends
entirely upon a woman's income how thor
ough this rest may be, but IL she belongs
| to the vast majority that can give little
| time to 1t let her not grudge that little
| but give 1t with all her heart.
I mean this literally well as figura-
lively, for unless muscles are allowed to
relax nerves cannot, and resting properly
| Is a science as well as art.
To inst t that change of OccuDatiOl
| is rest; there Is no greater delusion. To
acquire perfect rest, settle yourself in a
| corner. arrange your feet and arms, and;
indeed your whole body, until you feel
| comfortable from head to foot
Sit in this position for five minutes, mo-
! tionless. Don't move, don't do anything,
! but take long, chest-deveioping, easy
| At the end Of five minutes you will feel
! very much rested II 1t Is possible, take
| these rest treatments two or three times
| a day. At any rate, force yourself to OBJ
| serve them at least once every day. You
will be surprised at the amount Of good 1t
| will accomplish for you.
/ A half hour IN a dark room every
| afternoon will help wonderfully in getting
| along from day to day. 1t will not cure,
! and this must not be expected, but it does
! refresh a jaded woman.
| I am decidedly of the opinion that all
| tight clothing should be removed for COM
pIete rest. and that the eyes should be
closed even II one does not sleep Ii the
L eyes are open tney are DOunQ 10 tneiH-
I selves upon one or many different objects,
| and the mind follows them to work more
| or less. Only with eyes closed is there the
| least chance of the mind becoming, as 1t
| should. blank.
On nervous days. when you feel Ike fly
/ ing out Of the window. from sheer irrita-
| bility. stand erect. hands clasped in front
| and head bowed, having expelled all the
| breath from the lungs. Now slowly II
| the head and shoulders until the head Is
| straight, and while inhaIing deeply through
| the nostrils center the thoughts on perfect
| peace. This exercise will in few minutes
| cause the nervous feeling to completely
| subside, and, Incidentally. is an excellent
| way of reducing a double chin.
| woman who works In an office and so
| cannot rest during the day must go to bed
early If she feels her nerves beginning to
give out. She may not wish to, but neither
| does she wish to break down, and rest Is
| the only thing that can prevent such a
| catastrophe.
| 1t is not necessary to try to go to sleep
unusually early. One may quite well real,
and a tired woman who, on going home
after a hard days work, will take a hot
bath and go to bed. later on eating a light
and easily digested meal, then reading for
q time, will find that she Is gathering
| strength. not losing it. Every busy wom-
an should do this at least once a week, and
the result will be more than worth while.