American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-09-21

Great peace is with us only when
we are completely relaxed, and "let
go" rs 1t were.
To relax is somewhat of an art. II
can't be fully done without a deep
breath first, and then the '1et 60"
One can't relax from "half tension as
It were. Often we think we are re-
Taxed only to find, after hours Of walt
ing when utter exhaustion slumps us,
that we have been in some respect
holding ourselves away from the bed.
A rehearsal In the theater is a dire
thing for tightening n up who is d.
recting 1t and u%nconsciously lifting
each character. After many years I've
come to recognize the condition In
time, and often in the dark auditorium,
when the actors or scrub women can't
see me, 1 lie supine on the carpet In
an aisle or the foyer, and with arms
outstretched for a minute relax all
over. 1t isn't so simple as 1t sounds.
Even after the deep breath one has to
think down to the very finger tips and
toes, and by mental command dismiss
the accumulated tension. Then last
Of all, the muscles of the face-to let
them fall with half-closed eyelids and
the lips slipping away from the teeth
as they do on dead men. It's quite as
tonlshing what a refreshing indulgence
even a half minute Of such relaxing is.
AS I've said, it's an art to do 1t, and
very useful when you get 1t.
Practlced by Japs.
The Japs are past masters at 1t.
They were taught 1t and practiced 1t
con~scientiously in the Japo-Russian
war. After lying supine for a minute,
each Jap soldier would be taken by
the head by a comrade, and firmly
pulled until the packed vertebrae of
his spine were drawn apart and re-
leased from the days pressure on
them. Recalling your physiology lee
lures, you will remember that each
spine bone has its two wings or
langes, each pierced by a small hole
about the diameter of q lead pencil.
Through those holes the great trunk
nerves travel with the smaller nerves
branching from them. A few hours
march, even without gun or pack,
says these vertebrae together as tight
as their cartilage cushions will permit.
Lying down helps greatly to remove
this pressure, but the Japanese slow
pull on the head does it at once. A.
man can do it somewhat for himself
by lifting his shoulders as he lies on
his back and launching them along
as if trying to get them as far as pos
sible from his belt. When I'm on my
back for my two minutes rest cure,
[ take two or three such lunches at
Intervals, trying to hold my gain each
time by an anchorage of the shoulder
blades against the carpet. Generally
| can hear the vertebrae as they slip
from their packed contact to an easier
adjustment, especially If in my hunch-
Ing 1 have lifted my head so that some
pull Is put on the spinal column. Six
ty seconds of such rest is worth an
hour in a chair. Richard Harding
Davis told me, or maybe 1t was Irwin
Cobb, 81 heard tell of the German sol
diers utilizing even a few minutes
halt to throw themselves on the
ground fiat and extended"
1 wish you'd try 1t, especially over
there when they send you and 1 fancy
II will help If you really believe and
know, as you yield yourself to the
ground, that it is somewhat more than
rest-know that into your submissive
body the divine and wonderful cur
rents are flowing, curative, restorative
and replenishing.
It's really the "Big Medicine"
Affectionately,
FATHER.