The best time for exercising is in the morning after having partaken of some light refreshments, though any time will do except directly after hearty meals. Try and have a regular time set apart each day for your physical culture. Commence by exercising five or ten minutes, then for a little longer period next time, and so on until you can exercise with ease for half an hour or longer. You will feel refreshed, invigorated, and better prepared for the duties and pleasures which await you. Your clothing must not incommode the free action of the body, and it is essential that it be comfortable. What is suitable for lawn tennis is also well adapted for the gymnasium. An ordinary bathing-dress answers the purpose very well, as it is made for exercise.
The Egyptian water-carrier, with the jug of water poised so prettily on her head, and her figure so straight and beautiful, has always challenged admiration; her carriage is dignified, erect, and graceful, something worth striving for, especially when we have the certainty of success if we will only be faithful and persevering. The peasantry of foreign countries who carry all their burdens balanced on their heads have their reward in healthy, strong, straight figures, even in old age they do not stoop. Witness the emigrants landing at Castle Garden who carry their possessions done up in huge bundles on their heads with the utmost ease; of this class, three generations—a grandmother, mother, and grown daughter—with baggage of the same weight on their heads, were lately seen at a New York ferry, each equally upright, strong, and vigorous.
A good straight back is an excellent thing; and when the head is properly carried and all the movements are buoyant and elastic, then we may walk as it was intended we should, every step bringing a glow to the cheek and a sparkle to the eye. It requires only a few minutes’ regular daily exercise for any girl to attain a carriage equal to that of the Egyptian water-carrier, and the only apparatus needed for
Fig. 252.—Balancing a Roll of Paper.
Exercise First
is a roll of paper. Now stand with your heels together, toes out, and shoulders well back; then place on your head the roll of paper; if your position is not perfectly erect the roll will fall off; keep your chin straight and back against your neck, for it is the chin which determines the poise of the body. You cannot stand straight unless the chin is straight; throw out your chin and your shoulders will stoop forward, have your chin straight and your back will be straight; bear this in mind in all your exercises. Now walk, keeping the roll balanced on your head (Fig. 252). Practice this walking back and forth until you can do so without the paper rolling off; then try a tin cup full to the brim with water. Walk erect or the water will wash over, down on your head, and it will feel cold as it trickles through your hair; soon, however, you will be able to carry the cup of water with ease and no danger of its spilling. But do not discontinue the practice on that account; try something else in its place, until you are able to carry anything you wish on your head with no fear of it falling. The exercise affords amusement, and at the same time you will be acquiring a beautiful, dignified, and graceful carriage.
Exercise Second
is for gaining agility, suppleness, quickness of eye, hand, and foot. Standing as far from the wall as possible, take a common rubber hand-ball and toss it against the wall, catching it as it rebounds (see illustration), and again toss it against the wall. Vary this by allowing the ball to strike the floor, catching it on the rebound; then try keeping the ball in constant motion by using first one hand and then the other as a bat for returning the ball to the wall. The exercise can also be changed by striking the ball against the floor, and on its return bound again striking it, thus keeping it in motion. You will find that activity is necessary, and the work so quick that it will keep you on the jump all through the exercise.