In such an excited frame of mind, with the nerves wrought up at the thought of the day's work and with all these discordant pictures thronging into our consciousness, sleep becomes impossible.
Sometimes one is too weary to go to sleep, or sinks into a deep slumber which is not normal. The taking of breath is short and the giving up of the breath more sudden. This sleep will not be refreshing. Nine times out of ten such a one will wake up in the morning feeling more weary than when he lay down at night. Of course, if a man could sleep for an unusual number of hours, nature might in time restore him. The excitement of our civilization prevents normal conditions and therefore we must aid nature. Man must understand the laws of life and so use them as to find rest properly.
We need harmony in our thoughts, to let them dwell on what is sacred and beautiful that our sleep may be normal and that we may enter into the world of slumber with sympathetic conditions.
We must, also, laughingly throw off negative thoughts and feelings and allow expansion and stretching to equalize the circulation. All the vital functions must be harmonized. As we perform these exercises once more we find various congestions that have resulted from the one-sidedness of our day's work,—congestions around the throat, parts of the body are weary, constricted, and cramped. By stretching ourselves we can harmoniously adjust the activities of our breathing and circulation. All parts can be restored to harmony and we can rest properly.
After all, what is rest? It is not a mere slumping into inactivity. It is allowing the involuntary rhythm of our being, the sympathetic co-ordination of all the forces of our body to act normally. The rhythm of our volitional activities must be given up to the rhythm of the unconscious and involuntary life.
Before this rhythm can reign we must remove all constrictions from any part of the body.
After taking these exercises we should feel the sympathetic enjoyment of all the cells of our bodies, then sleep will be refreshing, the rhythm of breathing will be normal and the circulation and vital processes will proceed easily and rhythmically.
What are the differences in the practicing of exercises in the morning and evening?
In the first place the exercises in the evening should be more steady, more regular, more harmonious, slower and more rhythmic. Every exercise must soothe the excited nerves, the agitated brain, and the weary respiratory muscles, the heart, and all the circulatory system.
Release needs to be especially emphasized. After every stretch, for example, every part of the body must be relaxed. The reaction will take more time on account of the greater activity through the day. We should, therefore, take especial pains to accentuate the recovery or recoil of the muscles into sympathetic passivity and rest.