Look around at any gathering of women and note if the majority are not very far from our ideal of physical perfection. I care not how beautiful the face if it is accompanied by narrow shoulders, thin neck and a flat chest, the possessor must give way to her plainer sister who knows the value of daily expansion of lungs with every muscle under control, perfect digestion and fine circulation.
Naturally the plea is the lack of time for exercise; do not women find time for reading, fancy work, calling and a multitude of other affairs, which might a thousand times better be spent in preparing themselves for a healthy life? If more time were spent in the fresh air and in keeping the body under control, there would be fewer peevish, tired-out, nervous women in the world, for the one who realizes the value of these things is too healthy to be aught but good natured and happy.
Walking is one of the best exercises in the world, yet the crowded trolley with its impure air is largely filled with women who could not walk a mile. How many of my readers can walk three miles and have it only serve to make them feel how well worth while is life? The majority of women think several squares a long walk, and I know many who take the car for a quarter of a mile, walk through the stores and return on the car, then wonder why they do not sleep well.
Every girl and woman that works, either in the home or elsewhere, needs exercise to develop muscles not in use, and improve circulation. Isn’t it worth a few minutes a day to feel yourself physically ready for any emergency, digestion good, nerves a thing of the past, and abounding life in every muscle?
Of course these things cannot come in a week or month, but let your daily exercise be as regular as your meals, walk with the idea of getting all the good you can out of it, when you are seated, don’t sink down in a heap, keep your lungs expanded and bend at the hips not at the waist as we are so prone to do while sewing, writing, and engaged in kindred occupations; a thing which leads to so many round shoulders and narrow chests.
When you are walking alone instead of planning your next work, give a little thought to breathing and how you are carrying yourself. Inhale as you walk, retain the breath for a few steps then slowly exhale. Hold the head well up, shoulders back, chest high, hips in and let your limbs have a free swing and you soon look and feel as if walking were a joy.
The exercises following are so arranged that anyone can do them. Ten minutes each morning should be given to them followed by a bath and a towel rub if convenient. If bath is not possible, a thorough rubbing of the body with a rough towel is the next best thing.
At some time during the day a brisk walk followed by a few exercises before retiring and never forgetting the deep breathing will quicken the results.
Have plenty of fresh air at night as well as day and eat substantial food and see if the results are not all you could ask.
The value of exercise is in the amount of life and vigor put in it. Better not exercise at all than to do it carelessly.