Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 92, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1913 — HEALTH IN DEEP BREATHING [ARTICLE]

HEALTH IN DEEP BREATHING

One of the Most Important Considerations for Man Who Would Work to Full Capacity. No piece of advice that the physician can give will bear more frequent repetition than the pithy sentence: “Breathe deeply.” It is a perfectly simple rule of health, yet it is constantly broken. There is no reason why our lungs should not have all the fresh air they need for their work; the supply is unlimited. But In our folly we refuse to give them their fair share of it, because’we are too lazy to breathe deeply. We go on from day to day, drawing in little, inadequate puffs of air, living from hand to mouth, as it were; and then we wonder why we feel tired and nervous, 'why our> Bkin is sallow and our eyes dull, why we catch cold easily and digest our food badly. When things have come to this pass there is nothing for it except to put ourselves to school and learn patiently to do what we were meant to do unconsciously. ' ■ ■ There are two wajrs to learn —to breathe. If our powers of self-disci-pline ere pooiv- ue la 4he case witk most insufficient breathers, it is a good plan to join a gymnaslm or calisthenic class and learn to use the lungs as a baby learnß to use its feet and hands. But remember that lessons in breathing do no good if the scholar thinks he is absolved from his task except when he is in the class. A simpler method for those who have not time or opportunity for the gymnasium is to turn life’s daily routine into a continuous discipline in breathing. If the poor breather takes the trouble to watch himself carefully he will find that when he is engaged upon any work that calls for close attention he does not even breathe aa deeply as usual; he almost invariably holds his breath. Then the blood current is vitiated when it ought to be cleansed; and the worker exhausts himself not so much by his labors as by his neglect. Learn to make a breathing lesson of dressing in the morning, of going up and down stairs, of your duties in household, office or shop, of your walks, your games and your rest. Draw in deep draughts of air every time yeu take a breath and every little while stop everything else and fill your lungs a few times with breaths that test their capacity. You will be surprised to see the Improvement that it will make in your general condition. —Youth’s Companion.