Ideal Home Life - online book

A valuable and well-organized system for home education(homeschooling) 3 to 12 years.

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	470                          IDEAL HOME LIFE
	week. The skin demands daily care. The time spent in regu­lar care of the skin will be amply repaid by the feeling of buoy­ancy, and the freedom from nervousness, and the effects of external conditions of temperature that are the results of proper bathing. I would recommend to those who take up this course of physical development a hot bath, with plenty of soap, at least . once a week, taken with a view to removing all the accumula­tions of perspiration, dead tissue cells, as well as the dust, etc., that one invariably accumulates upon the skin. In addition to these hot baths, there should be cold sponge or towel baths once or twice a day after exercising. Soap should not be used with these cold baths oftener than once or twice a week. The cuts herewith show one of the most effective methods of stimulating the surface of the skin, and it should be made a part of every exercise. It is known as the friction bath, and should be taken immediately after going through the particular set of exercises you may be practicing, both morning and even­ing. A coarse Turkish towel is recommended, but a flesh brush may be used by those who prefer it. Grasp the towel, as indicated in the cut, with hands far enough apart to give the arms room to swing, and then rub briskly, back and forward, over every part of the body, and continue till the entire skin is pink from the accelerated circu­lation. It will usually take two or three minutes to accomplish this, and these two or three minutes, if the movements are made rap­idly, and regular and deep inhalations are practiced, will suffice to give the body a ruddy, healthy glow. Then wash briskly with cold water and sponge the en­tire body.