Ideal Home Life - online book

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

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	472                          IDEAL HOME LIFE naturally pushing out the ribs, and stretching the connecting tissues. Breathing exercises should be of two kinds: those taken when you are going through your regular exercises, and which should continue throughout the exercise; and those taken while you are walking, which should be practiced every time you get a chance, until you have acquired a habit of deep, proper breathing. As the quickest way to accomplish this, begin each of your exercises with the following special breathing exercises: First Breathing Exercise Stand with the heels together; slowly inhale through the nose all the air you can hold in the lungs, with arms at side; then lift first one arm slowly, striving to inhale more air as the arm is lifted. Then raise the other arm, trying again to fill the lungs more completely; then let both arms drop at the sides, and exhale quickly through the open mouth. Repeat the exercise six to eight times. When taking up the other movements, continue to draw in as deep, regular breaths as possible while going through them. v Second Breathing Exercise Stand near an open window, not in a draft, shoulders thrown back, head erect; then inhale slowly, to the full capacity of the lungs (Fig. 1). When the lungs are com­pletely filled, open the mouth and expel all the air that you can by contracting muscles at waist and sides. Repeat this eight to ten times the first week, and increase two or three breaths a week, until you are taking thirty to forty at each exercise. Breathing—Fig. i.                This should invariably precede both morning and evening exercises. Moreover, one must not conclude that attention to breath­ing can end with the few moments devoted to systematic exer-