All development in nature proceeds in a regular and continuous sequence.
There are certain alternations and variations, but these take place at
specific periods.
The organism will adapt itself to regular periods. Thus, if we take our
meals regularly, we get hungry at the same time every day. We should go
to bed at a regular hour; at that time the system demands rest and we
become sleepy.
Parents are so anxious that their children have a good time that they
frequently cultivate irregular habits and thus lay the foundation of
future failure.
Health is greatly dependent upon regular hours for both work and
recreation. Anything that interferes with periodicity in the human body
interferes with vital functioning. Observe how regularly we breathe.
There is a normal respiration, circulation, and beating of the heart
which are practically the same for everyone. Any variation from these
regular rhythms is serious.
This principle of periodicity applies to exercises as well as to
anything else. Some men have the habit of going to a gymnasium once a
week. They take the exercises one day and neglect them for several days,
then try to make up for lost time. The exercises in such cases are not
enjoyed. They will be performed mechanically, if not perfunctorily: at
any rate, satisfactory results will not follow.
If we take exercises every day at about the same time, say upon waking
in the morning and on going to bed at night, the system will come to
long for them just as the stomach craves food.
Nature does not grow a little one day and then stop for a while; she
does not grow a limb on one side and then another on the other side. All
growth is continuous.
Of course, this continuity is rhythmic. There is a different action day
and night, but this in itself is a form of periodicity. In the same way
we have summer and winter. The tree feeds itself in summer and during
the winter the life remains hidden at the root while the process of
making the texture firm proceeds with rhythmic alternation.
All phases of life and growth are periodic. If, for any reason, there is
an unusually severe winter the plants are killed. If there is a long
period of drought vegetation dies. A certain normal amount of rain as of
air, food, or soil is necessary to the growth of the plant.
One reason for practicing in the early morning is the fact that it will
connect exercise with the natural habits of the individual. The time of
waking up should be periodic and will be so if we retire regularly. The
practice of exercises on first awakening or retiring will also tend to
help the normal time and amount of sleep. If we take exercises on first
waking, as suggested, we shall awake about the same time and with
greater enjoyment.
The system will come to expand naturally; every cell will leap like a
dog that prances with joy when it sees its master getting ready to go
for a walk.