"The common ingredients of health and long life are,
Great temp'rance, open air,
Easy labor, little care."
--_Sir Philip Sidney._
Among the first lessons that the beauty student must learn is how to
breathe properly. I know, my girls, that that sounds awfully stupid,
but there are yards and acres of truth in it nevertheless, and the
subject is well worth your while--you can depend upon that. Haven't you
ever noticed that most of the women who have gone in for vocal culture
have round, pretty waists? Almost invariably the singer is a woman of
fine figure, well-poised head, firmly-set shoulders and easy carriage.
And the reason is simple. She has learned from the beginning that she
must breathe properly, that every breath must come from the abdomen and
not from the chest, and that to breathe in that way she must hold up
her chin and expand her lungs.
We often mistake carriage for fine figure. It is the woman who poises
her head well and who keeps her shoulders back that attracts the eye of
other women. There is something brisk and energetic and active about
her that makes of her a sight good to look upon; while another woman
with perhaps a much better figure will trail about with a
down-in-the-mouth air and a slow, doleful gait that will give one the
blues and an absence of appetite for weeks to come.
You cannot possibly breathe properly and have your shoulders
stooped--at least you cannot make such a combination without a mighty
big lot of discomfort. If you breathe as you should you will develop
the chest and bust, give better lines to the shoulders and--unless you
are naturally inclined to be plump and rotund--will make your waist
become round and slender and pretty. If you doubt this, try for
yourself and see.
I wish that I could impress my readers with the fact that improper
breathing brings many ills. Breathing is a highly important function,
and bad breathing not only produces symptoms of consumption, but makes
the waist unduly large. The reason for this is that holding the chest
up will keep all the internal organs in their proper places, and so not
allow them to spread the waist in the unsightly way that usually
denotes deficient vitality instead of the "Greek health" upon which
physicians are wont to dilate. Good breathing strengthens muscles and
makes the flesh firm. The reward is a perfect, round, slender figure
and a trim waist.
Begin your breathing lessons in the morning just after getting out of
bed, when you will have no tight skirts or bands to hinder the full
expansion of the lungs. Raise every window and get all of God's blessed
air that you can, and, above all things, let not this practice cease
when the winds of winter blow as if from Greenland's icy mountains. The
breathing exercise is all the better then. Place your hands on your
hips and walk slowly across the room, your chest held upward and
outward, and every breath coming deeply from the abdomen. After three
trips you will find yourself pretty well tired out. Rest for a few
moments and try again. The next morning make the exercises longer, and
as soon as the muscles that hold your chest up become firm and strong
there will be little exhaustion. Vary the exercise by standing still,
taking as long a breath as possible and holding it for several seconds.
This practice, indulged in for five or ten minutes every day, is most
beneficial. But the main motive in all breathing exercises is to get
into the habit of standing straight with the shoulders held back and
the chest up. "Play" that you are trying to make your chest creep up
and touch your chin.
One of the greatest injuries that come from wearing tightly laced
corsets is the compression of the ribs. The unyielding steel and
buckram will not permit a variation in the waist measure as a deep
breath is inhaled or expelled. The proper and healthful corset is the
one that expands or contracts with each respiration of its wearer, and
that is why I am such an enthusiastic devotee of the corset waist with
the elastic bands on either side. It matters not one bit how tight the
clothing may be, so long as it is given elasticity and is yielding.
This is absolutely necessary to perfect health and the proper
development of a woman's figure.
With the breathing capacity increased, enlargement of the lungs and
development of the chest are sure to be the results. But, be it
understood, please, that this growth is not the work of a day or a
week, or a month even. However, if it is continued religiously there
will be a difference of five or six, or even seven, inches in your
chest measure in the course of a year, to say nothing of the
improvement in carriage and figure, and the health and strength that
correct breathing will give.
There are a number of things to remember. The first is that one must
secure breath control, the next that the best authorities condemn
thoracic or upper chest breathing. Keep the chest up and out, and let
the expansion be at the waist line. Inhale slowly and smoothly as much
air as you can, swelling out the lower chest at the sides just below
the arm pits as the air is drawn in. Hold this air five seconds. Then
exhale it slowly and gradually, crushing in the ribs gently with the
hands as the air goes out. During the exhalation be sure to keep the
upper chest still. Do not let it sink, as it will be apt to if not
restrained by an effort of the will. Exhale again and hold the breath
for ten seconds, then for fifteen seconds, and finally for twenty
seconds. This exercise will do for the first day. Increase the power of
holding the breath by practicing regularly each day.
Be careful not to make any motion suddenly. In calisthenics of any kind
the more slowly and carefully the exercise is performed the greater
will be the benefit. But best of all, keep in mind that these breathing
exercises are not only making you a pretty woman of pretty figure, but
giving you that greatest of all beauty elixirs--health.