A FEMININE CRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 155, 29 December 1938, Page 6

A FEMININE CRY

"JUST A MASS OF NERVES"

"I'm just a mass of nerves"—that's a feminine cry. not a masculine one. And all because the average woman doesn't know how to relax, states a writer in the London "Daily Mail." ;

Catch a. man worrying over every niggling detail, and then carrying his worries round with him. He's got more sense, or, as he would put it. complacently, he "takes the long view." In other words, he doesn't live on his nerves. It's about time we followed his example. But, since a woman's nervous system is more highly pitched than a man's, she must first learn how to get hexnerves in good trim, and keep them that way1. LUNCH-TIME "COCKTAIL." Essential is an iron tonic to condition the blood. And at the same time a "cocktail" at lunchtime made either from the juices squeezed from young carrots, or those from celery. These are to enrich the blood, for impoverished blood means sick nerves. Give your digestion a chance to relax too. Give up heavy meals. Don't eat when you are angry or emotionally upset in any way. A little very nourishing food^ at regular two-hourly intervals will help you. A cup of lime* tea at four o'clock, instead of the usual brew of Indian or China, is a grand thing for nerves. And, while you are at the herbalist's, I ask him for some herbs for your bath, j These will help as a soporific, so long as the bath is not too hot. ;A hot bath is death to ■ sleep, for it wakes you up, and you will lie awake, every nerve on edge, for hours. After your bath it is a good idea to take a hot milk beverage as a good-night drink. LEARN TO RELAX. You must learn to relax. Whenever you can, wherever you are. When you sit down for a few moments with nothing to do, don't grab a book or the newspaper, or, if you are at home, turn on the wireless. Leave • these diversions until the evening; Instead— flop. Consciously withdraw the muscular j control from your arms and legs until they feel like dead weights; let your backbone sag, your head fall forward, your eyelids drop. Do it as though you had no more control over your body. And, after, a few minutes, feel the j vitality pouring into you. Do the same thing again in bed, if you can't sleep. Lift your legs up and let them fall heavily, one after the other, and then your arms. Raise your head, press your-chin on your chest to stretch the back of your neck, and then drop it heavily back on your pillow. Do it all three or four times —and then give yourself up to the drowsiness which will steal over you. CHASE AWAY WRINKLES. And, finally, chase away your wrinkles as-well as your nerves with a daytime nap, if you can possibly manage it. Don't be ashamed of it. Have it and enjoy it. In a room, well darkened, with a dark scarf over your eyes, your head. on a soft pillow, a light but warm covering tucking you hi on every side. Don't allow yourself to sleep too long; hall an hour is long enough for most people. But see that it is a deep, restful sleep. Compose ' yourself to repose. A daily nap will do more to keep your face free of wrinkles, your outlook on life serene and happy, your nervous system in proper condition, than anything else.

And when you are on top of' the and which arise directly out oi serworld again, how easy it is to take -that "long view"! ,