DOMESTIC JOTTINGS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4510, 3 January 1923, Page 2

DOMESTIC JOTTINGS.

DEEP BREATHING BRINGS BEAUTS' With the exception of.. professional| singers, who are taught to-breathe cor-| rectly, not one woman in a exercises heir lungs properly. Now, deep breathing is essential to beauty, as- it is to health—in fact, it brings beauty by giving vitality,'and vitality is a great asset to a woman. If you dp not breathe deeply enough your system lacks oxygen, and without sufficient oxygen you cannot have, a clear complexion, bright eyes, or a well-developed figure. The lungs are to the body what windpws are to a house —the means of admitting fresh a ir—and, just as you could not air a house properly if the windows were only open an inch or two, so you cannot supply -sufficient oxygen to the body unless you breathe deeply, not , only for a few minutes in the morning, while practising physical exercises, but all day and every day. The woman who does not canjy herself well seldom, if, ever, breathes . correctly. To fill .the empty lungs as one should, the head must be held erect, with the chin drawn in; the chest expanded ; the shoulders thrown back and down ; the neck well back. Endeavour to maintain this position at all times, whether standing, walking, or, sitting, for once habit has acquired deep breathing will become an easy matter. A daily exercise which will be of great assistance in acquiring the art , of deep breathing should be practised for about five minutes two or -three times a day. Stand with the back against a door or a wall in a room with the windows wide open, letting the back of the head, shoulders, elbows. and heels touch the door wall, and inhale breath, very , slowly, tlXrougirthenostrils. Retain the air for a couple of seconds, .then exhale it, not in short, sudden gasps, but very slowly and gradually. In the case pf delicate women and girls care -should be taken not to be- . come over tired when beginning practice, and if standing is found fatiguing th.e exercise may be carried eut on the floor, flat on the back. r;.