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Show THE GOSPEL OF REST. Woods Hutchinson Believes Too Much Exercise Is Enfeebling. The gospel of laziness is preached with enthusiasm by Woods Hutchinson, Hutchin-son, M. D., in an article called "Exercise "Exer-cise That Rests" in the May Cosmopolitan. Cosmo-politan. Most people, he says, take life too strenuously. When they do rest they feel they must apologize for it. Even the rich "dare not be idle, but are driven by public opinion to a perpetual per-petual round of busy foolishness, to make themselves believe they arc doing something." The gospel of rest s "postponed to a future life." with the feeling that it would be almost immoral practice it here. Now, rest, Dr. Hutchinson points out. is not a period of stagnation, but a time of intense activity. During sleep, especially, we build up "capital to be spent recklessly dur ng our wak.mg hours." The tired desk worker who turns to active exorcise a hard bout at tennis, a long, brisk walk is not always building as well as he thinks. "If the exercise be too violent for the enfeebled muscles of the brain worker, or too long continued then muscular exercise w.ll often simply pile fresh waste poisons upon an already al-ready smouldering fire and increase one's exhaustion instead of relieving it. Many a fatigued and exhausted business busi-ness man ' or overworked teacher oi housemother would be much more benefited ben-efited by an hour's rest or sleep in a well ventilated room, if possible, in tlu open air than by a brisk two-milt walk. The best nnssible short vara t on is often to sleep late, take one's breakfast break-fast in bed and loaf industriously all afternoon." Long sitting in a badly ventilaieci room will clog the tissues of the bod) with poisonous waste matter, and so. of course, w.ll 'overeating and hasty mastication. Most people of intelligence intelli-gence realize this, but few understand how overexertion poisons and, therefore, there-fore, fatigues the body. This evil can be avoided by change of occupation. "We quickly become tired doing the same thing over and over again. The particular group of muscles and the brain and nerve cells which direct theit action become clumped with theii own fatigue poisons." That is often what ails children whose teachers and parents complain of their restlessness: and it is why the periods of study, exercise ex-ercise and play should be in all schools short and constantly alternated. In reply to the objection that this method makes school work too much like play, Dr. Hutchinson says: "Precisely, that is its chief virtue: for when we piay we are imitating nature and following her great method of development. All exercise, to do us good, must bt play. "Pleasure Is nature's stamp of approval," ap-proval," he adds. Followed blindly, it may lead to dangerous extremes, but within limits it is the safest of guides. Two hours of outdoor life are the least a. sedentary worker should attempt to do with, says ur. Muicmnson. u uhc feels like running, shouting, playing, by all means one should run. shout, play. "If. however, one has worked and overstrained one's self until there is no play spirit left, then what ia needed in the way of recreation yes. of physical culture is not exercise, but Gvmnasium work Dr. Hutchison does not much approve. Evidently foi the tired man or woman he places idleness idle-ness first, spontaneous play in the open air second and gymnasium work last of ali. , . To people just start'ng on their vacations va-cations Dr. Hutchinson says: "Be as shamelessly lazy as you like for the first two to five days. Be sure to get all the nerve poisons and lung poisons and germ-laden dust of the citv out of your lungs and system before be-fore you begin to take any real exercise. exer-cise. Time so 'wasted' will often save vou from coming back to town witii the feeling that your vacation has not done you much good." |