228 Life and Health 



walk with slow and deep inspirations of fresh air. The 

 muscles, long cramped in a painful attitude, should be 

 rested as often as may be by change of posture or by a 

 short, brisk walk. 



346. Benefits of Rest. There is too little repose in our 

 daily life. A sense of fatigue is the mute appeal of the 

 body for a brief respite from labor, which should, if possi- 

 ble, be heeded. The feeling that even a ten-minute rest is 

 so much time lost is a mistake. It is a gain of physical 

 strength, of mental vigor, and of the total amount of work 

 done. 



The merchant burdened with the cares of business life, 

 the ambitious student overanxious to win success in his 

 studies, the housewife wearied with her many hours of 

 exacting toil, each would get through the task with less 

 loss of vital force by devoting a few minutes every day 

 to absolute rest of the strained muscles and overtaxed 

 nerves. 



It is sound physiology to cease from the usual routine 

 of six days of mental or physical work and to rest both the 

 mind and the body on the seventh. 



347. The Importance of Sleep as a Periodical Rest. 

 Sleep is the most marked manifestation of the periodic 

 and physiological rest by which Nature refreshes us. It 

 is during the periods of sleep that the energy expended in 

 the activities of the waking hours is mainly renewed. 



The need of sleep is self-evident, and the loss of it 

 is a common cause of the impairment of health. While 

 we are awake and active the waste of the body exceeds 

 the repair ; but when we are asleep the waste is diminished. 

 The organic functions, such as are under the direct control 

 of the sympathetic nervous system, circulation, respira- 

 tion, and digestion, are diminished in activity during 



