372 



THE HUMAN MACHINE 



any other reason. In good standing posture the body is 

 held erect, the chest is thrust forward, and the head and 

 shoulders are balanced above the body's center of gravity. 

 A glance at the cuts on pages 369 and 371 shows that the 

 skeleton, if held erect, balances the body so that no strain 

 is put on any one set of muscles. Since good posture is 

 largely a matter of habit, we should learn to achieve it 

 while still young. In good posture the lungs, heart, and 

 digestive organs are in proper position, thus aiding good 

 breathing, circulation, and digestion. And most of all, we 

 have a feeling of health which enables us to look at our 

 tasks or difficulties and laugh them off because we feel well. 

 How to Get and Keep Good Posture. We first must 

 have the feeling that comes with a knowledge of correct 

 posture and then we must continually practice standing 

 and walking correctly. If we fail to hold our head erect, 

 or if we allow our shoulders to become round or let our 

 chest slump in and our abdomen stick out, we are failing 

 to practice good posture. Slumping over our desks when 



studying is one way to get 

 poor posture and allowing 

 the muscles of the abdomen 

 to relax is another bad fault. 

 Ask your physical education 

 teacher to suggest exercises 

 which will help you to build 

 up a good erect carriage and 

 then practice these regularly, 

 for it is only by constant 

 effort that we are able to 

 keep good posture. 



Flat Feet. Fallen arches 

 are O ften a cause of poor 



Notice how the muscles tend to keep nnc;tllr p FYatninp thp flifl- 

 the bones of the foot arched. What P osture - 



might cause the arches to fall? gram Carefully. IOU Will 



