How To Put The Subconscious Mind To Work
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The day for all kinds of apparatus for physical exercise is like the proverbial phrase that "every dog has its day." The apparatuses have had their day.

In the good old days when we looked upon dumbbells and indian clubs as a necessary adjunct and all of the weights and pulleys and other paraphernalia in gymnasiums, many a good soul thought he could not exercise unless he could afford such apparatus.

If you can afford apparatus and think that you must have these frills well and good but the main part of exercise is the use of your mind as you exercise.

A famous authority on this has well said:

You do, however, need a large stock of desire, enthusiasm, and persistence. It is from the development of these that you will get the best development of muscles and health. It is the amount of mind you put into the matter that will give the best results. A great deal of mind---of desire and a little exercise will do wonders and give health and pleasure in living.

Eugene Sandow says :

It is all a matter of mind. Nothing will make a man strong save his own concentration of thought.

If you concentrate your mind upon a single muscle or set of muscles for three minutes each day, and say, "Do thus and so!" and make them respond by contraction, there will be immediate noticeable development.

It is mental first, physical afterwards. The whole secret of my system lies in the knowledge of human anatomy,-- in knowing just where one is weak and going straight to work bringing that particular part up to the standard of one's best feature,--for there is a best feature in every man as there is also a worst. And yet as a chain is as strong only as its weakest link, so is the body strong only as its weakest member. The secret is to "know thyself," as Pope says, and knowing one's weakness, to concentrate the mind and energies upon that weakness with a view to correcting it.

One of the important things for the human race to understand is that health and disease are not matters of chance, but are regulated by the universal laws of sowing and reaping; that health, when lost, is frequently regained by faithful cultivation of mind and close adherence to all mental and physical laws; that sickness is a consequence directly or indirectly (although we may be ignorant of just how we have erred) of a violation of natural laws. Hence disease is not due to the anger of the gods nor to the "Providence of God," and mental healing is not the result of a miraculous presto-change flip of a health coin flung by the fingers of a mysterious Deity to determine who shall be miraculously healed and who shall remain under the wrath of God. Law, not chance, rules the world.

We become sick and diseased by virtue of wrong living, as well as of wrong thinking. We are healed by the power of mind over the physical laws just in proportion as we conform to the divine operation of these mental and physical laws. To keep our healing, we must, therefore, continue to do our part, continue to keep in harmony with both the mental and physical realm.

Exercise properly and you stimulate good breathing, create thirst and arouse appetite. Of course, the appetite should be satisfied with the nutritious diet specified elsewhere. It is the idle person who is the shallow breather and whose appetite calls for stimulants and highly seasoned and concentrated foods.

The right kind of exercise, if carried out for six months or even less time will make you a changed person. Therefore, after your healing, be sure that you help God to help the laws to help yourself to keep well by exercising.

Besides exercising the muscles of arms, legs, abdomen, face, eyes and neck one should walk at least two to four miles a day, breathing deeply, the clothing loose, to allow free play to the muscles of the extremities, and of the vital organs.

While D. McDougal King, M. D., recommends:

Every normal person should walk at least four miles a day. Where it has not been a habit, it will be a little taxing at first, and should be extended by degrees.

Men can learn from the animals. Watch the cat, the dog, the tiger, as they stretch life into their limbs. Modern man sits and writes, humps up his back, doubles in his shoulders, contracts his muscles, without ever thinking that life and invigoration come from stretching his limbs, muscles and joints.

A famous physico-mental therapeutist explains it as follows:

Between each spinal vertebra the nerves emerge, running to the various parts and organs of the body, and when the segments of the spine move easily and freely and are in proper relation to each other, the circulation is normal and the entire nervous system works efficiently. This condition can be brought about by the proper exercise of the muscles of the back as the determining factor is the proper functioning of these muscles which maintain spinal balance. To keep the spinal nerves unhindered in their function is one of the best ways to keep physically fit.

Nothing in the world, outside of the mind, has more healing power than the sun. Children can be cured of the rickets by keeping them in the sun.

Modern civilization has entombed man in clothes, sky scrapers and apartment houses so that the body does not get its much needed sun bathing.

Every person should be at least one hour in the sun's rays a day, nude. Yes sir, nude. I suppose there is not one out of ten million who puts himself in that happy condition ten minutes every twenty-four hours.

Never mind what the other man does. Each must look after himself and if it is not customary in your house to go undressed with the sun beating through the panes, make it a habit. If you cannot get the full benefit of the sun's rays, get as much of the fresh air as possible on your body.

Arthur Brisbane, the distinguished journalist, also believes in fresh air and sun cure. He says:

A real sun cure means walking in the sunshine naked, except for protection on the skull. Exposing the whole body to the sunlight causes blood pressure to fall. The breathing becomes deeper and slower; the amount of air inhaled greater and the strain on the heart less.

Sunshine on the skin expands the little capillary veins, bringing blood to the surface, which is good for the surface and good for the blood, increasing both red and white blood corpuscles, the protective army of our blood system.

Let your body be exposed to the light, air and sun; help yourself to help your body maintain its healthy equilibrium.

Another of the best methods of exercise in the world is to get down and crawl on the floor on your hands and knees. Better yet, crawl on the earth on your hands and knees. The body becomes magnetized when it comes in touch with mother nature. Take off your shoes and stockings and walk on the bare earth. If you live in the city and have only a patch of a back-yard, do it there in the summer, every day. On your vacation time, see that you go without shoes and stockings at least an hour a day. Of course, you are not to sit around on damp benches in the woods with your feet on the cold, damp ground, without exercising

The body also should be exposed to the sun at least an hour a day. Take your exercise with your windows open--nude.

If you live in the city, put up in vacation time some kind of a contraption without any roof, where you can sit in the sun stark naked. It will re-vitalize, re-energize the body in a marvelous manner. To keep perfect health, one must take pams to help nature.

After healing what? Plenty of exercise, fresh air and sunlight.