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EXERCISE No. 4

Slow Trunk-Twisting with Sideways-Bending

First Degree

To be surę of a correct performance of this exercise in the beginning, it is best to do the twisting and sideways-bending separately.

A.    Sit on a chair (either on the front edge of the seat, or use one without a back), and twist one or both legs round the legs of the chair whereby the lower body is madę unmovable. Or you may simply sit down on the floor. With hands at " hips firm,” the upper part of the body is turned slowly, but without pauses alternately, as far as possible to right and left, the head following the body movements. Inhale one way and exhale the opposite. Compare Fig. 104, illustrating a similar movement. but with head stationary.

When four and a half double movements with four and a half fuli respirations are completed, a pause is held in the twisted position, an exhalation being taken. Thereaftcr five similar double twistings are performed. but the breathing is now, of course, done the opposite way as was the case before, i e., if you inhaled to the right before, you should now exhalo to this side and inhale to the left.

B.    Sit on a chair, arms hanging down limp. Bend the upper part of the body slowly, but without pausing, as far as possible to right and left alternately. Try every time to reach the floor with your finger tips. You may also bend the head. Inhale one way and exhale the other. Perform nineteen movements during ten fuli respirations, and do not forget to change the breathing when half-way is reached, in exactly the same way as explained in “A.” It is even morę important here, so as not to develop the chest one-sidedly.

Second Degree

It is still recommended to perform the twisting and sideways bending apart.

A. Stand with the feet as much as possible apart and parallel, or still better, with the toes a trifle inwards. The arms raiscd sideways with fingers lightly closed, not clenched. The trunk is twisted alternately to right and left as in first degree, but now that the seat and hips no longer are held firm by sitting down, it is harder to limit the move-ment to the waist. One is likely to move the feet, twist round in the knees, or to only tum the head, whereby, of course, the benefit to the important organs in the abdominal cavity is nil. One should therefore fix the hips (keep them squarely to the front the whole time), or, still better, push forward the left lup whenever the left shoulder goes back. and control the right side of the body in the same way every time its tum comes. The head follows the body’s movements. The arms must not swing the body round; they are held still, but not stiff, and are moved togethcr with the upper part of the body and the head, as a dead weight alone by the efifort of the muscles around the waist, The move-ment is illustrated by Figs. 22 and 23, but the feet should be much morę apart. The breathing, with change half-way, and the number of