ng-postures are not the only attitudes that interfere
with deep breathing. Very often the position in standing is also
objectionable. When one stands with the weight resting on the heels
the body is thrown out of balance, and as a consequence the shoulders
are not on a vertical line with the hips. In this attitude it is
impossible to manifest fullness of life, because the lungs are not
fully inflated with air at each breath. We live, enjoy, accomplish
only in proportion to our breathing ability. As one writer says, "The
deep thinker, the orator, the fine singer, must of necessity be a good
breather."

The most serious hindrance to deep breathing is found in the
restrictions of the clothing. I do not say of the corsets, because
tight bands or waists can also compress the body and make full
breathing impossible. Of course you say your dresses are loose, and
you run your hand up under your waist to prove it to me. I will not
argue the question with you, but I will ask you to argue it with
yourself.

If breathing is the measure of your living and doing, then if, in the
least degree, you limit by your dress your breathing, the dress is too
tight. "Well," you ask "how shall I know if I am hindering my
breathing? My dress feels comfortable. It seems to me that I breathe.
Is there any way that I can prove whether my dress is tight or not?"

It is true that one becomes accustomed to uncomfortable things and
scarcely realizes that they ever were uncomfortable. The dress may
seem a little tight when you first put it on, then it begins to grow
comfortable, and after a while it feels loose, and you say it
certainly is loose. I will give a simple rule by which you may know
whether your clothing is loose enough or not. Unfasten every article
of clothing; dress, corset, skirt-bands, everything. Now breathe in
slowly until every air-cell is full. It may take some practice to do
this, but persevere until you find the chest elevated and filled to
its utmost extent. It should swell out at the sides along the line of
the insertion of the diaphragm. There should be no heaving of the
chest. Now, with the lungs so completely filled with air, bring your
dress waist together without pulling a particle. Will it fasten
without pressing out a bit of air from the lungs? If so, it is loose
enough. If, however, you have to pull it together, even to the tiniest
extent, you have pressed out some of the air. The minute air-cells
that have thus been e