Stretch Your Body and Be Graceful

We are at the gates of summer, and all of us women long to have graceful figures undisfigured by fat heaped here and there — especially as the modern fashion bares the leg up to the knee!

The experts in physical exercises who concern themselves with women's gracefulness say that the best thing a woman can do to secure a trim and graceful body is through exercises based upon stretching or extension... If we accustom ourselves to stretching our bodies while walking and moving, and even while sleeping, we shall without doubt obtain astonishing results.

Even your walk, and the way you set down your foot, will become light and graceful — provided you do not overdo it... And your inner feeling of gaiety and self-confidence will lift your spirits wonderfully if you keep faithfully to these technical instructions and follow these exercises in order, according to their pictures and explanations.

1 — For the neck and chin: Sit cross-legged and lower your head forward, then raise it to the side and upward, and repeat the movement once toward the right and once toward the left... Repeat the exercise three times to each side.

2 — For a slender waist: Stand with feet apart and raise your clasped hands above your head, then bend down until your hands touch the ground, once before your left foot and once before your right, without bending the knees. Repeat the exercise ten times, slowly.

3 — For the chest and shoulders: Get down on your knees and hands, held straight as in the picture; then stretch out until your legs are straight, and bend your arms gradually until your chest touches the ground, then rise to your first position. Repeat this eight times.

4 — For the hips and waist: Stand with feet together, your clasped hands raised high. Then bend the upper half of your body once to the right and once to the left. Repeat the exercise five times to each side.