STANDING GRACEFULLY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 287, 5 December 1933, Page 2

STANDING GRACEFULLY

ACTRESS’ ADVICE. Few women have learnt the art of standing properly (says Evelyn Layc in the News-Chronicle). A correct carriage of the body not only makes one look slimmer, but contributes directly to one's health, and is indirectly a slimming exercise in itself. Your spine should always be perfectly straight and flat from the first to the last vertebra. Afany people who are over average height seem to feel ashamed of their stature, and try to lose themselves in tho crowd by hanging their heads, rounding their shoulders, and sagging their knees. Standing like this, they automatically thrust into prominence the abdomen, which prominence is least desired.

Try for yourself. If you concentrate on keeping your neck and spine in a straight, vertical line, your “tummy” is automatically braced inwards and backwards. When I say a straight line I mean just that. Don’t thrust out the chest and hollow the back like a parody of a guardsman on parade. The pose, once acquired, becomes second nature. You can begin to-day very simply. Take your shoes off and stand with your back against the wall, touching it with your heels, and with the arms hanging loosely straight down at the sides. Keep your head erect, with the eyes looking straight out at their own level. Now press as much as possible flat against tho wall. When you have stood for a time, walk across the room in the same position without altering the position of your back and shoulders. That is the way to walk. I first tried this as a means of improving my breathing for singing, since in this position the lungs and, in fact, all tho internal organs have free play. I find I can now keep on my feet without fatigue for long periods at a stretch, and this has been a tremendous help to me in my stage, work. When you want to relax after standing a long time, given a little at the knees, but never droop the spine. Your spine is there to hold you up, and your body will not be rested by depriving it of the full use of its chief support.