What the White Race May Learn from the IndianJames, George Wharton
Religion
What the White Race May Learn from the Indian
James, George Wharton
Indians of North America
But not only do the Indians breathe through the nose: they are also
experts in the art of deep breathing. The exercises that are given in
open-air deep breathing at the Battle Creek sanitarium each morning
show that we are learning this useful and beneficial habit from them.
When I first began to visit the Hopis, in northern Arizona, I was
awakened every morning in the wee sma’ hours, as I slept in my blankets
in the open at the foot of the mesa upon which the towns are located,
by cow-bells, as if a number of cows were being driven out to pasture.
But in the daytime I could see no cows nor any evidence of their
existence. When I asked where they were, my questions brought forth
nothing but a wondering stare. Cows? They had no cows. What did I mean?
Then I explained about the bells, and as I explained, a merry laugh
burst upon my ears. “Cows? Those are not cows. To-morrow morning when
you hear them, you jump up and watch.” I did so, and to my amazement I
saw fleeing through the early morning dusk a score (more or less) of
naked youths, on each one of whom a cow-bell was dangling from a rope
or strap around his waist. Later I learned this running was done as a
matter of religion. Every young man was required to run ten, fifteen,
twenty miles, and even double this distance, upon certain allotted
mornings, as a matter of religion. This develops a lung capacity that
is nothing short of marvelous.
This great lung capacity is in itself a great source of health, vim,
energy, and power. It means the power to take in a larger supply of
oxygen to purify and vivify the blood. Half the people of our cities
do not know what real true life is, because their blood is not well
enough oxygenated. The people who are full of life and exuberance and
power--the men and women who accomplish things--generally have large
lung capacity, or else have the faculty of using all they have to the
best advantage.
To a public speaker, a singer, a lawyer, a preacher, or a teacher, this
large lung capacity is invaluable; for, all things else being equal,
the voice itself will possess a clearer, more resonant quality if the
lungs, the abdomen, and the diaphragm are full of, or stretched out by,
plenty of air. These act as a resonant sounding-chamber which increases
the carrying quality of the voice to a wonderful extent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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