been told that
chopping wood is mentally stimulating, and also that horseback riding
and cycling are sometimes helpful in this direction, but walking is
without doubt the most effective mental stimulant to be found out-of-
doors. It accelerates the circulation, and seems to arouse the vital
forces of the body, but does not require such an expenditure of
energy as to prevent the brain from being exceptionally active.

Now to secure the real benefits that come from walking there should be
no laziness about it. Do not walk as though you were on a fashion
parade. The Sunday afternoon stroll on the city streets may be very
alluring, but you cannot under such circumstances secure the real
benefits that may be found in walking. If possible go out on the
country roads or walk across the fields. Put a certain amount of energy
into your every step. Walk briskly and as though you enjoyed it, and
you will discover that you do enjoy it. Even if your first few steps
require an unusual effort on your part, "step lively" just the same, and
you will shortly find that you feel lively, too. A walk of this sort
into which you put real energy in every step is a tonic of amazing
value. It will stir up your entire organism. It will insure an active
functioning, and make you feel and be thoroughly alive. If you have the
added advantage that comes from pure country air you are to be
envied. But even without these superior advantages, even if your
route is confined to city streets, some benefit will still result from
taking the walk tonic.

While walking give special attention to my suggestions concerning
breathing. Breathe deeply and fully at frequent intervals. Expand the
body in the abdominal region. If you like, you can carry your breathing
still farther and allow this expansion to extend to the chest walls,
though as a rule, this is not necessary. No doubt one of the most
valuable suggestions for strength and vitality building while walking
is to take at frequent periods several movements which are referred
to in the chapter on Thyroid Stimulation, namely, the chin-in-downward-
and-backward motion while holding a full breath with abdomen fully
expanded. In fact this idea, if carried out until the muscles of the
back of the neck are fatigued at the completion of the walk, will
energize you mentally and physically. A suggestion that I have often
offered in various articles upon this subject is to pra