sensation is fixed fast and noted in consciousness:
which is one object of the exercise. However, should we find the
prescribed five minutes at night interfered with by coming drowsiness,
we may yield in sleepy content, "sustained and soothed" by the thought
that we shall be in splendid shape for the morning practice, with which
nothing must interfere, "not headache, or sciatica, or leprosy, or
thunder-stroke."

We are ready now for the third exercise. When, for five minutes in the
morning, lying flat on your back, with closed eyes, you have taken deep,
long breaths, letting them go slowly, yielding your whole body to the
act of respiration, noting the effect and fixing fast the sensation, as
a next step you are to stand up and repeat the operation. Still holding
the sensation (not by tightening your muscles, or clenching your fists,
or setting your teeth, but simply by thinking the sensation, letting it
possess you), in this attitude of mind breathe naturally, standing
instead of lying down. That is all. Don't be discouraged if the test
prove unsatisfactory at first. Try an intermediate step. Sit on the side
of your bed, or in a straight-back chair, and, closing your eyes and
relaxing all your muscles except those governing the diaphragm, breathe.
Now stand, well poised. By well poised, of course, you know I mean with
the weight perfectly balanced about the center of gravity, which, in
turn, means that a perpendicular dropped from the highest point of the
lifted chest without encountering any part of your body, and especially
not your abdomen (which should be held always back, so that it is flat,
if not actually concave) will fall unobstructed to the floor, striking a
point just between the balls of your feet. Standing thus, well poised,
place the right hand on your body, just below your ribs at the base of
the lungs, and your left hand on your back, just opposite your right
hand; then breathe, and feel the diaphragm, as it descends, cause the
torso, in turn, to expand from front to back, pressing against either
hand. Let the breath go slowly, controlling its emission by controlling
the diaphragm.

So the three exercises stand progressively thus:

_First._--Breathe naturally, which is diaphragmatically, five minutes at
night. (At first you can be sure of doing this only by lying flat on
your back.)

_Second._--Breathe naturally, which is diaphragmatically, for five
minutes in the morning, and note the sensation.