the shoulder.  When through various exercises a natural co-ordination of the muscles is gained, the arm can be moved in curves from the shoulder, which remind one of a graceful snake; and the balance is so true that the motion seems hardly more than a thought in the amount of effort it takes.  Great care should be given to freeing the hands and fingers.  Because the hand is in such constant communication with the brain, the tension of the entire body often seems to be reflected there.  Sometimes it is even necessary to train the hand to some extent in the earliest lessons.

Exercises for movement in the legs are to free the joints, so that motions may follow one another as in the arm,—­the foot from the ankle; the lower leg from the upper leg; the upper leg from the hip; and, as—­in the arm, the free action of the joints in the leg comes as we seem to centre the motive power in the hip.  There is then the same grace and ease of movement which we gain in the arm, simply because the muscles have their natural equilibrium.

Thus the motive power of the body will seem to be gradually drawn to an imaginary centre in the lower part of the trunk,—­which simply means withdrawing superfluous tension from every part.  The exercise to help establish this equilibrium is graceful, and not difficult if we take it quietly and easily, using the mind to hold a balance without effort.  Raise the right arm diagonally forward, the left leg diagonally back,—­the arm must be high up, the foot just off the floor, so that as far as possible you make a direct line from the wrist to the ankle; in this attitude stretch all muscles across the body from left to right slowly and steadily, then relax quite as. slowly.  Now, be sure your arm and leg are free from all tension, and swing them very slowly, as if they were one piece, to as nearly a horizontal position as they can reach; then slowly pivot round until you bring your arm diagonally back and your leg diagonally forward; still horizontal, pivot again to the starting point; then bring leg down and arm up, always keeping them as in a line, until your foot is again off the floor; then slowly lower your arm and let your foot rest on the floor so that gradually your whole weight rests on that leg, and the other is free to swing up and pivot with the opposite arm.  All this must be done slowly and without strain of any kind.  The motions which follow in sets are for the better daily working of the body, as well as to establish its freedom.  The first set is called the “Big Rhythms,” because it takes mainly the rhythmic movement of the larger muscles of the body, and is meant, through movements taken on one foot, to give a true balance in the poise of the body as well as to make habitual the natural co-ordination in the action of all the larger muscles.  It is like practising a series of big musical chords to accustom our ears to their harmonies.  The second set, named the “Little Rhythms,”—­because that is a convenient way of designating it,—­is a series meant to include the movement of all the smaller muscles as well as the large ones, and is carried out even to the fingers.  The third set is for spring and rapid motion, especially in joints of arms and legs.