1. Introduction

Humans were designed to live active out-of-doors lives, to forage for food, to seek shelter where it could be found and as need arose. They were structured to live among the trees and in the forest, to do physical labor for agricultural purposes, to tend to the harvest and to pick the fruit from tree and vine.

But humans were not designed to live in air-tight houses, to sit at a desk for hours on end, or to apply their minds constantly and continuously to solving multiple problems. Humans were not made to toil under electric lights or to sit passively for hours reclining in an overstuffed easy chair passively watching phantom figures flitting by on a television screen, all the while receiving multiple nerve impingements due to electrical and radiation impulses emanating from an electrical box and being transmitted through the ether.

Neither were humans designed to eat as the average person eats in today's world but, to the contrary, people were provided with certain digestive organs possessing well-defined physiological limitations and capabilities, organs made to process simple natural foods freshly gathered and served in the simplest of combinations, if combined at all.

Probably in no other country in the entire world has the available food been so altered and changed and in such a short time as in the U.S., although presently many countries of the world are fast imitating "The American Way," and reaping the same "benefits." Dr. Edmond Bordeaux Szekely in his The Book of Living Foods points out that, "From the starch-loaded, high-calorie fuel foods of our pioneer ancestors (who presumably needed strength to fight the Indians, who in turn won many battles eating only nuts and berries), to the "breatharians" of the 20s, ... our history has been studded with all kinds of nutritional facts and fancies."

As on many past occasions, the U.S. Government is again expressing dismay at the lack of physical fitness among children and young people in general. On all sides, even a casual observer of the current sad scene can see stuffed noses, curved spines, mouths dangling wide open, a lack of symmetry to childish bodies, sadly restricted by malaligned organs and a veritable host of encumbrances of one kind or another. Hygienists have no lack of opportunity to do their best to correct that which obviously presents a major threat to the on-going vitality of our nation.

There can be no doubt that only a full application of all known Hygienic principles and total obedience to the biodynamics of our organic existence can save the human race from extinction and return it to its former pristine and perfect form. We have strayed mightily and willfully far from the physical beauty of face and form and lack the strength of the men, women and children of ancient Greece. In no way do our children and young people bear any resemblance to the strong and straight offspring of the Mongols of northern China or even the young Romans who lived in earlier centuries; and fewer yet adults who presently possess the strength and erectness of posture evidenced by the Greek dock-workers, for instance, of Sylvester Graham's time. Flat-footed, spines curved in and out and sideways, the men and women of today's world wend their weary way with stiffened muscles and osteoporotic bones.

It will probably take many generations of Hygienic living to return the human race to some semblance of what full health and perfect form can offer. We can only imagine such a time and place. However, the correct and consistent application of corrective exercises and a Hygienic lifestyle can at least improve the lot of some individuals who might otherwise suffer either now or at some time in the future from an ailment which, in the final analysis, might well be traced back to some deviation of the physical structure from the norm, such deviation being of either major or minor importance.

In this discussion, therefore, we will simply describe certain structural malformations giving, in some instances but not in all, the possible future negative consequences vis a vis the overall health of an individual who remains thus encumbered, and then present certain corrective measures which have been found to produce salubrious results in the past and which may prove of benefit in working with a particular client.

Obviously, there can be no guarantee that existing structural defects can be altered to such an extent and in such a manner as to return the body to a perfectly-normal state. There are always many determining factors that influence the direction, extensiveness, and effectiveness of physical therapy, just as there are in all remedial effort.

We refer to such factors as the overall health and vitality of a person, how fully s/he understands exactly what s/he must do and why, how well s/he applies him or herself in the doing, mental attitude and natural intelligence, concentration on the task at hand, how well s/he lives his/her life in accordance with the universal laws of nature, the encouragement and familial support s/he receives, etc. Only in rare instances perhaps will total performance and total benefit be achieved, but even minor positive changes can add up, in the final analysis, to improved appearance and many years of more enjoyable and healthful living.

Because of the nature of this discussion, there seems to be no valid point in quizzing students on the lesson content. This lesson should therefore be used as a point of reference, among others which may be available, in planning corrective exercises for specific individuals having a well-defined structural defect which, in our best judgment, seems to limit their potential wellness.