7rcTIX1xP

Chapter XXVI: The Yogi Bath.1927
Chapter XXVI: The Yogi Bath.
It should not be necessary to devote a chapter of this book to the
importance of bathing. But even in this, the twentieth, century a great mass
of the people understand practically nothing about this subject. In the large
cities the easy access to the bathtub has, in a measure, educated the people
up to at least a partial use of water on the outer surface of the body, but in
the country, and even in many homes in the cities, bathing is not given the
place it should occupy in the daily life of the people. And so we think it well
to call the attention of our readers to the subject and explain to them why
the Yogis set so much store upon a clean body.
In the state of nature man did not need the frequent use of the bath, for,
his body being uncovered, the rains beat upon him, and the bushes and
trees brushed against his skin, keeping it free from the gathered-up waste
matter which the skin is continuously throwing off. And, then, the primitive
man, like the animals, always had streams handy, and followed his natural
instinct, which impelled him to take a plunge once in a while. But the use
of clothing has changed all this, and man to-day, although his skin is still at
work throwing off waste matter, is unable to get rid of the waste in the old
way, and instead he allows it to pile up on his skin and consequently suffers
physical discomfort and disease. A body may be very dirty indeed and