Let Yourself Go (1940)

the hurry and scurry of modern life is getting a lot of us down or maybe we're just getting soft for here's a shop a department of a leading metropolitan store dedicated to those who just can't take it it's a sleep in comfort shop and it's exclusively devoted to people looking for comfort relaxation and sleep this happy couple for instance have a real problem because the wife thinks out of sight on a soft mattress and hubby their floats like a cork on any other kind well here's the sleep shops answer a mattress with one side soft than the other side hard and appropriately enough it's called the jack sprat mattress here's another victim of the modern age this chaps a confirmed pillow puncher worn to a frazzle by the day's problems he battles it out with the pillow all night long he's been fighting his pillow for years and so far he's lost every round what he needs is the new cut away pillow which curves around the neck and positively will not bunch around the shoulders one trial with the cutaway type and he's finished with pillow pummeling forever the sleep shop offers all these devices for one purpose to make you more comfortable and relaxed so it will be easier to sleep well that takes care of our night life but what about our waking hours science must have some answer to a problem as important as this suppose we pay a visit to the laboratory of a famous psychologist and see if he can give us the answer dr. Laird you're recognized everywhere as an authority on relaxation well how can people relax under the tension of modern life what's the cause of this tension anyway and what can we do about it there's several causes of tension causes which arise from inborn human reactions and are just as natural as getting hungry when we haven't eaten one important cause is noise even the expectation of noise is sufficient to build up considerable tension no matter what you try to do your muscles start to tighten and if you try to relax the very attempt results in tension building effort notice how the clenching of the hand is measured with this instrument which you call a tension ometer now another cause of tension is the fear of falling of loss of bodily support in the laboratory it's measured this way well dr. Laird that's really tension it looks as though she's broken the machine this fear like the fear of noise is inborn even newly born babies show it and anyone who has visited an amusement park can surely recognize it in grown-ups a third and very important cause of tension is the fear brought about by limitation of movement by loss of physical freedom watch this demonstration the moment your arms are prevented from moving an inborn fear reaction causes your muscles too tense this reaction is brought forth by any situation which hinders free movement I get it that's what happens to us in a crowd that's right whenever something holds you so you can't move freely this fear develops and causes tension well that's clear enough but dr. Laird can people do anything to avoid tension yes the way to get rid of tension is to do just the opposite of all the things that caused it get room to stretch out room to move in to relax let yourself go well that's good news suppose we just look into things a little further and see what architects and engineers are doing to help us get rid of tension let's take noise for instance let's see how the architect of the modern house of ideas in Rockefeller Center in New York has done away with disturbing noise in the home first outside noise has been cut down by packing the walls and roof with plenty of insulation of course in any normal family there is plenty of noise from inside too so sound deadening materials are used in some inside rooms as well for instance in the kitchen to soften the clatter of pots and pans and in this boy's room of course we can't spend all our time at home most of us find relaxation going places but we can find quiet while traveling to for the car of today is soundproofed all around in much the same way as the house of today but how about the second cause of tension dr. Laird mentioned the fear of falling the first place we think of is the stairs for falls on stairs account for a big percentage of home accidents that's why in this house the height of the steps has been scientifically determined and that's why they are safely carpeted to make footing firmer improperly designed chairs can bring out the sensation of falling as you know if you ever sat down in a chair a couple of inches lower than you thought it was so the designer of these chairs made them just the right height for the average person and firm enough to give a real feeling of support today's modern automobile too has been scientifically designed to eliminate any tension caused by the fear of falling balanced Springs have smoothed out the bumpiest roads and the engineers have figured out ways of controlling rear spring action so that one rear seat passenger and joys as smoother ride as three but how about the third cause of tension tension resulting from the feeling of being cramped or confined of course the best way to get rid of that feeling is to get out in the open even if it's for just a short drive in the country for now that the modern automobile has been made so much longer and wider there is no feeling of being confined there's plenty of room for three couples to ride comfortably and with the floor of the front compartment cleared of gear lever and handbrake the front seat passengers can relax and shift position as easily as those in the rear and in the modern home architects have done the same job of providing more space for everybody by making one room to the work of two or three for instance here's a dining room and here's the guest room and very attractive too but most families seldom use the guest room and the dining room is used for only a short time each day instead of letting all this usable space go to waste wouldn't it be nice if the two rooms could be combined into one big recreation room well they can and in a jiffy how's that for roominess with a playroom like this for home movies or games relaxation won't be any problem for the people in this house particularly if they follow dr. Laird's suggestions so remember these simple rules to keep relaxed get rid of those leftover tensions in the muscles of the face and head we have to exert ourselves at the start to get started on the habit of relaxing concentrate on the forehead now we can feel the tension there now exert yourself to relax it more still more look far away keep relaxing stay away from my Z places and value the ability to make your mind a blank do these things too intense and we will approach each day with a better outlook poised relaxed that's the way to let yourself go and have a better time going I