Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/215

Rh Let us see just why people should bathe. Very few of us really understand the matter and think it is merely to get rid of the dust and visible dirt which has accumulated upon our skin. But there is more than this to it, important as mere cleanliness is. Let us see just why the skin needs to be cleansed.

We have explained to you, in another chapter, the Importance of a normal perspiration and how, if the pores of the skin become clogged or closed, the body is unable to get rid of its waste products. And how does it get rid of them? By the skin, breath and the kidneys. Many persons overwork their kidneys by making them do both their own work and that of the skin as well, for nature will make one organ do double work rather than to leave its work undone. Each pore is the end of a little canal called a sweat-tube, which extends way down into the surface of the body. There are about 3,000 of these little canals to each square inch of our skin. They are continually exuding a moisture called perspiration, or sweat, which moisture is really a fluid secreted from the blood and laden with the impurities and waste matter of the system. You will remember that the body is constantly tearing down tissue and replacing it with new matter, and it must get rid of its waste just as a family must get rid of its waste sweepings and garbage. And the skin is one of the means by which the waste is removed. This waste, if allowed to remain in the system, acts as a breeding place and food for bacteria, germs, etc., and that is why nature is so anxious to get rid of it. The skin also exudes an oily fluid which is used to keep the skin soft and flexible.