Exercise five is performed in a traditional horse stance. The stance requires the feet to be placed approximately two shoulder widths apart.
1.
With the feet properly placed, inhale and raise the ruler to eye level.
Sink the torso down by bending the knees, and lower the ruler to the lower
dantian level. Keep your back straight and your head level. Keep both knees
bowed out over the ankles.
2.
Holding the ruler horizontally to start, exhale, turn your waist and
carry the ruler to the left side of the body, at hip level.
Slowly inhale and turn the ruler to the vertical, rolling the left palm
over the right palm. Take as long and as deep an inhalation as you comfortably
can. Then slowly exhale, turn the waist to the right, and carry the ruler (with
the left palm over the right palm) through a 180-degree arc to the right side of
the body. Keep the ruler vertical and at hip level. As you carry the ruler from
the left side to the right side, exhale slowly and evenly.
3.
Once the ruler is on the right side of the body, slowly inhale and rotate
the ruler so that the right palm comes over the left palm. Then slowly exhale
and smoothly carry the ruler across the front of the body to the left side
again. The ruler is held vertically at hip level. This completes one repetition
of this exercise.
4.
For starters, try to take five seconds on each inhalation and five
seconds for each exhalation. No matter how much time you take to breathe, it is
important that the duration of each inhalation is the same as the duration of
each exhalation.
5.
Do a total of eight repetitions. After completing the eighth and last
pass, bring the ruler to the center position in front of the lower dantian. Then
slowly straighten the legs, standing up from the horse stance, raising the ruler
to eye level. When both legs are straightened, exhale through the mouth and
lower the ruler from eye level, back down to the dantian level.