The Taoist Xuanmen Rejuvenation Exercise (Xuanmen Huichun Gong) is a practice that has recently become quite popular among ordinary people. Practiced steadily over a long time, it can make the body light and strong, and those who master it may even extend their years, so it is very well received. Below are the steps for practicing it.
1. Preparatory exercise: Stand upright with feet together. Raise both arms from the sides of the body until they extend forward at a right angle to the body, palms up, inhaling and lifting the heels. Raise the arms overhead, join the palms above the head, then bring them down past the abdomen, palms facing down, and separate them to the sides. Step the feet apart to shoulder width, with the arms at the sides and the hands hanging naturally. Relax all the muscles, look straight ahead, clear away stray thoughts, and let the mind enter stillness.
2. Section one, abdominal deep breathing: Inhale first, then exhale. On the inhale, lift the heels, let the lower abdomen swell and the belly expand, and take in several extra breaths of fresh air.
At first, inhale through the nose; once you are used to it, you may inhale through mouth and nose together. On the exhale, draw in the lower abdomen slightly, let the knees bend naturally and the heels come down, and expel the stale air from the lungs and stomach through the mouth as fully as you can. Do this 16 times in a row (one exhale and one inhale count as once).
3. Shaking: After the deep breathing, pause for about half a minute. Relax the whole body while keeping it upright, arms still hanging at the sides and knees slightly bent, and shake the entire body up and down with a springy motion. Curl the fingers slightly; when straightened they may feel a sense of fullness. Tap the teeth together while shaking. Shake like this for one minute, about 164 times, for three minutes in all.
4. Shoulder rolling: After shaking the shoulders left and right, wait about a minute. Then stand with feet apart at shoulder width, weight on the balls of the feet, knees slightly bent, the whole body relaxed, the mouth naturally slightly open, arms hanging, and head and neck upright, and rotate the shoulders in circles. The shoulders turn alternately. The direction is as follows: first raise the left shoulder and circle it forward, up, back, and down; at the same time, circle the right shoulder back, down, forward, and up. Rotate the two shoulders alternately and in coordination, 16 times in all. When rolling the shoulders, let the body drive the shoulders and the shoulders drive the arms, so that the upper body twists continuously, squeezing and pressing the five zang organs and six fu organs, expelling the stale and taking in the fresh.