Came, drank (h2o), survived !

The first ever in SW Florida and possibly in Florida BIGU (Taoist water fast with qigong exercises) has come and gone.  So?

Oh man, let's do it again.  Taoist fast in this manner each spring and fall, or as needed.  I am thinking just now that spring and fall of one week with a small fast in between. 

Many who came to the fast walked in in sheer terror.  They could not understand why they had volunteered themselves to not eat food, do special qigong exercises, meditate more than normal and drink enough water to fill Hoover Dam.  Really?  By the end of the first day although we only met 2 hours per day, they all were happy, joyous and well a tiny tiny bit hungry.

It takes 72 hours of staying away from all foods and drinking water for the body to get into a "auto-phage" condition.  Everyone had come to the fast with different intentions and dreams.  By the end of day three they had began to show signs of fully accepting and enjoying to a degree the camaraderie and support of the group.  The calmness and serenity of life that some sought was being provided by the Spirit of Life. 

Day 4 is the pay off.  All of a sudden participants were smiling and reporting; "the pain in my hands has subsided, I can bend it/them";  "my headaches have disappeared".  "my sinuses have dried up 98%"; "my kidneys are functioning nearly normal now".  Auto-phage seems to be able to do things we mere mortals cannot do.  Last years Nobel Prize Winner for Science proved that auto-phage not only exists, it acts just as the ancient knew it did.  (See the link below for the Nobel announcement).

The majority of participants chose to break the fast at day 3 1/2.  Some chose decided to go on.  Every day I stay in the fast past 72 hours the payoff of healing in some form interior wise is enhanced.  I had started the fast 3 days ahead of the group.  It was a good time for me to break my fast.  I had lost a total of 14.2 pounds.

Weight loss is NOT and I repeat NOT a goal of a BIGU water fast.  Healing is the goal.  Weight loss MAY occur or may not.  Weight only is the wrong reason for doing a BIGU.  The range of weight loss in our group was 1 - 14lbs.  While in the fast my body will seek it own weight, I did not have to try and tell my body what to do.

We break the BIGU fast in a Taoist fashion by eating Napa (Chinese cabbage) blanched.  This Napa soup totally cleanses the system and prepares it for a small content of protein light protein filled soups.  Soup(s) of potato, mushroom, Chinese chives, salt, bean sprouts, tofu (I passed on tofu) and added kale sprouts .  For the next 4 days every four hours I ate just less that 1 cup of soup.  We had as much fresh fruit between soups, and still as much water as I could handle.

All through the fast, all though I AM NOT a water drinker, I maintained a 8 (16oz bottles) bottles per day level of water.  No other liquid of intake.  As the fast is broken and times goes on, that level of water starts to fall off, at least with me.  I am trying to learn to consume water as a matter of good health.

We of this first ever BIGU in this area were so privileged to have been guided through the fast by Dr. Kevin Chen, associate professor at University of Maryland School of Integrative Medicine, Baltimore, Md.  Kevin spent 5 days here and met 2 hours every eve and day on the weekends with us.  We were fortunate to have him to ourselves and taught many many more lessons than just how to hold a BIGU.    

Will we do this again?  Of course though not until fall this year.  Spring and fall, great schedule for remaining healthy.  Man, all this typing has made me thirsty....hmmmm think a root beer would be good :)

richard

link to Nobel Prize article: https://goo.gl/ifFsss