Day 9 - more modifications

Okay, so I did some more modifications today, and I'm planning even more tomorrow.

This morning I felt like crap. I stayed up late last night, and woke up at 7:30am, later than usual. The reason why I get up early is so that I can get the morning routine done before my 2-year-old kid wakes up around 8am, after that, no time for cultivation.

Anyway, I felt like crap. I did my rooting as well as I could, and when it came to gathering Qi doing my 400 breaths, I had absolutely no energy to, I wanted to give up. But I kept going up till 200 and took my break. It was hard to do today! So I decided I'm gonna break it up into 4 sets of 100 instead of 200 + 200. So for the next 200 breaths, I broke it up in half, took a break and finished the rest. THAT, felt much better, and I got equally as energized.

Afterwards, I did some more tree pose with relaxed breathing, yet feeling like I was encapsulated by a sphere of pure Qi (more like being submerged in a sea of Qi), and felt the Qi infusing itself through every pore of my body, and then I led that to my dantien. After that, I did my microcosmic orbit and tai chi while maintaining that feeling of being submerged in a sea of pure Qi. I then closed out the Qigong regimen and did my short-light cardio and muscle toning/stretching.

So, one thought. Since it's so much for me to begin the cultivation right away I figure I'll need to warm up. Plus, what's the use of cultivating when I'm gonna expend the energy afterwards with my workout (although light, I'm still using up energy that I was trying to store)? The main goal is creating a surplus of energy. So I really should do the workouts first, and cultivate afterwards. Solid.

So... here are my proposed modifications starting tomorrow.

1. Light cardio
2. Muscle toning, stretching, yoga
3. Qigong cultivation
a. Rooting - Tree Pose
b. Gathering
1. 400 deep breaths
2. Tree Pose/skin breathing
c. Harmonizing
1. Microcosmic Orbit
2. Taijiquan - Tai Chi

DIET NOTE: although my fat-ass diet hasn't changed much (I'm still eating lots of rice and meat), my appetite seems to be normalizing, as I'm feeling the need to eat less.

That's a start. That's a good start.

Like I said, these 100 days are more of a "kick-off." Unlike a lot of diet regimens that make you do their diet for so many days, my goal during these 100 days is to gradually decrease my desire for food (and certain foods), so that on the 100th day, I will have a new and improved relationship with food, perhaps lasting for the rest of my life. That's my goal. Whether or not it works, it's worth a shot.

ANOTHER DIET NOTE: according to a friend of mine, who has done research and treated cancer with Medical Qigong and Bigu fasting, "food tends to feed cancer." Not only that, over-consumption of food in general (eating like a fat ass) can be carcinogenic. That's another reason behind my "grow older, eat less, hydrate more" theory. More on that at a later date.

Day 8 - a slight change in Qigong regimen

Well, today I decided I wanted to keep my morning Qigong practice more towards the gathering of Qi and circulation of Qi. I decided to omit the quiet sitting meditation for the mornings, and save that for later on during the day or towards the evening.

So what I did differently during my "Breathing the Mile" (400 deep breaths) exercises was breath even deeper and faster, while holding my palms on my navel, right palm over left. The previous days, I had my arms in a sort of circle, as if holding a beach ball to my lower abdomen, while expanding/contracting my arms with every inhale/exhale.

So with the new hand positions, together with the faster/deeper breathing techniques, I felt yet an even bigger change from yesterday. By the time I was done with that segment, my whole body was vibrating, particularly my upper body and my arms/hands. Very interesting and pleasant. I felt as if my body were vibrating with pure energy.

Afterwards, I did my Microcosmic Orbit. Today, I decided to do this sitting on the edge of my couch, take nine deep breaths, holding my breath on the nine breath while leading the Qi to my navel, exhaling, then doing nine rotations of the Microcosmic Orbit. I did this nine times. By the time I was done with that, my energy level was still high.

After that, I did the Tai Chi Yang 24 form once, then did some light cardio and yoga for a few minutes.

So in summary:

1. Tree Pose - meditation on deep rooting
2. Gathering Qi - 400 deep breaths in to lower dantien (around/just below the navel)
3. Microcosmic Orbit (Small Circulation) - 9 deep breaths and 9 rotations for 9 sets
4. Taijiquan - Tai Chi 24 Posture Yang Form
5. Light cardio
6. Yoga - basic sun salutations

I feel good, so far even better than the first day.