Day 12 of 21 Days without Food.

You can lose weight just by breathing with the method of Qigong that we’re going to discuss today called “Bigu Breathing.”

One of the techniques that’s made fasting incredibly easier for me is the bigu breathing technique that is covered in the book we’re following along with in this 21 day fasting case study, “Qigong for Weight Loss.” 

The word Bigu refers to the process of living off of Qi in Chinese. The word literally means “without rice.” Symbolically it means to live without food since rice is such a staple food in China. 

On day #6, I showed you a practice of dantian breathing. Although it’s not a prerequisite for bigu breathing, it is a nice warmup or related technique that is good to learn in addition to bigu breathing.

In today’s video I demonstrate how to practice bigu breathing (be sure to watch the video).

This breathing technique is easy enough for anyone to perform. It doesn’t require any prior experience of skill with Qigong. Physically, it is a simple process. Many people think Qigong consists entirely of standing forms as in Tai Chi. 

Qigong applies to working with energy, and working with the breath certainly qualifies!

This technique seems so simple that you may question the benefits of doing it. The benefits are a little more subtle, however they should be noticeable. 

For anyone that’s trying to lose weight, a key benefit of this technique is it’s reduction of hunger. Practicing bigu breathing for 15 minutes a day (or adding (2) 15 minute sessions if you’re more committed to losing weight) will help to reduce your appetite. 

This is an effective practice to help you want to eat less. You may find yourself losing weight naturally, even without trying to eat less. A good time to practice bigu breathing is an hour before a meal. You can also practice this at any time during the day.

Another benefit of this breathing technique is that it brings blood to your face and hides any “bags” that may typically form underneath your eyes while losing weight rapidly or during fasting. Your eyes won’t have the normal dark circles that you may expect.

A woman that I worked with had some extra food and asked me if I wanted any. I politely declined a few times and then I told her that I’m fasting for 21 days and hadn’t eaten in 11 days. She said “Wow! You don’t look like you’re fasting, I don’t see any bags under your eyes.”

That’s because I’ve been practicing bigu breathing daily. 

You’re also drawing in some energy with this technique. This technique doesn’t generate as much energy as other forms of Qigong. This practice alone is helpful. This practice is meant to be combined with other Qigong methods for gathering energy. 

There are a handful of effective energy gathering techniques designed for losing weight in the book “Qigong for Weight Loss.” You can also learn the complete bigu breathing technique in the book! I also highly recommend that you combine bigu breathing with a daily Qigong practice that will generate energy, build your Qi flow and increase your overall well being. 

I also publish a free course called “Discovering Qi,” that you can do daily for the rest of your life and receive all of the wonderful benefits of Qigong. If you haven’t already done so, go register for free here so you can learn this valuable life-transforming practice.

Day 12 happened on April 3rd, 2020. Today I slept a little more to catch up from the bust week mentally. I didn't drank much water as my thirst has largely went away (I'm only drinking when I'm thirsty).

Here’s what I did during day 12:

I’ve been putting a lot of effort in building this website and creating new blog posts every day while fasting. It’s been a great experience. I’ve had high energy the majority of the time. Today I felt like getting more rest, so I slept more than I have since the beginning of the fast. 

Once or twice a month I will typically sleep for about 10 hours to mentally rest when I’ve been working at this pace. I’ve been working 2-3 times as hard as when I wasn’t fasting. Combining fasting with Qigong has given me the stamina to work at this pace, which I typically would struggle with. I’m feeling great & it’s nice to start to see a blog with a wealth of information that will grow substantially in the next few months as more Qigong lessons, practices, courses and wisdom are shared.

I’m always interested in hearing about your journey. What is your experience so far with this information? I’d love to hear your questions, comments and thoughts!