2024 Fast Day Two

 Saturday, 6 April 2024

Only two main topics for today, as it was busy but also just the first day of the rather symmetrical next four - wake up to dawn chorus of songbirds (whew!), meditate or exercise according to what's on the BW schedule, vegetable consommé for lunch at noon, wonderful nappy time with (no kidding) hot water bottle swaddled up against one's right side to stimulate liver action, group hike in selected (and gorgeous) scenic spot in the neighbourhood, time for relaxing until 6pm dinner (more consommé) and then some kind of optional evening program (we, as usual, played some raucous bridge with friends).

That's pretty much it until we break our fast this coming Friday night when everything is the same except that we'll have small calories but significant amounts of all vegetarian and chewing-required (it's kind of a thrill) food for that dinner and then the last day before leaving Sunday.

The gang is usually pretty good sized

So today only two highlights, in reverse order. First the afternoon walk, where I went sans partner as she was busy with a wonderful therapeutic Thai traditional massage (I think I forgot to mention treatments above, whoops) along the lakeside of the Bodensee, ending up at Basilica Birnau. It was gloriously sunny and something like 26C (I won't translate that to Fahrenheit for folks like brother Danny Granholm who I know was still suffering under the snows of an early April nor'easter).

And you don't want to miss the bus because it is Germany, after all - 2:30 means 2:30, and a couple of minutes late means you've got a lot more time to spend by the pool. Invariably, you'll have three groups (again, superbly structured and managed!) for A, B and C levels. Those who know me might be surprised I've been opting for B, which is a pleasant walking pace but nothing like the 7-8km/hour forced march of the Type A achievers in the first group.

I don't think it's senescence, or even decline - for the one, I'm kinda on vacation here and for the two, it was only second day of fasting and we haven't hit that magic ketosis point where surplus energy from burning fat seems almost infinite. Hoping for that tomorrow!

All kinds of sights including the above nature (cherry trees in full bloom now, and beaver-downed tree too - zoom in for the undeniable CSI evidence) and then the gorgeous (and oh my word, so well endowed - no time for politics or sociology here but where does all the gold and treasure spring from?) church right on the shore of the lake.

The other big note was the morning activities - we got to participate in a couple of Qi Gong lessons with the wonderfully joyous and knowledgeable Phillip Hagenmayer and both Vicky and I found more than woo-woo hypotheses in the exercises. For me, the parallels to yoga were very strong - although in this case, the basic (Phillip called it Level One) move of Qi Gong was very much a subtle cat-cow flexion of the sacrum to start, but of course in a standing position.

The feeling of heat - and therefore, one has to suppose, energy - flowing up our backs and down our fronts again with the motion of our arms was far too strong to miss, and even if it is a form of group suggestibility or even self-hypnosis, well, this placebo effect is working on me. We'll try to catch all of the remaining sessions over the next week.

Stats:
BP: 120/73
Kg: 76.3
HR: 43

Easter egg for the diligent:

After the walk, found Vicky up on the terrace