I have to say I’m a big fan of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It helps explains so many things spiritually speaking and resonates so beautifully with the human body that it is nothing short of miraculous.
Many holistic health practitioners look to traditional Chinese medicine for insight on how to balance the body’s energy. One key component of this practice is the concept of yin and yang, which refers to two opposing forces that are in constant flux within the human body. This concept is central to traditional Chinese medicine, as both yin and yang must be balanced for optimal health. Let’s take a closer look at the relationship between yin and yang in this ancient practice.
In TCM, the yin and yang are two opposing forces that exist in a harmonious balance. These two forces have been studied for centuries and have become a foundational component of traditional Chinese medical practices. To understand how the yin and yang interact with one another, it is essential first to understand their individual meanings.
What is Yin – Feminine?
Yin is the darker, cooler, more internal force that is associated with death, darkness, passivity, and femininity. It corresponds to night time, wintertime, water, relaxation, softness and restful activities. In the body it relates to bones, muscles, connective tissue and joints as well as the organs associated with digestion and elimination. The energy of yin helps support physical activity by providing energy for nourishing cells. It also helps maintain stability during periods of stress or illness.
What is Yang – Masculine?
Yang is the brighter, warmer force that is associated with life and growth. It corresponds to daytime, summertime, fire and active pursuits like exercise or sports activities. In the body it relates to physical strength and endurance as well as organs associated with metabolism such as liver or heart function. The energy of yang helps promote physical activity by providing energy for movement and action. It also helps maintain vitality during strenuous activities or stressful situations.
The Relationship Between Yin and Yang Masculine and Feminine
The relationship between these two forces can be seen in different aspects of nature – from day turning into night or summer turning into winter – but it also applies to our bodies as well.
In traditional Chinese medicine, both yin and yang must be present for optimal health. The key is finding the correct balance between these two opposing forces; too much of either can lead to physical and mental disharmony. For example, if there is too much warmth (yang) in the body then it can lead to inflammation or agitation; if there too much coolness (yin) then it can lead to lethargy or apathy.
Finding the right balance between these energies allows one to achieve a sense of equilibrium within their mind-body connection.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yin and Yang are seen as interdependent forces that must be kept in balance in order for us to remain healthy both physically and mentally. When there is an imbalance between yin and yang – either too much of one or not enough of the other – then our health can suffer as a result.
To maintain good health we must strive for a balance between these two energies within ourselves on a daily basis through diet, exercise, lifestyle choices, etc.
This helps keep our bodies in harmony so that we can stay healthy both inside and out!
What this all means for us spiritual beings
The ultimate goal of having this human experience is to someday remember that we are magnificent spirits inhabiting these bodies and doing these physical things.
Some fears are a little more evident than others. You may indeed outgrow some of your activities and some of your relationships. A fear that is usually more well hidden is the fear of what opening to more light might also open you up to. We all, at some point or another, have to deal with the fear that comes with spiritual growth.
This is a life of yin and yang, dark and light, exploring opposites. To maintain cosmic balance, awareness of more light also means awareness of more darkness. Darkness, unexplored, can seem negative, nasty, evil and scary. Even as little children, many of us had nightmares of monsters and needed a nightlight on. Many have an inherent subconscious fear of the dark.
Think of it this way. As a teenager, you couldn’t wait to drive the car. Without proper instruction, that could be downright dangerous. You needed to know the rules, the techniques, and what to do in an emergency. Then you needed to practice under supervision. Or think of fire. We keep children away from stoves and matches until they know the safety rules.
Yin and yang – good and bad – benefits and drawbacks – they always come together. Spiritual growth is no different. We each have an unconscious and subconscious knowledge of what bringing more light into our lives will mean. It means we have to acknowledge the presence of evil among us. It means we have to learn to deal with evil and darkness, not go into fear in the face of it.
Just as we have to put on heavy clothes in the winter to keep us safe from the cold, we have to learn to put on our spiritual protection before we go out into a world of uncertainty where our light is sure to attract attention. If you go out driving a fancy car and wearing an expensive watch and diamonds you can attract the attention of thieves.
Go out with your spiritual light of compassion and generosity shining. You can attract the attention of those who don’t want a fair and compassionate world, but who want to maintain a controlling world.
Please don’t let that stop you!
Enjoy your campfire and your night out on the town. Just maintain a sense of awareness to stay safe. In the same way, be alert to people who would drain your energy or want to trigger your anger or make you go into fear. Those are the tools of the dark side.
Breathe in the gold white light of Spirit and feel yourself surrounded by Divine Presence over and over again. We know we need to keep drinking water throughout the day and keep ourselves hydrated.
In the same way we need to keep ourselves in the awareness of the protection that a cloak of love and light can provide to us. Just as we make an effort to stay away from areas of our city that have a high crime rate, we learn to stay away from people and situations that would direct their negativity to weaken our energy fields.
Please don’t fear your light even though it will illuminate things that were hiding in dark places. You have all the tools you need to succeed and thrive.
Yin and Yang for spirituality
Everything in this life has at least 2 sides – unless its energy is a cube or a hexagon, in which case it has a lot more. Life on planet Earth is a Divine paradox at best. I sat down to write this week’s message about a simple truth – and immediately I was shown the flip side and all the contingencies to that truth. What started out as simple, suddenly became a lot more complicated.
Think about the yin yang symbol if you will. Most people are familiar with it. There is black curving into white and the white curving back into the black. Within the black there is a center of white. Within the white there is a center of black. Together they are complete. They are not in competition with each other – on the contrary, they complement each other.
The yin yang, concept and symbol, has its roots in the Chinese I-Ching – the greatest foundation of Chinese philosophy. It is based of the principle of things remaining constant though always changing – and so the change is always rebalancing to remain constant. Everything is always changing and reworking to maintain that balance, including you and me. Night blends into day and day back into night. The yin and the yang stand for such characteristics of day and night, earth and sky, hot and cold, within and without, male and female.
Some yin characteristics are the moon and the night and going within. Some yang characteristics are the sun and the day and expanding outward. We have extended these characteristics to male and female and rightly so. You are born with certain tendencies toward certain traits for a reason – to maintain the balance and add to the completeness. A world with only women, 0r a world with only men would hardly work. We can only bring out our true full natures when we work in harmony and cooperatively, with mutual respect and appreciation.
Our world has gone through periods of time when males ruled – and action and intellect dominated -and the result was an imbalance – too much yang – and so we often went to war and forgot to be kind and promoted a ‘get ahead at any cost’ philosophy. Too much yang can do that. Although in places like America the balance is coming into play, more and more, there are still parts of the world and the mid-east where male dominance and yang energy are causing chaos and we all know it.
Too much yin energy although it is loving and kind and heart-centered, too much yin energy can cause the opposite – too much introspection and living with one’s head in the clouds will hardly ever get things done. The cartoon concept of the weak woman, who can never figure anything out and always needs a man to take care of her, is a familiar thought form.
So what do we need? To look at that symbol again and understand it – really understand it. Within the yang – the male, the day, the heat, the forcefulness, the ambition, and the energy, is the center of yin.
Within the yin – the female, the night, the coolness, the introspection, the kindness, softness, love, and compassion is the center of the yang.
The strongest and most honorable men are the ones who can easily demonstrate their kindness and their, caring and their compassion. The kindest and most honorable women are those who demonstrate inner strength and a spirit that is willing to work tirelessly to achieve what is right.
In the future, the most honorable people will be those that have all those wonderful qualities to bring forth whenever they need them – be it strength and honesty and forcefulness, or love and compassion and kindness.
Then perhaps we will not automatically assume that we know what a man or woman can offer before we get to know them individually. Perhaps we can honor, respect and understand one another as we understand the yin yang symbol: always changing, always striving for balance, always complementing and completing.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine when we have a fever, we have too much yang energy. We introduce yin in the form of cool cloths and drinks to restore the balance.
If we are suffering from hypothermia we have way too much yin, and we need to receive yang energy and be warmed up by all means possible to become healthy again.
As so it comes down to us, as it always does.
How are you doing?
Are you balanced?
Are you seeing all sides?
Are you incorporating what you lack, and are you discarding whatever you carry too much of?
Do you honor and respect those whose energies complement yours?
Are you honoring yourself for what you are and for what you carry within that you are capable of?
Do you realize that when you look at someone who seems completely different from yourself, they are mirroring something that is inside of you?
If you take anything at all away from this writing, I hope you realize that there is no absolute on this planet, and perhaps even in this particular universe. However, there is a need to attain balance and then keep maintaining balance if we are to be healthy. Our yin selves need to contain healthy yang. Our yang selves need to contain a healthy yin. If you are being too forceful or overbearing, you need to rethink and add some compassion and understanding to your day. If you are being too submissive or easygoing to the point of being taken advantage of, you must assert yourself.
Imagine you are writing a story about the benefits of carrots, and you title the book “Carrots are Good for You”. That’s usually right. They are packed with nutrition. But immediately, your attention is drawn to someone with a severe carrot allergy, and then you are shown a field of toxic soil where the carrots grown there will make you sick. Not so simple anymore. Your book can’t have just one chapter.
Life is like that. You don’t have just one chapter. Neither does anybody else. We are all striving for balance, and in that individual balance, our world will come into balance and be healed.
That all healing comes from within. And that’s true. It does. Your healing is wholly and ultimately your responsibility.
But when we pray for healing to the Divine, doesn’t ‘He’ answer? Yes, ‘He’ does. And what about our Angels and healing teams on the other side? Don’t they count? Yes, they absolutely do. And what happens when we seek out a healer here on earth? Aren’t they a valuable and necessary conduit to our healings?
Yes, they are often indispensable. So are the medications and herbs that may be recommended.
So, healing not only comes from within but from without? Yes, I guess you could say that. But you can only say that if you are open and receptive and willing to attune to that which comes to you. And you can only attune to that which comes to you by acknowledging and using that which is already within. So all healing comes from within.
Conclusion:
In traditional Chinese medicine the relationship between yin & yang is fundamental – they are seen as two opposite yet complementary forces that work together in harmony to maintain balance within our bodies & minds. This balance is essential for good health & wellbeing so it’s important to strive for this equilibrium on a daily basis through diet & lifestyle choices etc.. By understanding this relationship we can better appreciate how integral this concept is when it comes to holistic healing & using Chinese medicine techniques for optimal health!
The concept of yin and yang plays a vital role in traditional Chinese medicine. It provides guidance on how we should live our lives so that our bodies remain balanced – both physically and emotionally – by achieving harmony between our inner masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) energies. While each person will have different needs when it comes to balancing these energies within themselves, understanding the basic principles behind this ancient practice can help you make informed decisions about your own health journey!
Food for thought on many levels? I hope so.
Many blessings, Elaine
