December 7, 2009 in Wellness by empoweringwellness

Creating Balance in Your Life – The Ancient Concept of Yin and Yang

Everyday in my practice I work with clients who suffer from anxiety, stress and depression and more. These clients are women who are over burdened with the pressures of balancing career, marriage, relationships, children and family. These burdens lead to a host of physical problems including high blood pressure, sleep disorders and the ever popular, “can you fix the pain in my neck?”

What is most perplexing to me however is that in almost all cases, my clients choose to carry their burden as a “badge of honor,” that can be proudly displayed in front of their friends and family as if to shout, “look at me! Look at how well I am multi-tasking!” They have accepted this situation as normal in their life, and in some cases welcome it in a co-dependent way.

There is a way out however. In order to reduce the level of anxiety, stress and their associated symptoms, we need to look back to the ancient Chinese. My clients are living in a state of imbalance and struggle between the concepts of yin and yang.

The ancient Chinese were keen observers and were greatly interested in the relationships and patterns that occurred in nature. In the West, our scientific method teaches us to deconstruct nature. But the ancient Chinese viewed the world differently. They viewed the world as a harmonious and holistic entity. In their eyes, no single being or form could exist unless it was seen in relation to its surrounding environment.

“The Book of Changes” was written in China in the 3rd century BC and introduces us to the notion of yin and yang. Yin energy represents Mother Earth (think cool, dark). Yin energy is the feminine side of nature; it is quiet, solid and grounded. Yang energy represents the Sun (think bright, hot) and it represents the masculine aspect of nature. Working together and in balance, Yin and Yang’s harmonious balance allows healthy Chi (life energy) to flow in the body and within all life.

In a brilliant article written by Dr. Darryl Pokea titled “Out of Control Yang, The Root of Chaos, Cancer and Dis – Ease”, Pokea states, “In Western Culture, we are currently witnessing the effects of over-intense yang without the necessary proportional balance of yin. . . . In Chinese Medicine, yang that is distorted is considered weak yang because it has little or no healthy yin balance. Such a state is the antithesis of all creation, as Mother Earth itself is considered yin. Chinese Medicine teaches us that to strengthen weak yang, you first strengthen yin and then weak yang, in its interface with healthy strong yin, will in equal proportion become healthy and strong. Likewise, yin’s natural state and flow is also weakened whenever it is not permitted healthy expression in response to weak, out of control, driven yang.”

He goes on to write that many people in the West (and the US in particular) “support and admire those who are out of balance in Yin / Yang identities. Weak Yang may be viewed in those who have a fierce, self-centered illusion of independence without regard to others.”

I see this situation all of the time in my practice. In the case of my clients, imbalance of yang not manifested in abuse of power, but it is manifested in the abuse of the body. I have so many women who come to see me who have made a conscious decision to not slow down, to fill every waking moment of their life with activity, to over-exercise and within their careers to adopt yang-like emotions in an effort to make themselves appear strong. As Pokea writes, “such a state is the antithesis to all creation as Mother Earth is considered yin. In the end, true strength comes from a balance between yin and yang.

Chinese Medicine teaches that the body relies on the dynamic balance of yin and yang. These two opposing forces drive the functioning of the tissues and organs, Yin is best described as static and at rest while Yang can be described dynamic and active. When the opposing forces of Yin and Yang are balanced in the tissues, organs, and blood, the body will be resistant to disease and will stay healthy.

One of the most important ways to maintain the balance of yin and yang is to take charge of mental activities and learn to relax the mind. Calming the mind is necessary to alleviate pressure, stress and related mental disorders. Other activities, such as acupuncture, acupressure, certain forms of massage, and practices such as yoga can all help the body to adjust itself, increasing what is underactive, and decreasing what is overactive. Physical exercise is also important, but should be combined with mindful meditation to calm the mind.

Chinese medicine teaches us:

Yin contains yang – If we look at the symbol below for yin and yang, notice the white dot within the dark paisley swirl. Even within the darkness of yin, there is found lightness of yang, and vice versa – within yang is always found yin.

- Yin becomes yang – In our own life we often experience both the slow transformations of yin into yang, and yang into yin, and the quick changes. We wake up in the morning; yin becomes yang. Sometimes our awakening is slow, leisurely; this is a slow transformation. Sometimes we wake with a start and jump out of bed, perhaps because we realized we overslept. When we work long hours for many weeks or months in a row (a very yang lifestyle), our body may seek balance by suddenly making us too sick to work (a very yin lifestyle), or it may gift us with a severe headache of case of the flu to slow us down. Yang is quickly transformed into yin.

- Yin controls yang – If we stay too long in an unbalanced situation, the universe acts to restore balance. It throws us to the other side: our health may suffer; our lives may change. If we do not heed the need for balancing yin and yang, this transition can be devastating; a heart attack could be the balancing force applied to us. These imbalances are often referred to as either a “deficiency” or an “excess.” We can have an excess of yin or a yin deficiency; we can have an excess of yang or a yang deficiency. The cure is to apply the opposite energy to control the excess or deficiency.

In the Eastern world of the ancient Chinese, the need for balance is well known, understood and accepted. Sadly, in the West, the concepts of yin and yang are more foreign. We don’t think in these terms and our lifestyles rarely reflect the need for balance. We tend to seek balance only when the universe forces us to pay attention. At the end of the day however, we can make a conscious choice to seek balance. We have free will. The choice is ours.

True strength, comes from a connection to the sacred feminine, which means a balance between yin and yang. Helping my clients see this is one of the goals of my practice, and sometimes it is a hard sell. And true health, begins and ends with a balance between yin and yang.

The ancient Chinese figured it out more than 2000 years ago. We’re just trying to catch up.