Tag: #yinyang

Yin & Yang Theory

by mandersonacu, posted in Acupuncture, Eastern Medicine, Theory, Yin & Yang

Oh to explain the nature of yin and yang! I have only just learned the theory behind yin and yang and although I had an inkling of what it meant I had no idea the vastness and profoundness of this theory. It is one of the fundamental theories in Eastern medicine  and is a unique way of viewing the world and the greater universe.

In essence Yin and Yang are opposites, but they contain the seed of the other, mutually consume one another, and thus can turn in to the other. It is a dynamic relationship where one does not exist without the other. For example, how does light exist without there being darkness? How can you recognize something good without knowing the bad? You can’t.
You can identify one thing as Yin and one thing a Yang, but when you take that singular thing that you may have identified as being Yang you can divide it into further yin or yang aspects, and  divide it again, and again, until there is nothing left. Yin and Yang exist everywhere and in everything, always existing, always changing, always flowing. The key to this theory is knowing that there can be a balance, and the goal is to achieve that balance and stay as close as you can to that balance. Life is dynamic and ever-changing, yin yang is about finding the balance and harmony to it.
Yin Yang theory is used to explain the opposite but complementary relationships between two objects or the opposite but complementary characteristics of one object.  For example yang is day, yin is night, yang is fast, yin is slow. This concept is employed by practitioners in Chinese Medicine. Since all things can by reduced to  Yin-yang, so can diseases and manifestations of the body.

All physiological signs and symptoms can be rimageseduced to Yin and Yang and thus the underlying treatment in Chinese Medicine aims to:

  • Tonify Yang
  • Tonify Yin
  • Disperse excess Yang
  • Disperse excess Yin

Now this a very, very rough understanding and description I have given of this theory but I hope it enlightens you and has sparked your interest in Eastern Medicine and theory.