It’s often difficult to actually see this harmony on a smaller scale, in the world around us, for instance. Yin and Yang are the two energies that embody Universal law, which ensures that all things remain in harmony. Yes, there is ceaseless change, yet this movement and flux, at its deepest level, is creating harmony, is perfect harmony. Theories are interesting, but unless they have some meaning to your own experience, what’s the point?įirst, the theory of Yin-Yang tells us that at the macro level-the largest scale imaginable-all things are always balancing and rebalancing into a state of perfect harmony. You might be wondering how Yin and Yang apply to you and your life, and to any health issues you might have. How Yin and Yang Apply to You and Your Life This is precisely the state TCM seeks to create that of balance.Ĥ.

Your body, mind, emotions, and spirit can adjust and readjust to the circumstances in your life. In terms of your personal health, if you think of how you feel when you feel really well, you might realize you don’t think of wellness at all! Everything in your life just flows and moves seamlessly-in harmony. You can also see this perpetual balancing at work in a shorter time frame when a thunderstorm clears the air of an unusually hot and humid summer day. In the natural world this phenomenon is seen in the changing of the seasons: the cold of winter yields to the warmth of spring and summer heat, and then gradually turns cool in fall to become winter once again. This means there’s a dynamic flow happening that automatically and continuously balances and rebalances these energies. In a relationship of harmony, the two energies blend into one seamless whole, as perfectly embodied by the swirling Yin-Yang symbol. When two things are balanced, they are equal but still separate. So there is balance, but the relationship goes beyond balance to one of harmony. It can do this because Yang is present in Yin. The truth is Yin can transform into Yang under certain conditions. There is Yin, but interestingly, Yin is also Yang because it contains some Yang. In the Chinese Yin-Yang model, Yin (the black) contains a seed of Yang (in the form of a white dot). For example, day is Yang, yet within every day is a Yang part-the early morning, and a Yin part-late day, as it begins to turn to night, which is Yin. The designation of something as Yin or Yang is always relative to some other thing. No matter where you bisect the diameter of the whole circle, each half will always contain some Yin and some Yang. The small dots within each of the two energies (represented by black and white) symbolize that there is always some Yin (black) within Yang (white) and vice versa. This inseparable and interpenetrating relationship is reflected in the form of the Yin-Yang symbol. Both create a totality, a complete whole. (Night is Yin and day is Yang.) Night looks and is very different than day, yet it is impossible to have one without the other. For example, night and day form a Yin-Yang pair. Yin and Yang cannot exist without the other they are never separate. What does this really mean? Although they are totally different-opposite-in their individual qualities and nature, they are interdependent. They are two opposite yet complementary energies. What Yin-Yang points to and represents is so vast it encompasses everything in the Universe.Įverything contains Yin and Yang. Like Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc2, the Yin-Yang symbol describes something very elemental and incredibly complex.

As far as symbols go, it just doesn’t get more fundamental than Yin-Yang. This symbol, which most people have seen in a variety of contexts, pares things down to one clear and elegant image.

Yin and yang theory acupuncture