Encompassing Everything in the Universe
This symbol, which most people have seen in a variety of contexts, pares things down to one clear and elegant image. As far as symbols go, it just doesn’t get more fundamental than Yin-Yang. Like Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc², the Yin-Yang symbol describes something very elemental and incredibly complex. What Yin-Yang points to and represents is so vast it encompasses everything in the Universe.
Balance and Harmony
In the Chinese Yin-Yang model, Yin (the black) contains a seed of Yang (in the form of a white dot). There is Yin, but interestingly, Yin is also Yang because it contains some Yang. The truth is Yin can transform into Yang under certain conditions. It can do this because Yang is present in Yin. So there is balance, but the relationship goes beyond balance to one of harmony. When two things are balanced, they are equal but still separate. In a relationship of harmony, the two energies blend into one seamless whole, as perfectly embodied by the swirling Yin-Yang symbol.
This means there’s a dynamic flow happening that automatically and continuously balances and re balances these energies. 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. 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 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. Your body, mind, emotions, and spirit can adjust and readjust to the circumstances in your life. This is precisely the state TCM seeks to create; that of balance.
Yin-Yang as two stages of transformation
Yin and Yang stand for two stages in the process of change and transformation of all things in the universe. Everything goes through phases of a cycle, and in so doing, its form also changes. For example, the water in lakes and seas heats up during the day and is transformed in vapour. As the air cools down in the evening, vapour condenses into water again.
Form can be more or less dense material. From this point of view, Yang symbolizes the more immaterial, rarefied state of matter, whereas Yin symbolizes the more material, dense states of matter. To use the same example, water in its liquid state pertains to Yin, and the vapour resulting from heat pertains to Yang. This duality in the state of condensation of things was often symbolized in ancient China by the duality of “Heaven” and “Earth”. “Heaven” symbolized all rarefied, immaterial, pure and gas-like states of things, whereas “Earth” symbolizes all dense, material, course and solid state of things.
The important thing to understand is the two opposite states of condensation or aggregation of things are not independent of each other, but they change into each other. Yin and Yang also symbolize two opposite states of aggregation of things.
In its purest and most rarefied form, Yang is totally immaterial and corresponds to pure energy, and Yin, in its coarsest and densest form, is totally material and corresponds to matter. From this view point, energy and matter are but two states of continuum, with an infinite possible number of states of aggregation. As Yang corresponds to creation and activity, it naturally also corresponds to expansion and it rises. As Yin corresponds to condensation and materialization, it naturally also corresponds to contraction and it descends.
Four Aspects of Yin-Yang Relationship
- The Opposition of Yin and Yang
Yin and Yang are opposite stages either of a cycle or of states of aggregation as explained above. Nothing in the natural world escapes this opposition. It is this very inner contradiction that constitutes the motive force of all the changes, development and decay of things. However, the opposition is relative, not absolute, in so far as nothing is totally Yin or totally Yang. Everything contains the seed of its opposite. Moreover, the opposition of Yin-Yang is relative as the Yin or Yang quality of something is not really intrinsic, but only relative to something else. Thus, strictly speaking , it is wrong to say that something “is Yang” or “is Yin”. Everything only pertains to Yin or Yang in relation to something else. For example, hot pertains to Yang and cold pertains to Yin, so we might say that the climate in Naples is Yang in relation to that in Stockholm, but Yin in relation to that in Algiers.
Although everything contains Yin and Yang, these are never present in a static 50/50 proportion, but in a dynamic and constantly changing balance. For example, the human body’s temperature is nearly constant within a very narrow range. This is not the result of a static situation, but of a dynamic balance of many opposing forces. - Interdependence of Yin and Yang
Although Yin and Yang are opposite, they are also independent: one cannot exist without the other. Everything contains opposite forces which are mutually exclusive, but, at the same time, they depend on each other. Day is opposite to night, there cannot be activity without rest, energy without matter or contraction without expansion. - Mutual Consumption of Yin and Yang
Yin and Yang are in a constant state of dynamic balance, which is maintained by a continuous adjustment of relative levels of Yin and Yang. When either Yin or Yang are out of balance, they necessarily affect each other and change their proportion and so achieve a new balance. Besides the normal state of balance of Yin and Yang, there are four possible states of imbalance: Preponderance of Yin, preponderance of Yang, weakness of Yin, weakness of yang. When Yang is preponderant, it includes a decrease of Yang, i.e. the excess of Yin consumes Yang. When Yang is preponderant, it includes a decrease of Yin, i.e. the excess of Yang consumes Yin.
When Yin is weak, Yang is in apparent excess, and when Yang is weak, Yin is in apparent excess. This is only apparent, as it is only in excess in relation to the deficient quality, not in absolute.
It is important to see the difference between preponderance of Yin and weakness of Yang: these may appear the same, but they are not. It is question of what is primary and what is secondary. In case of preponderance of Yin, this is primary and as a consequence, the excess of Yin consumes the Yang. In case of weakness of Yang, this is primary and, as a consequence, Yin is in apparent excess. It looks like it is in excess, but is only relative to the deficiency of Yang. The same applies to preponderance of Yang and weakness of Yin. - The inter-transformaion of Yin and Yang
Yin and Yang are not static, but they actually transform into each other: Yin can change into Yang and vice versa. This change does not happen at random, but only at certain stage of development of something. Summer changes into Winter, day changes into night, life into death, happiness into unhappiness, heat into cold and vice versa. For example, the great euphoria of a drinking spree is quickly followed the next morning by the depression of a hang-over.
There are two conditions for the transformation of Yin into Yang and vice versa.
a) The first concerns internal conditions. Things can only change through internal causes primarily, and external causes secondarily. Change only takes place when the internal conditions are ripe. For example, an egg changes into a chick with the application of heat only because the egg contains within itself the capacity of turning into a chick. Application of heat to a stone will not produce a chick.
b) The second condition is the time factor. Yin and Yang can only transform into each other at a certain stage of development, when conditions are ripe for the change. In the case of the egg, the chick will only hatch when the time is ripe.
Application of Yin-Yang to Traditional Chinese Medicine
It could be said that the whole of Chinese Medicine, its physiology, pathology, diagnosis and treatment, can all be reduced to the basic and fundamental theory of Yin and Yang. Every physiological process and every symptom or sign can be analysed in the light of the Yin-Yang theory. Ultimately, every treatment modality is aimed at one of four strategies:
To tonify Yang
To tonify Yin
To eliminate Yang
To eliminate Yin
Understanding the application of the theory of Yin-Yang to Chinese medicine, is therefore of supreme importance in practice: one can say that there is no Chinese Medicine without Yin-Yang.
The aim of treatment is to balance the hormones, blood flow and the internal organs to create harmony within the body.
How Yin and Yang Applies to You and Your Life
You might be wondering how Yin and Yang apply to you and your life, and to any health issues you might have. Theories are interesting, but unless they have some meaning to your own experience, what’s the point?
First, the theory of Yin-Yang tells us that at the macro level—the largest scale imaginable—all things are always balancing and re balancing into a state of perfect harmony. Yes, there is ceaseless change, yet this movement and flux, at its deepest level, is creating harmony, is perfect harmony. Yin and Yang are the two energies that embody Universal law, which ensures that all things remain in harmony.
It’s often difficult to actually see this harmony on a smaller scale, in the world around us, for instance. It isn’t always apparent in the world humans have created and especially in our busy, frequently complicated modern lives. But think about it: if you really understand and believe in Yin and Yang, harmony is the Universal architectural framework that underlies and impacts this reality. So in essence, harmony is the only ground we walk on and is the very air we breathe.
How can you apply this awareness to your life? A great part of TCM’s healing approach is to help you step back from your life and look at where your life might actually be creating health issues for you. For most people, this is a process that happens over time. For some, it comes in a moment of great insight. From the TCM perspective, what is the point of continually treating symptoms that are caused by emotions, patterns of thought, belief systems, or a lifestyle that is out of balance? Truly, isn’t it better to understand and work to change the root cause (or causes) of the problem? The entire Universal pattern is one of establishing balance and harmony. This perspective can help you more peacefully view the world and your role in it.
Most people have heard the saying, “As above, so below.” If Universal law is all about creating and maintaining harmony, wouldn’t the limitless power of that energy force support in some way your own efforts to create harmony in your own body and being? As a deep and authentic healing system, TCM understands and applies Yin and Yang to help you harmonize your body, mind, emotions, and spirit, and then harmonize your individual energy with nature.