Yin and Yang

The words yin and yang come from Taoist philosophy which maintains that the physical world arose from the polarisation of the primordial oneness. The original text is the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, which is thought to have been written nearly 5,000 years ago. According to this account, the earth was created by a concentration of yin and the heavens by a concentration of yang.

The yin/yang symbol encapsulates the creation of a polarity within the whole with the yin represented as being black with a white dot in it and yang as being white with the black dot in it. Literally translated the term yin means 'shady place' or 'north slope', whereas yang means 'sunny place' or 'south slope'. This is likened to the sun moving across a mountain illuminating that which was in shadow, and obscuring that which was previously revealed. So there is a dynamic interplay of the two principles as they constantly transform into one another.

Water is associated with yin and fire with yang. The air is created by yang and the senses by yin. The physical body is nourished via its senses, and the spirit is nourished by air. When the physical body dies, the spirit is said to be restored to the air which is its natural environment. 

Yin and yang are represented within the body too and it is a fundamental disturbance of this balance that is thought to lead to ill health in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Diseases of excess yin are considered to be epidemic in our modern world and include the fatiguing syndromes.

Imbalances of yin and yang can be brought about as a result of emotions, exposure to heat or cold, diet, exercise and other influences. Any kind of extreme upets the balance, and the extreme emotions of joy and anger are considered to be as injurious to the spirit as cold and heat are to the body. Violent anger for example is said to deplete yin and violent joy to deplete yang.

 

Yin and yang qualities

These concepts can seem quite alien to the Western mind, but the dynamic interplay of complementary opposites creates our entire experience. The general qualities associated with yin and yang are listed below.

 

 

'Yin' diseases

The conditions resulting from excessive yin include:

• Degenerative diseases and diseases associated with ageing including arthritis, blood cancers, diabetes, and most heart disease
• The 'diseases of civilisation' including exhaustion, fatigue and burnout
• Mental illness including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and suicidal tendencies
• Disorders associated with a slow metabolism with low thyroid and adrenal activity and low hormone levels in general
• A tendency toward feeling cold, weak, tired, and being sickly 
• A predisposition towards yeast, viral and parasitic infections
• Poor mental clarity, muddled thinking, poor memory, brain fog, attention deficit disorders, and autism
• Female problems including premenstrual syndrome, infertility, endometriosis, and amenorrhea
• Impotence and/or erectile dysfunction in men. 

 

That is, most of the symptoms of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and autoimmune diseases. 

 

'Yang' diseases

Whereas the conditions associated with excessive yang include:

• Problems related to high levels of adrenal and thyroid gland function and sex hormones
• Any 'hot' conditions like fevers, hot flushes, and inflammatory conditions
• High blood pressure, some heart disease, and some cases of tachycardia (racing heart beat)
• A tendency towards headaches
• Anger, rage, bad temper, bullying behaviours, aggression, arrogance, and paranoia
• Stress, tension, and difficulty relaxing 
• A decreased lifespan and
• The formation of solid cancerous tumours

 

These are the diseases that in the West we would most associate with the driven, Type A male.

 

Factors which promote yin

Many of the foods that are associated with promoting excess yin are those that are currently promoted in the Western world as being healthy. Yin creating foods include:

• Sugar in all its forms, both natural in fruit and fruit juices, honey, agave and maple syrups, etc and refined sugar added to any sweetened item
• Artificial sweeteners 
• Vegetarian or mostly vegetarian diets
• High raw food diets 
• Soaking and sprouting grains  
• Fruits are actually the expanded ovary of the plant and contain seeds. Any 'vegetable' containing seeds such as tomatoes, aubergines (egg plant), cucumber, squash, and courgette (zucchini) are actually fruits and very yin.
• Fungi and fermented foods such as sauerkraut and vinegar
• Distilled and reverse osmosis filtered water which has been stripped of minerals
• Drinking a lot of dairy or nut, grain or soya milk 
• Refined foods stripped of their nutrients. The more refined they are, the more yin they become. 
• Smoothies, shakes and all juices 
• Food additives and preservatives and
• Canned and frozen foods. 

 

Other factors which promote yin include: 

• Surgery and radiation therapy 
• Dental amalgam fillings and root canal filled teeth
• Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and electromagnetic stress
• Drinking alcohol
• Smoking
• The use of recreational and most prescription drugs
• Drinking excessive amounts of water
• Victim thinking
• Vitamin and mineral supplements, herbs and supplements derived from microorganisms
• Any synthetic chemicals
• Inadequate sleep or rest
• No or little exercise 
• Excessive stress 
• Winter or cold climates 
• Meditation, visualisation, imagery and prayer 
• Cool baths and Epsom salt baths
• Colonic irrigation
• Homeopathy
• Any kind of therapy using electrical machines

 

Factors which promote yang

Yang creating foods include: 

• Animal derived foods such as eggs, meat, and dairy   
• Sea salt
• Cooked vegetables especially root vegetables  
• Mineral water
• Whole foods and
• Dried foods.

 

Cooked grains and beans, poultry and fish are considered mostly to be neutral.

Other factors which promote yang include: 

• Dry saunas, sweating, hot baths, and near infrared lamp sauna therapy 
• The use of heating herbs like ginger and burdock
• Coffee enemas
• Fasting   
• Therapies which energise the system such as chiropractic manipulation, acupuncture, acupressure, massage and body work
• Rest and sleep
• Good stress or 'eustress'
• Animal glandular and mineral supplements
• Exercise which builds muscle   
• Hot climates and summer

 

Cold climates are more yin, while hotter climates are more yang. This explains why the Innuit can thrive on a diet almost totally based upon animal products (a yang diet) in a predominantly yin environment and why people living in tropical climates do better on a diet of fruit and more raw foods (a yin diet).

This is also true of altitude where a higher altitude is more yang, and a lower altitude is more yin. So that California is quite yin, whereas Tibet is Yang. This also explains why many fatigue sufferers may feel so much better in the summer or while on a sunny holiday, simply because their system is being energised by the sun.

By the age of forty, the yin in the body has reduced to about half its natural vigour and by fifty, the body has grown heavy and the senses of hearing and sight are often compromised. By sixty the life producing power of yin has declined to a very low level and impotence may occur in men around this age as a consequence.

The increase in yang and decline in yin in women associated with the menopause often heralds a time when they become more assertive and independent. Conversely, a decline in yang and increase in yin in men in late middle age, can bring a time when they become less aggressive and driven and yield to gentler pursuits like gardening and playing with grandchildren.  

 

Recovering from excess Yin

In order to redress diseases caused by excess yin, it might be worth reducing the amount of yin promoting foods and other factors and trying to energise the body by consuming more yang creating foods and engaging in more yang promoting activities as listed above. 

Recovering from diseases associated with excess yin can be trying and often involves episodes of anxiety as the body becomes more yang. This may be marked by displays of anger, becoming more assertive or simply developing a greater awareness of the truth of a situation. 

Also, as the body becomes more vigorous it can heal old illnesses and injuries much faster and process emotional traumas more efficiently. This can cause healing crises that may be quite distressing and vigorous and may make the individual affected feel a little unbalanced as they can be up one day and down the next. The episodes of anxiety experienced may also be caused by the very real psychological effects of eliminating a variety of toxic metals such as copper, cadmium, lead or mercury.