Yin-Yang Balance & You
Achieving yin-yang balance helps you to stay healthy, happy and fulfilled.
The state of life is illustrated by the yin-yang symbol; known also as the tai chi symbol.
Before talking about yin-yang balance, let's find out what yin and yang mean.
Yin and yang are two sides of dualism. It is the tail and the head of a coin. The tail is yin, then the head is yang. They exist alongside one another. The head cannot exist without the tail, and the tail cannot exist without the head.
Everything in this world is a dualism. In it, you can always find yin and yang.
The earth we live on is yin, and the sun that brings us warmth is yang. A woman is yin, and a man is yang. Sadness is yin, while joyfulness is yang.
Generally, yin is passive, oppressed and feminine. Yang, on the other hand, is active, bright and masculine.
Managing yin yang is something that we have to do all the time.
Knowing how the yin and yang energies can be altered helps us to have a better control of reality.
By altering the yin-yang relationship, you can make the energy towards your advantage, or strike a new balance that are often helpful to all parties involved.
Let’s look at an example. Imagine that you are in a heated argument.
In most cases, we tend to become agitated when the other party begins to argue. This is quite natural. Unfortunately, the heated energy is yang. When you respond with agitation, it is also yang, and the whole situation will get off-balance.
Try doing something to avert the ‘yang-yang’ imbalance, and achieve the yin-yang balance.
Instead of rebuttal, stay silent for a moment.
See what happens! You are now introducing to the energy field a noticeable level of yin energy. In other words, you are now altering the state of the energy field by lowering the yang energy.
If probably managed, a result can be an amicable yin and yang balance, which is beneficial to both parties.
This is like what Lao Tzu depicts in Tao Te King:
“Tao engenders One;
One engenders Two;
Two engenders Three;
Three engenders all things.
All things carry the yin (femininity)
while embrace the yang (masculinity).
Neutralising energy brings them into harmony.”Tao Te Ching Quotes (42)
In this case, Tao is one. The heated argument and silence are duality of the situation, which are two. When they interact in the way that you manage, it emerges the new yin-yang situation, which is known as three. The three could be off balance. But if you can neutralise the two energies, you bring in the yin-yang balance, which is the harmony.
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Yin-Yang Symbol
The yin and yang symbol, as shown on the left, is known also as the symbol of 'Tai Chi' -- the Chinese word that literally means 'ultimate potentiality'.
The symbol illustrates a state of yin-yang balance, which can be found in all existence, from natural phenomena, social order, to functions of our body.
The symbol is in the shape of a circle and consists of two colors. The black color represents the yin energy, and the white color represents the yang. They are opposing qualities of dualism.
In the circle, there are two fish-like features. The black fish is yin, and the white fish is yang.
There is a black dot that looks like an eye of the white fish. Similarly, there is a white dot as if an eye of the black fish. Walking through the diameter of the circle, you will not experience pure black or pure white. There is always some black and some white.
This means that yin and yang are rooted in one another. You find yin in yang, and yang in yin. This is, in fact, a reality of life. In life, you hardly find a situation which is pure yin or pure yang. There are seeds of sadness in happiness; and opportunities in every risk.
Yin and yang wax and wane; and can be mutually transformed.
Note that the yin-yang symbol is rounded. This gives a sense of continual movement and interaction of the two energies. Although opposing, they are complementary and interchangeable. Yin can turn into yang and yang turns into yin, causing a new state of yin-yang relationship to establish.
A challenge for us in life is to balance the yin and yang in things we do. The better we are in finding the equilibrium, the more effective we can be. This is like the sage Lao Tzu describes:
“The Sage who is
Forthright but not hurting;
Sharp but not wounding,
Candid but not being crude;
Shining but not dazzling." (58)
Click here to read about other key Tao concepts.
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