WHAT ARE Yin & Yang?
What are Yin and Yang?
Yin and Yang are two poles which complement each other. The symbol for the harmonious relationship of these two poles (image on the left) is called T'ai Chi (Taiji).
Yin and Yang are not forces or entities, but labels that are used to describe how things function in relation to each other. Dark is Yin, light is Yang; down is Yin, up is Yang; tranquility is Yin, activity is Yang; completion is Yin, beginning is Yang. The belly is Yin to the head which is Yang. Feet are Yin in relation to the belly which would be Yang in relation to the feet. Yin and Yang are literally the shady and sunny side of the slope, respectively.
Yin and Yang have five aspects:
1) All things have two facets: a Yin aspect and a Yang aspect.
2) Any Yin or Yang aspect can be further divided into Yin and Yang.
3) Yin and Yang mutually create each other.
4) Yin and Yang control each other.
5) Yin and Yang transform into each other.
Breathing is a perfect example of how Yin and Yang transform into each other. Inhalation cycles into exhalation and exhalation cycles into inhalation. There is no beginning or end, only flow and relationship.
Taoist practice and Traditional Chinese Medicine are based on the interplay of Yin and Yang. Our discipline, the practices of T'ai Chi (Taiji) and Ch'i Gong (Qigong), is intended to harmonize the Yin and Yang elements both within our bodies and in our daily lives.
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- BERTOLT BRECHT
We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about.
- Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
Yin and Yang are two poles which complement each other. The symbol for the harmonious relationship of these two poles (image on the left) is called T'ai Chi (Taiji).
Yin and Yang are not forces or entities, but labels that are used to describe how things function in relation to each other. Dark is Yin, light is Yang; down is Yin, up is Yang; tranquility is Yin, activity is Yang; completion is Yin, beginning is Yang. The belly is Yin to the head which is Yang. Feet are Yin in relation to the belly which would be Yang in relation to the feet. Yin and Yang are literally the shady and sunny side of the slope, respectively.
Yin and Yang have five aspects:
1) All things have two facets: a Yin aspect and a Yang aspect.
2) Any Yin or Yang aspect can be further divided into Yin and Yang.
3) Yin and Yang mutually create each other.
4) Yin and Yang control each other.
5) Yin and Yang transform into each other.
Breathing is a perfect example of how Yin and Yang transform into each other. Inhalation cycles into exhalation and exhalation cycles into inhalation. There is no beginning or end, only flow and relationship.
Taoist practice and Traditional Chinese Medicine are based on the interplay of Yin and Yang. Our discipline, the practices of T'ai Chi (Taiji) and Ch'i Gong (Qigong), is intended to harmonize the Yin and Yang elements both within our bodies and in our daily lives.
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- BERTOLT BRECHT
We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about.
- Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth