What is Yin/Yang? Which one am I?

What is Yin-Yang in Chinese Medicine?

The Yin-Yang symbol is widely recognised in Traditional Chinese Medicine, but what does it actually mean?

Yin and Yang are opposing forces in the body that are mutually dependent. They must be in balance for good health.

Yin embodies feminine qualities and Yang embodies masculine qualities.

For example Yin represents: darkness, the moon, earth, cold ...while Yang represents the counterpart of these: light, the sun, the sky, heat.

Both are equally important. The symbol itself is called TAI GI, translated as 'Supreme Ultimate'.

The white teardrop is Yang, the black teardrop is Yin. The small circle inside each of them shows that the seed of Yin lies within Yang and the seed of Yang dwells within Yin. Neither one is 100% Yin or Yang.

Although they are opposites, the symbol shows how they complement each other and form a single perfect unity.

Yang turns into Yin and Yin into Yang - just like day becomes night and night becomes day, naturally.

Q: How does this concept of Yin-Yang relate to health?

A: Naturally males tend to be more Yang with typical Yang qualities such as:

Hotter temperature

Stronger physically

More aggressive

More active

Prefers outdoors

Females tend to be more Yin with traits such as:

Cooler temperature

Physically softer and weaker

More passive

More nurturing

Prefers indoors

When either Yin or Yang is present in excess in the body, the opposite trait becomes deficient. For example an excess of Yang produces too much heat in the body - there is a deficiency of cooling Yin. The patient may suffer from conditions such as gastric reflux or stomach ulcers. In Chinese Medicine we would call this 'excessive stomach heat or fire' i.e. Too much Yang! So the concept of Yin-Yang is essential to the diagnosis and treatment of conditions in Traditional Chinese Medicine.