Yin & Yang
The following is an excerpt from an article in Acupuncture Today written by Acupuncturist Mike
Morgan. The concept of Yin & Yang provides the basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine and will help
you understand the importance of balancing the body.

Going Back to the Theory of Yin and Yang, By Mike Morgan, LAc, Dipl. OM, Dipl. Ac

The realization that everything in the universe is in relationship with everything else is the
expression of the concept "yin and yang." The original characters in Chinese for yin and yang are
characters that mean the shady and sunny sides of the mountain, respectively. The yin and yang
qualities are expressed from the relationship of the mountain and the sun. The shady side of the
mountain (yin) exists because there is a sunny side (yang). There also cannot be a sunny side
without a shady side. This relationship places all things in a great continuum of equilibrium. All
things in the universe strive for balance and stand in relationship to each other. An example can be
seen in the concepts of hot and cold. These concepts can only be understood as a relationship.
Something is hotter than something else, or another thing is colder than something else. These
differences we understand as temperature. Something is hotter or colder by the relationship of
what is around it. Given enough time, these temperatures will eventually balance themselves out.

Holistic medicine is the treatment of disease with the understanding of yin and yang. Put another
way, it is the treatment of disease with the understanding that everything in the body is in
relationship to everything else in and around the body. Holistic medicine understands that one
cannot treat the head, for example, without it affecting the rest of the body.

The human body is a functioning example of yin and yang. Everything maintains what we have come
to call "homeostasis," or a naturally occurring healthy balance. The reality is that there is no
stasis, but instead a constant balancing and rebalancing that occurs without our being aware of it.
This is the continual transformation of the principle of yin yang. From the flow and ebb of our
various hormones to the regulation of our blood pressure, the body is in a flux of balance. So when
our blood pressure climbs too high, there are sensory nerves that monitor and regulate the rate of
the heart beats and contraction, the elasticity of our arteries and the depth of our breath,
whether deep or shallow, fast or slow. Indeed the very words fast, slow, deep and shallow express
the concept of yin yang in ourself.

What we call disease in Chinese medicine is the loss of this subtle and constant balance of yin and
yang. We often refer to an excess of yin or an excess of yang as the root of a particular illness.
Someone can be too hot or too cold, as far as their metabolism is concerned. What holistic medicine
seeks to accomplish is returning the body to a healthy balance of yin and yang. The idea is to return
the body to being in relationship with itself. This is the primary function of acupuncture and herbal
medicine. Each is utilized to produce an effect that assists the body in balancing the yin and yang
within itself, thus restoring health.

While this may sound like fancy words to explain a fanciful theory, it can be utilized to understand
how an illness is afflicting a body and how it can be affected to bring about a healthier balance.
Returning to the high blood pressure scenario; when the body has high blood pressure, we
understand this as an excess of yang within the body, or too much energy. We attempt to determine
why the body is out of balance. Often we will use acupuncture point or herbs to increase the yin.
By increasing the yin, we are able to downregulate the increased yang. By increasing the yin and
downregulating the yang, we return the body to a better relationship and thereby return the blood
pressure to normal levels and restore health.
When we view our world through the philosophy of yin and yang, we begin to understand that the
natural and normative state of our lives is found through this relationship of constant balance and
rebalance. By seeing balance and rebalance in our lives, we tap into the fundamental pattern of
creation. If we force ourself to levels of extremes, there must be a rebalancing to compensate.
Whether we or the universe do this, we will still be balanced. Even an illness in the body can be
seen as an expression of this rebalancing, although one that causes disease. What we cannot do is
stand in absolute to a universe that is relative by its very nature. The choice of view is ours.