17 July 2020 - In China, the terms yin and yang have been used for thousands of years, but we in the West find them often abstract. And that is slightly remarkable as we are unconsciously busy with yin and yang all day. Arno Roelofs, one of best acupuncturists of the Netherlands can explain this very easily:
Activity and rest
Sleeping and waking up is so normal for us that we no longer think about it. It is the alternation of the day and night that makes us sleep and wake up. Night and day, dark and light, yin and yang are the basics of our life. We can describe yin and yang as the rest and the activity that we experience every day. According to the Chinese, yang belongs to the day, and yin is calm and belongs to the night. Together they are constantly looking for a balance. When we are hard at work, we need rest and vacation and when we have nothing to do for a day, then we get bored. You see that yin and yang search for their balance. The Chinese say that the yin must feed the yang and see yin as the mother of yang. That's a complicated way of saying that you need enough sleep to feel fit during the day. So keeping the balance between yin and yang is nothing but alternating activity and rest.
Incentives
Roelofs also tells us that yang dominates in our society. We must always perform, be alert and be able to say what we want. Yang is extravert and impulsive. This means that yin features such as introversion, rest and introspection are less discussed.
In response, we see more people doing yoga, mindfulness, meditation and so on. Because we live our lives with many incentives, we are seeking for peace and quiet, which increase your yin level. Our psyche naturally seeks balance.
Close your eyes
When we become aware of the fact that we are looking for balance, we can play with yin and yang and dose them. If we notice that we remain restless, then we are too yang. Then it is good to look for a yin activity. During the day it is therefore good to take a moment to take a moment to rest, focus on your breathing and think about what we are doing. This is amazing news, because this means you don't have to feel guilty if you lie down on the couch for 10 minutes in the day. It is so good to close your eyes and become more aware of your body. Just focus on your abdominal breathing and you will notice after a few breaths that you feel more relaxed and that you descend into another world; the world of yin. The best time to do this is in the afternoon, because then yang's strength will decrease.
Tip
What is also very interesting to know is that all your screens - tv, phone, computer - are yang. So swap your scroll-time on Facebook and Instagram (which is probably your tenth time anyway this day) for closing your eyes and you will find some yin, which makes you feel so much better.
source: 1. Arno Roelofs | De psychologie van Acupunctuur (The Psychology of Acupuncture) - 2. holistik.nl
Recent Comments