Le yin is associated to the shade, the moon, cold, winter, night, the north, and everything that is hidden and covered. Water is cold, that is of a yin nature and moves downwards.
Le yang is associated to light, the sun, heat, summer, the south and everything that is visible and open. Fire is of a yang nature and blazes upwards and outwards.
These two dynamic forces are in constant and perpetual movement. The following characteristics of yin and yang explain their constant interaction.
- Yin and Yang are opposites
Their opposition is relative (hot-cold, day-night…) because neither one is ever complete without the other. - Yin and Yang are interdependent
One cannot exist without the other, they are two aspects of the same reality (day cannot exist without night, nor light without obscurity) and they cannot be separated. - Yin and Yang increase and decrease constantly
When yin increases, yang decreases simultaneously and vice versa. It is the perpetual cycle of days and seasons. As day sets in, the shade lessens and when evening descends, the moon and darkness take over. - Yin and Yang transform mutually
Extreme Yang ultimately transforms into yin and vice-versa. The extreme tension of one provokes its transformation. For example, an extreme fever (Yang) can lead to a state of shock (Yin)
The theory of Yin-Yang can be applied in the same way to our own organism. When an individual is healthy yin and yang are in harmony. This is not a static harmony but rather a dynamic one. On the contrary, when there is a yin-yang imbalance the individual is ill.
When the individual is healthy the body is in perfect equilibrium. Yin and yang are in harmony in a dynamic balance. When they are out of balance, pathologies and diseases appear.
The purpose of acupuncture treatments is to restore the patient’s yin and yang balance so that he or she recovers its health.
