In life (as well as yoga!), we try to maintain balance. The reason we find it difficult to stay in balance is because everything around us, and even within us, is made up of dualistic energies. Our feminine side, our masculine side. Our inner lightness contrasting with our even deeper shadows. Existing only in light is not possible because you cannot know light without knowing darkness. You cannot always be happy because, in order to be happy, you have to comprehend sad. Yin and yang.
The examples above, feminine versus masculine, light verses darkness and happy versus sad, all have levels of gray in between. Even by definition, black and white are on the opposite ends of the color spectrum but to get from one to the other, you must go through every amazing color.
The yin yang symbol is about complementary opposites and how both are necessary to attain balance or equilibrium. Neither yin nor yang exists without the other. Were you to draw a diameter through the yin yang symbol, you would separate the circle into two halves that both contain some white and some black because they are intertwined. A line through the center does not divide yin yang into white on one side and black on the other. And both sides contain within them the essence of the other as depicted by the black and white dots. They cannot and do not exist alone.
Yin, the black side with the white dot, is often associated with qualities such as darkness, passivity, femininity, and coolness, while Yang, the white side with the black dot, represents light, activity, masculinity, and warmth. Your physical body is a balance of yin and yang elements. Anything below the waist is yin because it is closer to the earth element. Anything above the waist is yang, closer to the sun and sky. The outside of the body, yang, protects the inside, yin. Yin and yang are always changing much like the energies of the chakras. Imagine you are outside, and it is really hot and sunny out. You turn away from the sun to shade your eyes. The front side of the body, which is now shaded is yin. Your back, now facing the warm sun, is yang.
How does this relate to your yoga practice? Let's assume you find yourself in a challenging pose. The body is a little stressed by this, i.e. yang. If you allow the mind to start in with self-judgement or get angry at the yoga instructor(!) for introducing such a ridiculous pose, your mental being adds even more yang energy to that of the physical body. To maintain balance, we look for the softness in the pose as well as the strength; the easy versus the challenging. While the pose itself may be hard, perhaps the breath provides ease. If the pose is challenging the arms, consider you happy your toes are!
Here's a great example I came across online. You are in the midst of a conversation and the person you are speaking to suddenly becomes very mad. You can choose to raise your voice as well or you can choose to stay calm, right? The person who is upset has excessive yang energy. If you get mad, too, there is no balance; yang abuts yang. But if you choose to take a breath and stay calm, your yin balances the other’s yang. You alter the yang energy.
Yin and yang are always changing. Situations and people can never be fully one energy or the other. The yin and yang energies are in constant motion moving together within the confines of the circle that embraces them.
“According to the Theory of Yin and Yang, everything in the universe consists of two opposing forces, yet they are deeply connected at a common place called or balance.” – Angellia Moore
I highly encourage you and yours to embrace this imbalance in achieving your own mental and physical equilibrium, and we would be delighted to have you at one of our classes at Grow Well Yoga!
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