Yin & Yang

Yin Yoga Training with Caitlin Rose Kenney

As the symbol of the yin-yang reveals, yin and yang are polarities that are designed to be in balance; the two equal parts form a circular whole. Within yin there is a spot of yang and within yang a bit of yin indicating that there is yin and yang in everything — they are inextricable and defined together. Within yin, yang emerges and yang eventually yields to yin.

The essence of “yin” can only truly be understood when explained in conjunction with the opposite and relative term “yang”. Some characteristics of yin and yang are listed below as pairs — we can’t know one without the other. 

Yin                           Yang

Still                                  Moving

Downward                          Upward

Earth                                   Heaven/Sky

Dark                                 Light

Hidden                            Exposed

Cool                                 Hot

Steady                             Dynamic

Death                                  Life

Reflective                            Expressive

Parasympathetic N.S.         Sympathetic N.S.

Exhale                                 Inhale

Calm                                    Excited

Pause                                  Go

Listening                             Communicating

Acceptance                         Resistance

Boundless                           Bound (boundaries, guides, goals)

Fertility                               Germination

Surrender                            Effort

Contentment                       Ambition

Formless Form (structure)

Fluid                                     Rigid

Silence Sound

Everything can be described in terms of yin and yang. Think of “yin” and “yang” on two opposite sides of a continuum. Whether an object, activity or person falls more to the yin side or the yang side depends on what you are comparing them to. 

For example, the activity of reading a book is more yin when compared to riding a bicycle but when you compare it to taking a nap it would be considered more yang. 

Yin ----------------------------------------------------------Yang

        Nap   Reading                       Bicycling

As relative descriptors, it depends on what aspect of the subject is being compared to another. For example, we could say that Bikram Yoga is more yang than Kundalini Yoga because the room is heated to a higher temperature — here we are assessing the temperature of the environment. Whereas, we could say that Kundalini Yoga is more yang than Bikram Yoga because the fast pace of each kriya creates more movement in the physical body than the static holds in the Bikram series — now we are assessing the aspect of movement. 

Yin/Yang is NOT a concept of two opposing opposites clashing, but the unity of two aspects of Chi whose continual movement revolves in a constant interplay of balance which moves in cycles. — Sarah Powers

There is BOTH yin and yang energy in every element of nature: every human, every animal, every plant and every stone. The cycle of life-death-life is a dance between yin and yang. The energies of each hour of every day and every night reveal shifts in yin and yang energy. The seasons in nature and the seasons in our lifetimes reflect a journey of balancing yin and yang energy. One cannot exist without the other and to truly appreciate the qualities of each we must know it’s opposite.

The Art of Yin & Yang in our Personal Lives

Yang energy is very obvious, it’s loud and clear (as it wants to be) and it may be more challenging to see the yin energy, which wants to be hidden. Our modern Western culture rewards yang energy — financial gain and social status appear to hinge on our ability to multitask, manage ever-increasing levels of busy-ness and receive incessant external reinforcement. Many of us have become so used to this way of being that we might not realize our approach to nearly everything is permeated with yang activation. It is no wonder that stress, anxiety, and dis-ease are rampant in our culture — we are out of balance and disconnected from healthy forms of yin energy. 

To come back towards balance, we can take more space for yin time and find peaceful surroundings that will shift our internal state. We can also cultivate our yin-side internally so that we have better access to and familiarity with a yin way-of-being that we can find amidst it all. Both yin and yang are essential and indestructible parts of life; the call is to honor both and cultivate more balance knowing that perfect equilibrium is fleeting. For most of us to restore our health and wholeness we have to consider how a shift in our perception, approach, and a widening of our experience can familiarize us with and cultivate our “yin-side”.

What is your yin-side? It is the part of you that pauses, listens, feels, is awed, receptive and curious in a relaxed way. It is the side of you that rides the current instead of resisting; that yields instead of pushes; that stays open to what is happening.

We are not able to control every aspect of our lives but we can learn to understand and potentially shift the energy within us. Like chemistry, the mix of our energy with the components around us creates something completely unique both externally and internally. We do not control the weather nor other humans, but we do have a great deal of agency over how we approach, perceive, digest, integrate, respond and reflect. If nothing else, our exploration and discovery of differing energies will significantly impact our own experience.

This is where understanding yin and yang becomes empowering. As alchemists of our lives, we can add, subtract, mix, heat and cool our own energy to create something precious over and over again. We can find the calm in the storm or we can find the fire within us to make a change. 

How familiar are you with your yin-side?

Developing your yin-side allows you to witness your reactions and habits and widens your capacity for acceptance and moving with loving-kindness.

While yin practices encourage us to slow down and feel our experience rather than trying to change it, it is important to acknowledge that we need yang energy in our lives to catalyze and create. It is impossible to remove yin or yang energy entirely from our lives. An ebb and flow between yin and yang is as natural as the seasons changing.

If we become stagnant, life has a way of handing us disappointment, surprise, heartbreak and magic when we least expect it and our contentment or apathy vanishes. If we try to avoid or suppress our innate need for yin energy we will fail. We may catch the flu, break a bone, develop a chronic illness or be humbled by grief and forced to slow down.

When we study the manifestation of yin and yang in our own body, mind and lifestyle we hone our self-awareness. We turn up the resolution on who we are and how we operate. As our self-awareness blossoms, options open up to us. We can stay, we can move, we can ask a question, we can break something or we can surrender.

©Caitlin Rose Kenney ~ please do not distribute without consent and credit to the author