You’ve likely come across the Yin-Yang symbol countless times. On tee-shirts and bumper stickers, in meditation halls and martial arts studios. Unpacking this symbol can help us to understand some foundational East Asian views about human beings and their place in the cosmos, so let’s give it a whirl!

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Yin and Yang are the two polar forces that shape existence. They emerge from the field of oneness. Yang represents expansion. It is associated with light, warmth, activity. The sun is an expression of Yang. (Just look at how dynamic the sun’s magnetic field is!) Yin represents contraction. It’s found in darkness, coolness, stillness, receptivity. The moon, which passively reflects the light of the sun, is Yin. 

The Yin-Yang symbol shows the expansion and contraction process that describes all of life, from the activity of sub-atomic particles to rise and fall of universes. The white parts of the symbol are Yang and the dark parts Yin.

Look at the base of the circle—here, you can see Yang being “born.” If we superimpose the yearly cycle over the Yin-Yang symbol, Yang originates at the winter solstice. Makes sense, right? This is the time of year marked by the return of the sun (Yang). Yang grows as we head into spring and summer. Meanwhile, Yin comes alive at the summer solstice (when the sunlight starts to wane) and it mirrors Yang: Yin grows as fall and winter unfold.

Notice that a good portion of Yang continues past the summer solstice. Even though Yin has been born, it is weak—it’s only in its infancy. On the other hand, by the summer solstice, Yang is mature. The momentum of the previous months propel Yang into the second half of the year. This is why we feel warmth into July and August, despite growing Yin.

We could also say that energy “precedes” matter: the energetic imprint of Yin is established at the summer solstice, but it takes a while for that imprint to manifest physically, in the form of cooler weather, less light, and cessation of growth. Likewise, even though Yang has returned at the winter solstice, we still have a couple months where Yin is dominant, before Yang takes the reins once again. 

And, of course, the Yin-Yang symbol isn’t only depicting the yearly cycle. It represents any and every process in existence. Here, for instance, is the daily cycle. We see Yang born at midnight; yet it’s still weak at this point. Yang grows as we move into morning and it peaks at noon, at which point Yin is born and begins its ascent.

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The two dots in the symbol remind us that within Yin there is always Yang, and within Yang there is always Yin. Their mutual inter-penetration creates life. In the nighttime (Yin), there is still moonlight (Yang); in the daytime (Yang), there is always shade (Yin). This is because, as the Daode jing famously says, “the One begets the Two.”

That is, the original, undifferentiated Whole gives rise to these two polar forces—light and darkness, energy and matter, foreground and background, fire and water, Heaven and Earth. Yin and Yang emerge from the same root, share the same origin (the Dao). They are not two distinct monads, but rather polarities of a single, shared spectrum.

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When we lay the five elements—the subject of my next post—over the Yin-Yang symbol, we see that Wood and Fire are situated in the Yang realm. These elements are primarily about growth and activity.

On the flip side, Metal and Water reside in the Yin domain. The natural world is withdrawing during this time—plant energy returns underground to the roots, animals retreat into hibernation, sunlight and warmth diminish—and, correspondingly, these elements represent themes of contraction, storage, and stillness.

Earth, the fifth element, sits in the center as a balance between Yin and Yang. It’s the pivot that turns the wheel of change.

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I want to emphasize that neither Yin nor Yang is better or worse than the other. They need each other, and we feel most healthy when they are in harmony in our bodies and minds. In disease, there is an over-abundance of either Yin or Yang, or they are not smoothly interpenetrating one another. Death is an expression of their separation within a particular organism.

Our society has certainly been imbalanced in the direction of Yang for quite some time. We favor activity, productivity, speed, excitement, youth—all Yang themes. We keep the lights on (Yang) deep into the night (Yin). We seek constant stimulation through technology. We habitually consume substances—sugar, caffeine, drugs—to excite our minds, our energy, our sex drive.

Our imbalance toward Yang is reflected in many of our disease states—especially those featuring inflammation, sclerosis, and anxiety (all three being Yang phenomena)—and this imbalance now seems to be manifesting in the natural world, as the oceans heat up, forest fires rage, and weather patterns get increasingly chaotic.

Yin seeks to keep pace—we see this in the ubiquity of obesity, depression, and chronic fatigue (each of which are predominately Yin), not to mention the universality of materialist thinking (Yin). Eventually, inevitably, Yin will reclaim predominance as Yin and Yang continue their dance.

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But let’s bring all this back to your own body and mind. Attuning to Yin and Yang in your own inner landscape is a way to help harmonize Yin and Yang on the outer plane. If your Yin and Yang exist in a healthy homeodynamic relationship, that harmony will positively influence your environment.

So, how are you experiencing Yin and Yang these days?

Are you feeling more down (Yin) or up (Yang)? More settled (Yin) or agitated (Yang)? Do you sleep a lot (Yin) or a little (Yang)? How about your body? Is your flesh more soft and boggy (Yin) or hard and tight (Yang)? Do you tend to feel cold (Yin) or hot (Yang)? Are your stools more dry and hard (Yang) or loose and soft (Yin)?

What sorts of things can you introduce in order to bring better balance into your daily life? More activity or more rest? Say you decide to do yoga—should your choice be more Yang (like hot yoga) or Yin (like restorative yoga)? Could you explore a more cooling or warming diet? Could you seek out light if you need it, or darkness if that’s what’s required?

At the same time, sometimes it’s better simply to notice Yin and Yang, rather than trying to manipulate them any which way. When we bring wise and tender awareness to how Yin and Yang are manifesting in us, when we bear witness to their rising and falling, they often naturally move in the direction of harmony.

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I hope you’ll try to apply the framework of Yin and Yang to your own inner experience and to the world around you. When we recognize the cycle of expansion and contraction at work, we tend to not get so caught up in any particular portion of the cycle.

Everything is expanding and contracting, up-ing and down-ing: your cells, your breath, your nervous system, our society, the economy, politics, weather… The more we appreciate that, the more we’ll develop an equanimity—an evenness of mind—that allows for the unfolding to happen without getting ourselves tied up in knots about it. And the more intimate we become with Yin-Yang dynamics, the more agency we’ll have in knowing when to act (Yang) and when to withdraw (Yin).

The subject of my next posts—Five-Phase Theory—is an elaboration of this Yin-Yang viewpoint. You can check them out by clicking below.