Yin-Yang: The Hidden Story and Meaning behind Yin-Yang symbol

Yin Yang, or also known as the ‘Tai Chi symbol’ is a concept from ancient Chinese philosophy. Yin and Yang’s elements come in contradictory pairs like moon and sun, dark and bright or cold and hot. It is a circular figure formed with the support of one another. It co-exist with each other one element contains certain parts of the other creating whole big aspect.

This symbol creates a fascinating concept of contradicting each other as well as completing each other. In simple words, this symbol is a combination of good and bad aspects of life.

Yin-Yang symbol comprises a circle divided into two halves by a curved line. One half of the circle is black representing the ‘Yin’ side and the other half of the circle is white respecting the ‘Yang’ side. Both the sides have a small dot in their respective curved area with their opposite colour giving the idea that both have seeds of one another. The two halves are intertwined across a spiral-like curve which splits the whole into semicircles, both supporting each other to create a perfect ‘circle’.

In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of the primary chaos of material energy in the cycle of Yin-Yang and formed into objects and lives. This is a “bright-black” concept of dualism. According to ancient Chinese, the life-force energy “Qi” is an underlying energy that gives life to all physical things.

Yin or Yang mutually form a whole Qi. When these two opposite forces are combined and flow appropriately, they form a perfect balance in the physical and emotional world. But in today’s world stress affects negatively the flow of Qi, creating an imbalance in society hence affecting our state of health.

In Western Medicine terms, the Yin/Yang balance can be understood as the balance of the Automatic Nervous System (ANS). ANS is a part of the entire nervous system. This part mainly acts unconsciously and automatically influencing many organ’s functions such as digestion and respiratory rate.

It is a fusion of the sympathetic (Yang) and parasympathetic (Yin) nervous system, which is always operational. Proper balance in these two parts of the nervous system helps to achieve A.N.S. equilibrium. Sometime’s the Yang part stays more active whereas sometimes the Yin part does, which creates a proper balance in body functioning. The Yang part is activated in the states of stress and starts working in a “flight or fight” response. The Yin part regulates our “rest and digest” or “feed and breed” functions.

Overstimulation of Yang energy in long stressful periods puts our body in a hyper-sympathetic state, creating emotional consequences. Acting more on the sympathetic part of the body means we are spending less time on the other side, i.e. parasympathetic state hence increasing stress in the body more and more and missing out on the parts of healing which creates ‘Yin deficiency’. We all know too much stress is not good for our health.

By stressing over the Yang part can cause health issues like anxiety, sleep difficulty. In short, the more perfect the balance in your body of ANS is, the better and healthier you will be. This symbol shows us that sometimes the opposite forces in nature even reply to one another to exist.