What is Yin / Yang? How Does it Relate to My Life?
Everyone talks about yin & yang but what is it?
It’s harmony and balance of life, we need one with the other, just like the food we need a balance of whole foods and indulgence but always moderation. Here are a few key terms to guide your way into a balanced and harmonious life.
Yin = A balanced idea very neutral such as earth, part of your lower body, cooling, expanding, water, cold, and rest.
Yang = Exactly what it sounds like when saying it packs a punch. It’s the higher part of your body, warming, expansive energy, fire, heat, and movement.
Qi (pronounced as chi) = appreciation of all matter is compromised as chi
When we talk about yin and yang by the aspect of body types you realize that your body’s constitution is built one way but you can still be more yin or yang in nature. By knowing this concept you will be aware of how organs work together and support each other in their functions and that is how you can tell more about yourself.
Yang
By being a yang body type can mean many things such as having a strong temperament, loud, broader figure, masculine, and red. It is not always good it could mean extreme heat in the body and heat doesn’t mean temperature in your body but how certain foods or stimulants deal within your body’s constitution. Drinking caffeine is more of a yang food because of the excess energy you get from it and how it stimulates your body. Yang foods will rev up your digestion since they are usually hot, pungent, spicy, and reactive to your system. Yang controls the gallbladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, and triple burner. This is important because this is how and why your body excretes and having healthy digestion will be telling of this, so everyone has yang intertwined in them whether or not they are more yin in nature. This part of your body deals with elimination, bladder problems, urine incontinence, and how your body is going to feel after you eat.
Yin
If you are more of a yin body type you are always cold, smaller constitution, feminine, and lower voice. This part controls the heart, lung, spleen, liver, kidneys, and pericardium. All these are connected to the main organs and deal with blood, breathing, and deficiencies. It’s interesting to see because these are the same parts that covid harm when entering the body. You never want to be deficient on the yin spectrum because that can lead to disharmonies in the heart, blood clotting, and mucus buildup. This may cause your body to not be able to eliminate toxins properly. Yin foods are very neutralizing like milk, rice, and grains.
The reason why yin and yang are so important in your life is that we all need balance in our lives and we need to know how to balance ourselves out. If you aren’t eating correctly for your constitution it can be harming your body because it can cause excess to the way your body is already built. If you have a yin body type and tend to always be cold but eat a lot of cold foods such as salads and smoothies that isn’t nourishing your body as much as a warm soup would. The same goes for a yang constitution if you’re always hot, red flushed skin, and eating a lot of red meat it's counteracting in your body and not cooling it down to balance you. The balance of your body is everything in Eastern medicine and finding what foods suit you the best to make you feel whole and more connected.
Yin Recipe: Zucchini Corn Salad
1 Roma tomato, cubed
2 Mexican zucchini, cubed
1 white onion
2 cups of cooked corn kernels
1/2 cup grated organic mozzarella
Do a quick saute of onions, tomato, and Mexican zucchini. Once zucchini is cooked add to pre-cooked corn and mix all ingredients add salt & pepper. Grate fresh mozzarella to the top
Yang Recipe: Roasted Curried Cauliflower
1 head of orange cauliflower
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
Cut the cauliflower into florets. Place in a bowl with olive oil and add in spices and mix so everything is coated. Place on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.