The Concept of Yin and Yang in Chinese Medicine

[Guest guest]

The Concept of Yin and Yang in Chinese Medicine

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 08:55 AM CST

This is a guest post written by Nathalie Lussier from Billionaire Woman.

I am currently traveling throughout China, and I decided that I

would take a closer look at Chinese medicine. While in Beijing, I had

my pulse checked by a traditional Chinese doctor.

What the doctor told me after 30 seconds of feeling my pulse was a revelation!

She could tell from the beating of my heart, whether I was healthy

or not. However, she never told me that I needed to undergo more tests,

because all she needed to know was whether my body was in balance or

out of balance.

Balance

In traditional Chinese medicine, balance is the key to perfect

health. Rather than a cold being caused by a virus, as in western

thinking, a cold is caused by an imbalance in your body. For instance,

you may have slept too little, or eaten too much unhealthy food. All of

these things can be solved through the application of different herbs,

and every plant has either a yin quality or a yang quality.

Hot and Cold

In traditional Chinese medicine, every food has a temperature: hot

or cold. When I first went to visit a Chinese doctor, I was told that

my body was too cold and that I should eat only hot things.

Food that is hot includes: meet, nuts, seeds, durian, bananas, garlic, ginger, onions, and other spices.

Cold foods include cucumbers, oranges, watermelon, lettuce, and other fruits and vegetables that are high in water content.

What you eat impacts your balance, such that medicine and food are

one and the same. Different people need different amounts of each type

of food group in order to keep their own balance in check.

Men and Women

Using the Yin and Yang concept, men are hot and women are cold. This

may or may not stem from the fact that men tend to eat more hot things

such as meat, and women historically eat more fruits and vegetables.

Whatever the case may be, the way that women act and then act also

reflects this hot and cold reality. Men tend to be fiery, aggressive,

and on the ball. Whereas women tend to be like the waves of the ocean,

cold, cyclic, and more emotional.

Neither of these is wrong, or better than the other, we just happen

to need a bit of each to make the world work. It's another piece of the

balance puzzle.

Yin and Yang Working Together

Although we have yet to achieve balance on a world scale, I believe

that true balance begins within. Once you start eating a more balanced

diet in terms of hot and cold foods, your body will return to its

optimum state. Once you are a healthy individual, you will begin to

look towards the outside and try to balance this reality. Once we have

more balanced individuals vying for global balance between men and

women, humans and animals, nature and humanity, we will make great

strides.

I challenge you to learn more about traditional Chinese medicine, or

at least try to balance your intake of cold vegetables with hot foods.

This is a guest post written by Nathalie Lussier from Billionaire Woman.Shared with love ~ I thought this was very interesting!http://livingonlove.ning.comhttp://myspace.com/rarebreeze