Yin and Yang is the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Most of us are familiar with the Yin Yang symbol; you've at least seen it as a tattoo once. There's a lot of meaning behind the Yin Yang symbol that most people are unaware of.

The theory is that everything is yin and or yang. Yin and Yang are opposites but also exist within each other (hence the small circles in the symbol). An example is day, which is yin, turning into night which is yang. As the day goes on and it gets darker, there is less yin and more yang. Midnight would be the most yang and as the new day dawns more yin grows.

Here are some basic yin yang opposites:

Yin Yang

Female Male

Night Day

Moist Dry

Cold Hot

Winter Summer

Death Birth

Light Dark

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, yin and yang refer to energies and function of the organs. When in your healthiest state there is a balance of yin and yang. Healthy living contributes to maintaining that balance and acupuncture can assist is correcting and maintaining it.