What is yin-yang and its relationship to acupuncture?
All aspects of our existence can be explained and understood in terms of yin-yang as it represents the two most general categories into which everything is divided. As it relates to acupuncture, it is used as a means of observing the way energy moves and manifests in the body. Symbolically viewed as polar opposites, yin is dark, and yang is bright; yin is cold, and yang is hot; yin is passive, and yang is active; yin is female, and yang is male; yin is rest and yang is activity. The changes to yin-yang always move in relationship to each other. The ideal is for each to exist in harmony with the other. Thus, acupuncture seeks to create a balance of yin and yang that is essential to health. A deficiency of either principle can manifest as disease, and in extreme cases of imbalance, death.
