Yesterday’s entry felt quite satisfying so I decided to do a continuation and encore. This time I’ll expand a bit more about the balance between Yin and Yang as per the knowledge I’ve picked up from listening to my father’s rants and advice on Chinese medicine.
Let’s start with the basics. A fundamental concept for you to understand is that everything you consume (not in the economic sense) is of Yin, Yang or neutral nature. By this I mean that consuming these “products of nature” will cause your internal balance of Yin and Yang to be coaxed to the side of the food you consume. For example, if you consume something of Yin nature, your balance will lean a bit towards the Yin side. The same applies to products of Yang nature. Foods and beverages all have a Yin or Yang bias to varying degrees, which means that two foods or beverages are never alike and can throw your balance off by various levels.
Another concept that you may have heard of is best described as “you are what you eat.” And this is a perfect segway to introduce another complexity: the way the food or beverage is prepared can change the nature of what you consume. This can go as far as changing a Yin food to a neutral or Yang food simply by changing the way it is prepared.
The key is balance. There are symptoms of severe imbalances, they are known as illnesses (at least this is what Chinese medicine associates illness with). In a world of perfection, the levels of Yin and Yang could be quantified so that every meal leaves you in a neutral state. Of course we live in a generically qualitative world where we must search for perfection in imperfection. By recognizing subtle symptoms of imbalance, one can prepare complete meals to restore the balance, and thus avoid illness. When you hear diet specialists say for you to eat foods of all the colours of the rainbow, it is a good short-sighted generalization because it ensures you are eating foods with various degrees or Yin or Yang and will most likely be a balanced diet that will help you remain or restore your neutrality.
Tomorrow I will continue with some more information about ~the balance~ and make the relationship with food and tea more clear. Stay tuned!