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YIN AND YANG DEFINED Yin and yang are often described in terms of the contrasting concepts they represent: 2 yin is quiet, shady, feminine, midnight, cold, interior, lethargic, and winter; yang is loud, bright, masculine, midday, hot, exterior, energetic, and summer. But yin and yang are more than contrasts. They are also complements, and each is present within the other, as seen in the yin-yang symbol (image below). Yin and yang are two ends of a continuum; opposites blending gradually into one another. The concept of yin is essentially "more yin than yang," and the concept of yang is essentially "more yang than yin." The expression yin yang is actually a simplification. In Chinese medicine, it is more accurate to speak of yin qi and yang qi, two aspects of the vital energy qi (pronounced chee) that permeates the human body and is crucial to health. When qi does not flow freely, due to imbalance of yin qi and yang qi or blockage of the channels through which it flows, ill health is the result. The dynamic tension between yin qi and yang qi is needed to maintain qi balance—without the pull of yin qi, yang qi would not flow, and without the reciprocal pull of yang qi, yin qi would lose the force to continue pulling. The correct balance is continually aligning and realigning itself according to the needs of the body. YIN YANG TOUCH 92 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k m a r c h / a p r i l 2 0 1 4 Yin is present in yang, and yang is present in yin, depicted in the two dots of the yin- yang symbol. MERIDIANS Qi flows in the human body through a web of meridians (image on page 93): 12 pairs of regular meridians, which are divided into two groups according to whether they are linked to yin or yang organs, and are connected in two identical series of continuous, ascending, and descending loops of varying length, on the left and right halves of the body. There are also eight extraordinary meridians and a number of secondary and tertiary meridians. Regular Meridians Yin meridians are linked to and named after the yin organs: the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pericardium, and spleen. Yang meridians are linked to and named after the yang organs: the bladder, gall bladder, large intestine, sanjiao (triple burners), 3 small intestine, and stomach. Along each meridian are qi points that propel the ascending or descending movement of yin qi and yang qi. The Chinese textbook Tuina 4 depicts the flow of qi through the regular meridians in the following order: lung, large intestine, stomach, spleen, heart, small intestine, bladder, kidney, pericardium, sanjiao, gall bladder, liver, and back to lung. At each transfer point, the qi is transformed to yin qi or yang qi, according to whether the meridian it is passing through is a yin or yang meridian. Extraordinary Meridians Among the extraordinary meridians, Du (Governing) and Ren (Conception) have distinctive, significant qi points. The other six extraordinary meridians generally share the qi points of regular meridians, but some of them also have extra qi points, of which Yintang and Taiyang are most prominent. The secondary and tertiary meridians do not have qi points.