The Yin and Yang Theory

The theory of Yin and Yang is an element that has been part of the philosophical current of Taoism (and ancient Chinese philosophy in general) for thousands of years but has also recently been incorporated into Western pop culture and New Age beliefs. In fact, it has even tried to incorporate this concept into holistic therapies not based on psychology or medicine based on scientific evidence.

But... What exactly does this yin and yang consist of? How is this belief related to psychotherapy? Let's see.

Yin and Yang in Taoism

When we talk about the Yin and Yang theory we are not referring to a scientific theory, but to a framework of thought related to the tradition of Chinese philosophy of several thousand years ago. It is, so to speak, a very blurred theory supported by very abstract concepts, something normal considering its age. Furthermore, the concepts of what Yin and Yang are cannot be understood without taking into account what is Taoism and what was the historical context in which the fundamental ideas of this appeared philosophy.

Although Taoism as a cohesive religion appeared around the 3rd century AD. C., the writings on which it is based are attributed to a philosopher known as Lao Tzu which is believed to have lived in approximately the 6th century BC. C. However, as in the case of Homer, it is not clear if he is a mythical character or not: his name means "old master", something from which it is easy to relate him, for example, to one of the archetypes Carl Jung spoke of.

Original Taoism was a philosophy based on metaphysics that addresses questions about both what is nature of what exists (animals, human beings, seas, rivers, stars, etc.) as what must be done, that is, morality. According to the writings attributed to Lao Tzu, what is right to do emanates from the natural order of things, so nature and morals are one. To act badly, therefore, is to "deviate" from the path by which change occurs in nature when it remains in harmony.

The Way: Tao Te King

With what we've seen so far, we have many of the basic ingredients of Taoism: the concept of change, the concept of harmony, and the idea that deviating from the natural "path" is wrong. In fact, the name of the only book attributed to Lao Tzu is known as Tao Te King: tao means "way" and you, "virtue".

Following the ideas of Lao Tzu means accepting that nature is constantly changing, that there is a path or path through which it is change occurs in harmony with nature, and that virtue is not to alter this harmony, letting the world change by itself same. Thus, the way in which this "path of virtue" should be followed is called wu wei, which means "no action". Don't alter what flows naturally, so to speak.

If Karl Marx understood philosophy as a tool to change the world, Lao Tzu held the opposite idea: the way of the Tao consists of not altering the universe from personal desires and goals based on need; you have to be guided by simplicity and intuition while renouncing ambitions.

After all, philosophizing about the Tao cannot lead to anything good, because it is conceived as a metaphysical entity that is beyond the human intellect, and trying to reach its essence from thought could damage the natural order of the universe, which sustains everything that exists.

The Complementary Eternals of Yin and Yang

Like the Greek philosopher Heraclitus (and all pre-Socratic philosophers in general), in the writings attributed to Lao Tzu much is put emphasis on the process of change, which means that everything around us is constantly transforming, even what appears to be still.

How to explain that in the same things change and permanence seem to exist at the same time? Lao Tzu turned to the idea of ​​duality and cyclical changes to explain it. For him, everything that exists and what we can see contains two states between which a balance is established: day and night, light and dark, etc. These elements are not exactly opposite and their reason for being is not to end the other, but rather they are complementary, since one cannot exist without the other.

The concepts of Yin and Yang, belonging to ancient Chinese philosophy, serve to refer to this duality that Chinese thinkers saw in everything. A duality in which each state contains a part of its complement, because both are co-dependent; The Ying and Yang is the way in which for Lao Tzu the change that surrounds everything is expressed, which shows the transition between what has been and what will become.

In the Ying and Yang a duality is represented in which it is very difficult to separate the two elements that compose it. In fact, in its visual representation it is much easier to understand the set that these elements make up than each of them. them individually, something that denotes that they are not exactly the two extremes of something, but two elements of one whole.

More specifically, Yin refers to a state in which things are cold, wet, soft, dark and feminine in character, and Yang represents the dry, the hard, the bright and the masculine. For ancient Chinese philosophy, this duality would be present in all things, and if it is so abstract and ambiguous it is precisely because it tries to cover everything.

Human nature according to the Tao

Taoism was not born as a religion in which the rules are descended from one or more deities that offer preferential treatment to the human being; In this philosophy, people have the same rank as any other element in the cosmos. That means that they are subject to cyclical changes like everything else, and that there is no immutable essence in them that makes them more important than the rest. That is why Lao Tzu's book emphasizes the need to keep a low profile and to follow the path simply.

According to the Tao Te King, all the changes that can occur in a human being are also expressed by this logic of the complementary Ying and Yang. So that, harmony is about making sure the yin and yang are kept in that perfect balance.

However, this only makes sense within the framework of traditional Chinese philosophy and especially Taoism. Outside of the philosophical realm, this idea of ​​harmony does not serve to describe either reality or the human mind in scientific terms, or at least not by itself.

Yin and Yang Theory in Alternative Therapies

Some forms of alternative therapies (that is, without sufficient scientific basis) use the idea of ​​Yin and Yang as a theoretical element in which to support claims about the healing power of certain practices. The ambiguity of the original Taoism is mixed with all kinds of claims of a specific nature about the effects of carrying out one or another activity, as if Taoism and Chinese philosophy were a guarantee of therapeutic practices to be applied in particular situations.

That is, a series of statements about practices that work for specific problems (such as "if do tai chi you will age more slowly ", etc.) with totally abstract sentences (in the style of" virtue is in harmony"). That is why the appeal to Chinese philosophy in general and to Yin and Yang in particular to justify the usefulness of certain strategies not appropriate in psychotherapy, which is supported by concrete solutions to specific problems.