If you get the gist of yin and yang, you can go far with your feng shui work. It is helpful because it often sheds light on why particular rooms or spaces are not used, or don’t feel quite right. You want the entirety of your home to thrive with good energy, and if there’s something not-quite-right about a room, there’s a potential for you to end up with something not-quite-right in your life. Looking at your environment with your “yin and yang eyes” can oftentimes unlock clues as to what changes could bring balance.
Yin and yang originated in ancient Chinese philosophy and metaphysics; the words describe the two primal opposing, yet complementary, forces found in all things. The ancient Chinese symbol to illustrate yin and yang is this:
The mostly white portion, being brighter, is yang, and the mostly dark portion is yin. Each, however, contains the seed of its opposite.
Yin qualities are usually: darker, colder, wetter, rougher, softer, cozier, cushier, quieter, more contracted, smaller, more inward, more receptive, more feminine, floral, rounder or more curved.
Yang qualities are typically: lighter, hotter, dryer, smoother, harder, sharper, straighter, more angular, louder, larger, more outward, more masculine, striped or plaid as well as more expansive, more outward moving and more masculine.
Nothing is completely yin or completely yang. All matter and phenomenon are permeated with both yin and yang tendencies. (Even the cures you will be using have a yin and yang component. The yang part is the physical, visible change, and the yin part is your intention and thought behind doing it.)
Yin and yang are interdependent. One cannot exist without the other. Cold cannot exist without hot. Day cannot exist without night.
Yin attracts yang, and yang attracts yin. They are in a constant state of change, transforming into one another, like the night that turns into day.
Yin and yang are in a dynamic relationship. As one increases, the other decreases. Imbalances can be described as excess yin, excess yang, deficient yin or deficient yang.
You can see that the list above included the words masculine and feminine. Of course they are there; every adjective would fit somewhere on a spectrum of what is yin or yang. But that doesn’t mean that because you happen to be a male or female that your space needs to TOTALLY reflect just that. Every male and every female has the opposing force within them. According to the rules of yin and yang, you can’t avoid it, and you wouldn’t want to. You want to balance your surroundings to feel balanced in life.
The answers have to come from you. If you can’t figure out what to do in a room that just doesn’t feel right, try first to come up with adjectives to describe it. Then try to replace, remove, change or exchange something that would make your description more towards the opposing yin or yang side. If it’s too dark, try changing the window treatment, light bulb wattage, or wall color. If it’s too echo-y, add more upholstery or fabrics and so on. The more you practice, the easier it will be to think up quick changes. Quite often, your first gut instinct is a great start.
