Movement & Yin Yang Principle
Life is not so black and white.
It can certainly seem that way. Especially as I try to explain the ‘bad guy’ to my son while watching Star Wars.
“Mama, is Darth Vader a bad guy?”
…asks my son as he stares at the shadowed man enticing Luke to cross over to the dark side.
I try to teach my son, and remind myself that life isn’t that polarized. Darth Vader had good in his heart. (Spoiler alert) He sacrificed himself to save his son, Luke. There was a little light in Vader’s dark side.
Same goes with Yin Yang. The principle of Yin Yang gets confused with either/or, good/bad, healthy/sick. Nothing is all Yang, nor all yin. One doesn’t exist without the other. Although they are relatively opposite, Yin Yang is also interdependent.
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
From the Taoist classic Tao Te Ching, “one becomes two, two becomes three and three becomes 100,000.” I love this scholarly theory of nothing (Wuji) that begets Yin Yang (Taiji) and from the presence of Qi, three produces all things. Very loosely put, this Law of Nature balances the chaos and order.
The interdependence and intertransmission of Yin Yang is comforting and even hopeful in times of life. Maybe losing your job opened you up to new possibilities. Maybe getting sick helped you slow down & reevaluate.
Problem is, our brains don’t do well with the ‘gray’. Most have a tough time with ‘in between’ and so, we naturally compartmentalize people, events, theories, etc. Even in our Western medicine, we place our health in two main categories, ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. Our movement is often put into a ‘sedentary’ or ‘active’ with no true definition of what active can mean to the individual.
Be mindful that you are neither one or the other. You don’t treat deficiency with excess. Yang can’t just ‘resolve’ Yin. It doesn’t work that way.
When it comes to movement, do we need to be so polarized in our training?
Learn to slow down in order to speed up!
The YIN BEFORE THE ‘GO’
Yin is where form takes shape. I love this concept. So much so, I teach all my students and clients to take time to scrub before you begin any activity. This is known as awakening the Qi. It varies from Qigong teacher to teacher.
Some lineages use Pai Da, tapping and others use scrubbing with the hands. Either way, it’s the practice of transition. Going from no movement to movement. It’s the transition of Yin to Yang known in the neuroscience world as “sensory before motor’.
Simply put, our brain needs a clear map of how we move in space. Known as proprioception, this virtual image of the body helps us move with control. When you have the clarity, motor control is established and speed can then be safe. You can’t move fast without a clear motor map and sensory work can help improve how you move.
We need the physical ability of speed to survive & function but we need to slow down to cultivate that motor map.
So to set you on the right path, I’ve begun building a Movement Library on Youtube. In my very first video, I discuss how to apply the YIN YANG principle to your movement. With a drill that both me and my students use DAILY to reduce pain and increase mobility! Check it out!
Also! Please subscribe to my Youtube channel to know when I post my next video for the Body401k Movement Library!
