Charging our Batteries

Yesterday was the coldest April 11th since 1907. We have the deepest snow pack for half a century and quite likely longer… We tend to like Winter, here in the North, but this is getting ridiculous!

It’s also GOOD, when you look at it according to Yin Yang theory.

Yin and Yang are descriptions used within Chinese Medicine to compare and classify everything in nature, our bodies, our health. Nothing is inherently “Yin” or “Yang”, they are relative terms which are used in relation to one another. There is also nothing that is “pure” yin or yang in the world, they always contain the essence of the other, which creates the dynamic relationship between the two.

In simple terms:

• Yin is Winter, cold, darkness, water, night, form, rest, quiet, stillness.

• Yang is Summer, heat, light, fire, day, energy, busyness, noise, activity.

So what happens when we get so much yin time? Well, one of the key functions of yin is to store yang. We need yin to integrate and consolidate yang. We need Winter to integrate and store what we have gained from Summer - to take all that light and heat and activity and store it deep within ourselves.

So when you think of our long, long, long Winter, my fellow Northerners, picture yourself as a rechargeable battery who has been plugged in for a long, long, long time. And be ready to soak up another Summer of Yangness (light, light, and more light!) in the months to come.