The theory of Yin and Yang

This concept of Chinese philosophy has come to be used in alternative therapies.

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 alternative therapies. (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, there have even been attempts to incorporate this concept into holistic therapies not grounded in psychology or evidence-based medicine.

But... But what exactly is Yin and Yang and how does this belief relate to psychotherapy? Let's take a look.

Yin and Yang in Taoism

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

Although Taoism as a cohesive religion appeared around the third century A.D., the writings on which it is based are attributed to a philosopher who was the first to write about Taoism. are attributed to a philosopher known as Lao Tse However, as in the case of Homer, it is not clear whether 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 of which Carl Jung spoke.

The original Taoism was a philosophy based on metaphysics that addresses questions both about what is the nature of what exists (animals, human beings, seas, rivers, stars, etc.) and what should be done, i.e. morality. According to writings attributed to Lao Tse, what is right to do emanates from the natural order of things.so that nature and morality are one and the same. To act wrongly, therefore, is to "deviate" from the path of change in nature when nature remains in harmony.

The path: Tao Te King

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

Following Lao Tse's ideas means accepting that nature is constantly changing, that there is a path or way by which this change takes place in harmony with nature, and that virtue lies in not disturbing this harmony, in letting the world change by itself. Thus, the way in which this "path of virtue" is to be followed is called wu weiwhich means "no action". Not to alter what flows naturally, so to speak.

If Karl Marx understood philosophy as a tool for changing the world, Lao Tse held the opposite idea: the way of the Tao consists of not altering the universe, of not altering the way of the Tao, of not altering the universe, of not altering the way of the Tao. consists of not altering the universe The way of the Tao consists of not altering the universe based on personal desires and objectives based on necessity; one must be guided by simplicity and intuition while renouncing ambitions.

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

The eternal complementarities of Yin and Yang

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

How can we explain that in the same things there seems to be both change and permanence? Lao Tse resorted 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 darkness, etc. These elements are not exactly opposites and their raison d'être is not to do away with each 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. Chinese thinkers saw in everything. A duality in which each state contains a part of its complementary, because both are co-dependent; Yin and Yang is the way in which Lao Tse expresses the change that envelops everything, which shows the transition between what has been and what will become.

In the Ying and Yang is represented a duality 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 whole that these elements form than each of them individually, something that denotes that they are not exactly the two extremes of something, but two elements of a totality.

More specifically, Yin refers to a state in which things are cold, wet, soft, dark and feminine in character, and Yang represents dry, hard, light and masculine. For the 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 embrace 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 who offer preferential treatment to human beings; in this philosophy, people have the same rank as any other element of the cosmos. This 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 Tse's book emphasizes the need to keep a low profile and to follow the path with simplicity.

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 Yin and Yang. Thus, harmony consists in making sure that Yin and Yang are kept in perfect balance..

However, this only makes sense within the framework of traditional Chinese philosophy and especially Taoism. Outside 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 on its own.

Theory of Yin and Yang in alternative therapies

Some forms of alternative therapies (i.e. without sufficient scientific basis) use the idea of Yin and Yang as a theoretical element on 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. of a specific nature about the effects of performing one or another activity, as if Taoism and Chinese philosophy were a guarantee of therapeutic practices to be applied in particular situations.

In other words, a series of statements about practices that work for specific problems (such as "if you do tai chi you will age more slowly", etc.) are mixed with totally abstract statements (such as "virtue is in harmony"). This is why the appeal to Chinese philosophy in general and to Yin and Yang in particular to justify the usefulness of certain strategies is not appropriate in psychotherapy. is not appropriate in psychotherapywhich is based on concrete solutions to specific problems.