Nourishing Yin

Yin and yang represent balance in the body. Unfortunately, everyday life can throw this balance off, creating either a deficiency or excess of yin or yang. To stay in harmony, it is important to find ways to nurture these two aspects of our lives through things like healthy lifestyle choices, acupuncture, or Chinese herbs.

Yin deficiency is something that is very common due to one reason: overwork. This is because we are forcing our bodies to keep going without getting the adequate rest our bodies need to nurture our yin aspects. There are of course other things that relate to yin deficiency, such as different diseases, a diet that is lacking in yin type foods, or a climate that is very yang in nature. Generally speaking, aging in females also cause yin deficiency; yang deficiency is related to aging in males.

One way we can make sure to nurture our yin is to provide our bodies with plenty of down time. It may be helpful to find quiet activities we can do to take a break in our busy days. This may be meditating, taking a moment to look introspectively, or taking a power nap. Getting plenty of sleep at night is also of great importance. Here are some tips on creating a yin environment for a good nights sleep:

• Make sure there are no distracting noises in the room.
• Keep the temperature cool.
• Up the humidity by using a cool air humidifier.
• Keep the area as dark as possible.
• Give yourself plenty of time to wind down before retiring.