Becoming More Yin
The other day, I walked into my friend’s mother’s house and I immediately felt my spirits lifted. She lives in South LA, a community that has known its fair share of turmoil and pain (their neighbor got shot in the head last week!), but her home was a haven of peace and happiness. I kept marveling about how good I felt in her home, and then I noticed that she had a feng shui book. She let me borrow it, and now I’m realizing how much I am affected by energy fields of people and places.
And apparently I am too much yang.
According to the book The Feng Shui Bible, yin and yang describe different forms of chi, with yin being the slower, cooler energy and yang being the faster, hotter, compressed energy (yep, sounds like me!). I have a yin face (oval-shaped, large eyes, full lips, and fleshy cheeks) but my actions and personality are very yang: “being focused, alert, precise, active, and thriving in a dynamic lifestyle.”
This book helped me realize that I’ve become too much yang, and I know this because I am experiencing all the symptoms of “too much yang”: stiffness/tightness, tension, dry skin, stress, anger, and a need to be in control. In fact, the dry skin problem has gotten so bad, I’m going to the dermatologist next week!
In order to become more yin, I’m supposed to meditate, eat more fresh fruits and salads, drink water and juices, wear clothes in pastel colors (that’s going to take an effort), wear loose, flowing clothes (I like that), try stretching exercises, get out into nature, listen to relaxing music, and use soft lighting or candles. That list sounds like a day at the spa to me!
It’s hard for to meditate. Whenever, I try, I just want to fall asleep or let my mind run rampant the entire time. I like eating fresh fruits and vegetables, but I wish they were served to me on a banana leaf platter by a beautiful, tanned man instead of me having to peel those mangoes myself. I love any excuse to go shopping, but I’ll hold off on buying my new pastel wardrobe until I’ve earned some more money. Lots of my clothes are loose and flowy, so I’m covered there, and I love to stretch! I’m organizing a hiking trip in early August, and I love my Spa Radio Pandora station. Now, all I need are some candles…
I want to become more yin. I’m feeling quite unbalanced right now—tight, depleted, and a bit listless.
Girls – what advice do you have for me to become more yin?
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