HEARTSPEAK
Yin and Yang
Ajay Kalra says that when it comes to our male and female energies, a balance between the two is key to living a harmonious life
We all have feminine and masculine energies in us. It does not matter whether we are male or female. In Chinese philosophy, ‘yin’ refers to the female energy, and ‘yang,’ the male energy.
Masculine energy
This is the energy of conquest, power, and achievement. It’s not necessarily a bad energy; it brings discipline, structure, and focus. It stems from the exercise of willpower. The moral value of willpower depends on what we are using it for. If the focus is to control others, it is used in the service of the ego. If willpower is used to discipline oneself, cultivate good habits, and achieve a personal goal that benefits others, it is a good use of the yang energy. The masculine energy is also the energy to protect and provide, irrespective of whether this role is fulfilled by a man or a woman.
As a child, our first experience of the yang energy would typically be our father. This is important to have, else we grow up with a yang deficiency. But it also depends on the kind of father we have. Every father will not demonstrate a healthy yang energy. In some cases like mine, people never experience a father.
For me, the childhood experience of yang energy was an institution. I was sent to a boarding school at age five, so I did what was asked of me by the system. Everything was predetermined: a time to wake up, a time to eat, a time to study, a time to play, and a time to sleep. It did not teach me self-discipline; it taught me to adapt to the system out of fear, else face the consequences.
This conditioning of complying out of fear continued throughout my adult life. Until, one day, I rebelled against the system and decided to follow my feelings. Which was not such a great idea, especially when one cannot differentiate between intuition, emotions, and impulses.
With experience, I have realised that before we can get in touch with a pure part of us, we must free ourselves of our impurities—our impulsive behaviour, addictions, and procrastination. This requires exercising our yang energy in the service of our higher good. The last five years of my life were spent inculcating self-discipline after realising its value. This discipline was my own and not imposed by any system.
Feminine Energy
This is the energy of nurture, sensitivity, and intuition. I feel, as one evolves, irrespective of our gender, we inhabit the yin energy more. Our first experience of the yin energy would be our mother. The kind of mother we have determines how we experience this energy. A balanced feminine energy would nurture without creating dependence.
In my childhood, the yin energy was missing. A boarding school environment does not provide much scope for personalisation. No one asks you how your day was, what you are feeling, or what you would like to eat today. As a result, I numbed my emotions as a coping mechanism.
When we do not allow ourselves to feel our feelings, it helps us to protect against trauma, especially as children. But, as adults, we have to pay a price for that protection. Feelings are the inner compass that guides us. If we don’t know what we feel, then we are at the mercy of outside influences to decide the direction of our life. No wonder I ended up choosing chartered accountancy, a profession that was totally divorced from my natural self.
The yin energy is also the source of kindness and compassion. But before we can extend these feelings to others, we must learn to apply them to ourselves. I have often noticed that sensitive people are very kind to others but hard on themselves. Particularly at a time of emotional crisis, we need the yin energy more than the yang energy.
Recently, when I underwent an emotional upheaval, I activated my yin energy. In any case, I was incapable of exercising my willpower, since my mind was not in my control. Such a moment is rich with spiritual vitamin. I believe every crisis contains with it the opportunity for self-transformation. Even though it is extremely anguishing to go through darkness, not knowing when the light will emerge.
The result of this crisis was that I dropped my yang self-disciplining structures and moved into the zone of yin intuitive guidance. This is a beautiful space to be in. It is fluid and unbound. It is spontaneous and free. It has no fixed template of behaviour. Since I am new to this energy, I am still discovering it. There is the uncertainty of what will happen next, and yet that is what makes life so fresh and alive.
Life is the dance of opposites. Day–night, inhale–exhale, summer–winter, north–south, order–disorder. The opposites balance and complement each other. Any energy taken to the extreme becomes destructive. There is a time to be disciplined, and there is a time to be spontaneous. Between the two, life happens.