What does “balance” mean in Chinese Medicine?
“When yin and yang are in harmony, the spirit is peaceful and the body is free of disease.”
The framework of Chinese Medicine is built on the understanding that health arises when the body is in balance. In Western biomedical terms, we might refer to this as homeostasis. Chinese Medicine describes imbalances in terms of yin and yang, excess and deficiency, cold and heat. While these terms may seem simple, they in fact encompass the body’s functions in a nuanced and sophisticated way.
Yin represents the body’s cooling and nourishing elements — its fluids, blood, and the physical substances that provide structure and containment. Yang represents the body’s warming, active mechanisms — its energy and dynamic metabolic processes that drive movement and transformation.
Excess and deficiency are easy enough — is there too much or too little of a particular function or substance?
Cold and heat describe not only physical temperature, but also patterns of circulation and inflammation. Is there too much activity or inflammation in an area (heat), or is there not enough blood flow or immune response in another (cold)?
By simplifying complex anatomical processes and qualities into these seemingly simple terms, Chinese Medicine is able to step away from the microscopic view and view the body as a dynamic whole. Everything exists along a spectrum: Are yin and yang in harmony? Is there an excess or a deficiency? Are you hot or cold?
Health then becomes a matter of rebalancing these spectrums so that you’re harmoniously in the middle. Unlike rigid diagnoses, this perspective offers flexibility and hope — the understanding that the body is constantly in flux, and balance is always within reach.
