b'Yin and Yang: A Perfect Ballet of Balance by Michael D. Bartholomew DVM, MS-TCVM, CVA, CVFT, CVTP, CTCVMP, CVHP, CTPEPIt is fair to say most people would recog- cance behind this beautifully simple yetto Yin and Yang and everything in nature nizetheYinYangsymbolevenasIcomplicated symbol.can therefore be assigned to the category describe it here: A circle with an inter- The first mention of Yin and Yangof Yin or Yang. For example, day belongs dates back to around 700to Yang, night belongs to Yin, brightness BC in the book Yi Jingbelongs to Yang, dimness belongs to Yin, (BookofChanges)heat belongs to Yang, cold belongs to Yin whereYinandYangand so forth. wererepresentedasaFor the practitioner, these relation-broken line and unbro- shipsextendtotheorgansandwhen kenlinerespectively.there is imbalance in Yin or Yang, disease Theselinesdevelopedoccurs.OrgansassociatedwithYinare into several diagrams andtypicallysolidandarethoseassociated trigramsandeventually intothesymbolwe knowtodayastheYin Yangsymbol. Thesym-bol is the perfect repre-sentationofYinand Yang and provides a way to understand all events of the natural universe. It representstheinterac-tionsofmutualbut opposingphenomena whocoexistalongside one another and cannot exist without each other.The Tai ji, also known as the Yin Yang Symbol Photograph by Arwind Bartholomew Further,thedotofby many, represents the relationship betweenDr. Bartholomew placing a needle in one of his patients, Puff,oppositecoloroneachYin and Yang merging in a continuous cycle of who has benefited greatly from Traditional Chinese Veterinaryside represents that eachcontrol and transformation. The smaller circles, Medicine and other integrative therapies.hasasmallseedofitsembedded within each, represent the portions of oppositewithin.WhenYin within Yang and Yang within Yin. lockingswirlofblackandwhitewithin balance, there is a perfect continuous each field having a small dot of the oppo- cycle of interaction with each other. Eachwith the storage of what are known as the site color within. This symbol is seen in ahas the ability to control and create thevitalsubstancesinTCVM;Qi,Blood, multitudeoflocationsincludingneck- otherwhilealsohavingtheabilitytoBody Fluids, and Essence.laces,posters,t-shirts,andmarketingtransformintoeachotherinordertoThoseorgansassociatedwithYang materialsthroughouttheworld.Infullmaintain this perfect balance.are associated with transformation, diges-disclosure, my first exposure to the YinThe theory of Yin and Yang is a con- tion and excretion of impure substances Yang symbol was from a company basedceptual pillar within Traditional Chineseandarehollow. Theserelationshipsare in Hawaii called T&C Surf in the midVeterinaryMedicine.Itisameanstofurther detailed in Table 1 at the end of 1980s. Ah, when I was young!relate all phenomena in the natural worldthis article. Most can recognize the symbol, butand shows that any natural phenomenonImbalancesinYinandYangcreate do most people know the history behindis not absolute, it is relative to other phe- disharmony and thus, disease. No disease the symbol or what it means? It was notnomena around it. Yin and Yang are nevercanoccurwhenYinandYangarein untilmyjourneyintotheworldoffixed in time, rather they exist in a con- balancebutaswewalkthroughlife, Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicinestant state of flux-of mutual consumptionimbalancebetweenYinandYangare (TCVM,almostaquartercenturyago,and support.inevitable and the same is true for our thatIbegantounderstandthesignifi- Everything in nature can be relatedpets and other animal friends. 52THE NEW BARKERwww.TheNewBarker.com'