Juicing Book

We can adjust our diet based on the yin and yang of food, especially when combined with the knowledge of the five elements.

How food is fed can affect its yin and yang quality.

Let's first examine the yin and yang spectrum in terms of cooking.

Yin (cold)
⇑ Raw
| Marinated
| Blanched
| Steamed
| Poached
| Boiled
| Pressure Cooked — neutral
| Stir–Fried
| Shallow Fried
| Deep Fried
| Baked
| Barbecued
⇓ Roasted
Yang (hot)

As we can see from the chart above, raw is pure yin energy while roasted is pure yang energy.

In terms of health, a cold (yin) body leads to problems such as diarrhea while a hot (yang) body leads to problems like constipation. This is a very simple example that shows the how yin and yang have opposite affects. Ultimately, we want a balance of yin and yang in the body.

Many of the problems that plague humans begin, as a result, of a dirty colon. One of the keys to a healthy colon is to have moisture in the colon. But when you eat foods that are high in yang energy or when your lifestyle is full of yang energy, then the heat of the yang energy begins to burn up all of the moisture in the body, including the moisture in the colon. When the moisture in the colon begins to go away, constipation begins to happen. In humans, a sore throat is connected to constipation, according to Chinese herbal medicine. As a result, in Chinese herbal medicine, the method to curing a sore throat is to treat the constipation — a sore throat is the sign of excess yang energy as is tooth pain, mouth ulcers (canker sores), dry skin, etc. Of course, this is all very general talk but you are beginning to see how things are connected, from a Chinese herbal medicine point of view.

The study of Chinese herbal medicine is really complex and there is no way I could fully explain everything here — plus, to be honest, Chinese herbal medicine is so deep in knowledge that I too am still learning. But I still apply this knowledge every day in a very basic and often helpful way.

While it's not the most pleasant story to talk about, the reality is that we can begin to determine our state of health, that is whether or not we have have too much yin or yang energy, by observing our bowel movements.

Constipation, have some straining, small pebble like stools along with stools that are excessively dry, all show signs of excess yang energy in their body.

Loose bowel movements and diarrhea indicate too much yin energy.

Watching stools, during the periods of normal health help us simply determine the balance of yin and yang in the body. We might find, as an example, that we have slight straining — indicating that there is excess yang (hot) energy in the body. We can then observe and perhaps we realize that we are storing food in plastic containers, which is the root of the problem since plastic has fire properties — or perhaps, we notice that there is too much red around us creating too much heat. We may also notice that we are using too much stainless steel in the kitchen, which also has yang energy.

If we have loose stools or soft stools, then perhaps we have too much yin energy. We can then make adjustments to bring some more yang energy into our body

Feel free to also read:

• Feng Shui Jucing
• Yin and Yang, A Basic Explanation
• The Five Elements Explained
• The Five Elements Explained Further
• The Yellow Emperor and other Chinese Healers

Have you been wanting to do hatha yoga (stretching) but have found it either too difficult or you are not that flexible? If yes, and even if no, watch Jesse do some pure hatha yoga routines.

Unlike flow yoga, each pose in pure or traditional hatha yoga is held for a few minutes. While holding the pose, you focus the mind on the stretch. When you focus the mind, that's when you find silence.

Jesse is not flexible — never has been and probably never will be flexible like others. But it doesn't matter. In pure hatha yoga, how flexible you are makes no difference. It's all about loving the pose and focussing the mind on the stretch.

If you want to learn pure hatha yoga, now you can by following Jesse on a series of hatha yoga routines.

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