A Western medical-metabolic lens for yin ~YANG
Self-connection 101 Article 1/5
By Bruce Dickson, MA, MSS
Abstract ~ Consider how in 2025 mainstream Western culture remains stuck in either~or thinking, old Patriarchal ideas of good vs. evil, always at war; and, darkness vs light, always at war.
I believe this blocks most Westerners from grasping YANG~yin as life-serving and life-affirming.
I believe Western medical terms hold a way for Westerners to grasp the healthier, less-one-sided, Chinese principle of complementary, dualistic yin~YANG.
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Seems to me the biggest plague we have now, is lack of healthy self-connection. This is a third Article, a short series on self-connection: WHO do you consciously partner with inside? If so, WHAT method, do you practice? HOW often? I’m exploring different ways to access a workable, positive inner partner. Each person does this somewhat uniquely.
A list can be made of well-understood, Western, dualistic-mechanisms of human metabolism. Each pair of poles begins with head pole, the higher frequency pole:
Let’s start with more tangible metabolic pairs of poles. Each pair begins with head pole, the higher frequency pole:
1) Central Nervous System (CNS) ~ Enteric Nervous System (ENS)
2) Head-brain (neocortex especially left hemisphere) ~ Gut-brain (Tongue, esophagus, omentum, stomach, small intestine, microbiome)
3) Catabolism~anabolism (most important alternating 24 hour cycle).
4) Acid~alkaline but only in our lymph system.
5) Cortisol + glutamate ~ melatonin + GABA
6) “HPA axis” reconsidered as “HPV axis” Hypothalamus-pituitary ~ Vagus nerve*
Further, outside of physical anatomy, outside of a 24 hour biorhythm, two additional invisible pairs of poles support us daily:
7) In TCM acupuncture, all the YANG meridians ~ all the yin meridians (see chart below). This connects with our front body~back body dualism.
8) In Internal Family Systems, Healthy Self-leadership ~ multiple internal parts (Minions cartoon characters).
9) Rational, sequential Thinking ~ Feeling+Intuition (some people are Feeling-Intuition dominant).
10) In the Three Selves scheme, Conscious waking Self ~ basic self.
11) “HPA axis” reconsidered as “HPV axis” Hypothalamus-pituitary ~ Vagus nerve*+
The public’s tendency to think in dualistic pairs alternating dominance is reinforced by each pair above.
I count eleven top~bottom, vertical, up-and-down, internal, poles — some physical, some non-physical yet still experiential. Each pair illustrate YANG~yin. Additions and corrections invited.
*HP up top resonates with Central Nervous System, Healthy Self-leadership, Conscious waking Self, and rational, sequential Thinking. Down below, our Vagus Nerve resonates with our Enteric Nervous System, gut-brain, multiple internal Minions, Feeling + Intuition.
+ If new to you, in polyvagal theory, the vagus nerve has two branches which mediate distinct responses. One is our front ventral vagal system. It is our capacity for physical relaxation, recovery, repair, rebuilding — and when safety exists — it is our capacity for relaxed social engagement. The second branch is the back dorsal vagal system. This is our capacity for automatic threat response: physical immobilization, fawn, freeze, faint and coma.
When we line up the above pairs, it comes more clear how each pair has:
- A first pole of more loud with more-conscious capacities, and
- A second pole more quiet with less-conscious capacities.
Also clear is how, in each pair, the two capacities alternate dominance. A 50–50 alternation is extremely rare! However, within 24 hours, the more rhythmic the alternation, the better.
Also clear is, over 24 hours, for internal health and homeostasis, alternation and communication between each pair of poles is crucial.
Clearly each pair of poles functions best as partners, each allowing the other time and space to predominate. In this way, each pole’s unique intelligences can express and contribute to whole body health.
Also clear is how when, in any one pair, one pole dominates unduly, the pair becomes one-sided, lop-sided, no longer two-sided. Further, an extreme dysfunction in one pair can affect all other pairs.
Missing from the above list
1) Missing from this list is the related topic of alternating groups of neurotransmitters within each 24-hour cycle. While not strictly “dualistic pairs,” some neurotransmitters exhibit synchronized alternation, and
2) Google has unfortunately deleted an early 2000s online forum discussion among anatomy teachers at medical training colleges; and, anatomy textbook authors (the two groups overlap considerably). I read it and took notes. Many medical anatomy teachers noticed first year medical students misunderstanding “homeostasis.” Anatomy teachers and authors observed learners thinking they knew the meaning of “homeostasis” from working room and whole-house thermostats. You set the temperature, the body adds more heat or more cooling to achieve the set tempeature.
Faulty-mechanical view of homeostasis
In a “clockwork” view of the body, homeostasis is the body’s ability to maintain a stable internal environment based on a set point; and, despite internal and external changes. Homeostasis involves a complex system of physiological processes regulating each parameters to a set point, such as: Temperature, Blood pressure, Blood sugar levels, pH balance, and Fluid balance.
More accurate yin~YANG view of homeostasis
In more organic terms, homeostasis is our body’s self-regulating ability to produce optimal physical health — given the materials we give it to work with. Rather than a set-point, within a 24 hour or 28 day cycle, opposing yet complementary forces balance each other for optimal function, often in rhythmic alternation. Just as yin and Yang partner and easily alternate, so do various metabolic systems within the body easily alternate.
Taken together, all our endocrine glands are an interacting system. This complex of glands responds to a 24 hour circadian rhythm monitored in our body by the supra-chiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus. This is the body’s master clock, regulating sleep-wake cycles and other alternating wake~sleep cycles. “Biorhythms” remains a useful word for this. A 24 hour biorhythm ls more perceptible in men; a 28 day cycle is more perceptible in women. The goal of all this interactive alternation? To move as many biomarkers as possible towards Nature’s optimally well biochemical biomarkers.
‘Alternating dualistic poles’ also basic to Psychology
Consider how many of us, most days, use Thinking to check the accuracy of our Feelings; and use Feelings to check the accuracy of our thoughts. Please consider how our internal checking process requires and uses ‘Alternating dualistic poles.’ Our use of alternating dualistic poles is foundational to dialog and older academic talk therapies.
In more recent evolutions, Holistic Psychology 1.0*; and especially 2.0* (1975–1995), our internal duality leads to regular practice of at least one method on the “Skill Ladder of Self-Connection.” Even a commitment to one method, for three or more times a week, for five minutes or more each session, can be life-serving.
To Learn More
Skill Ladder of Self-Connection, Law of Gentleness, 22 Names for the Inner Child
Towards a more Holistic Neurology & Psychology
The above pairs of poles are basic for a more workable, more holistic Neurology and Psychology. How so? Each polarity suggests to learners how to understand and access, our first, most worthwhile, internal partner, the less-conscious end of each of the above eight pairs.
Did you know there are already 22 or more names for the less-conscious being living in the front of our trunk, towards our hips, in human anatomy?
22 or more names for our less-conscious internal partner
Why are we so confused about our own less-conscious partner, confused about who she is, what she is, where she is; and, how to access her?
To sort this out, the poem, “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is helpful. Consider a group of blind men. None of them have ever seen an elephant, nor any picture of an elephant. They are now in the same room as a live elephant, trying to understand it without any sight. With his two hands, each blindman touches only one part of the elephant. Each blindman believes his one small part of the elephant, the leg, the tail, the trunk, to be the true character of the entire elephant.
When they verbally compare notes, over-generalizing from only one part, they each assume the whole elephant must be defined by the one part they have studied by touch alone. In the same exact way, this is how people are confused about their own most immediate, most accessible, internal partner. This is how all the following terms arise. See if you can add more terms to the list below:
- our vitality, prana, chi body
- the body electric, life force body
- pre-physical body
- Body deva (Aleya Dao)
- animal self, animal nature
- The body’s other half (from osteopathy)
- The organizing field (from osteopathy)
- growth body, the body electric, life force
- our body of acupuncture meridians
- immune system of the body, ‘immune system self’
- innate wisdom of the sum of your cells
- memory body, Habit Body, habit hologram
- the one who sleepwalks
- the ‘Little Artist’ of The Artist’s Way
- inner child, child within, Little Me,
- wounded inner child of the past (John Bradshaw)
- reactive emotional self
- Less conscious self
- The Minions in the “Despicable Me” cartoon movies
- “feelings and needs” in the NVC sense
- internal parts in the IFS sense
- pre-conscious
- subconscious, unconscious
- etheric body, etheric double (obsolete terms)
- gatekeeper of the etheric centers
- archetype of the dense body Max Heindel — Rudolf Steiner’s “etheric formative forces”
- morphogenetic fields (Sheldrake quoting Poppelbaum)
- neural default mode
To Learn More
Skill Ladder of Self-Connection, Law of Gentleness, 22 Names for the Inner Child
Rhythmic alternation between dualistic pairs
…is a Foundation Stone of Holistic Psychology 2.0. This is psychology NOT based on one-sided Patriarchy, aggression, competition, personal dissociation; and, sublimation. HP 2.0 is instead psychology based on healthy self-connection, on growing healthy self-connection.
Towards this, we ask questions like, “Whom do you partner with internally? In your Inner Game of Life, whom do you partner with?” and, “How’s it going?”
FAQs
Q: Does this imply if I’m not partnering with any version of my inner, less verbal, intelligence — then — I’m Island Man? I’m isolating myself?
A: I’m afraid so. Up to about age 35 or 40, Nature’s Plan is for us to be primarily preoccupied with our subjective, self-centered, experience, personal successes and failures. Nature expects us to invest 95% or more of our attention into learning the ways of the outer world. Nature understands prior to age 35, an all-consuming focus on Outer Life means little attention given to our Inner Life.
After 35, Nature’s Plan is for each adult to be more curious about their own Inner Life. “Personal growth” is a useful phrase here. Any practice which facilitates befriending our healthy child within, the healthy mother within; or, the healthy parent within is a Best Practice for you, at this time. The only way to fail at this is — not to try any method at all.
Q: Attending to my outer life is all I can handle. I have no bandwidth to attend to an additional inner life.
A: To each his own. As an awareness, you have forever to learn.
Q: Why should I bother partnering with parts of my psyche outside my daily comfort zone?
A: Doing so demonstrates your openness, your permeability, your willingness to learn something new.
Q: New? Like what?
A: To have greater access to Imagination, Intuition and Inspiration. This idea comes from Rudolf Steiner. We can add: joy and healing.
Clinical, therapeutic reason to partner internally
In 5-element acupuncture meridian training, if I understand correctly, trainers teach learners how an overcharged (hot, inflamed) symptom is always part of a dualism. A hot expression likely compensates for a corresponding undercharged symptom (cool, cold, depressed, weak deficient).
Further, if one can find the weakened, undercharged meridian/organ and build them up; then, the overcharge will calm down by itself. It’s compensating heat will no longer be useful. In other words, overcharged meridians can’t calm down because they are compensating for deficiencies not yet addressed by changes of diet, lifestyle and behavior.
This is why increasing our own self-care, taking care of our own needs, first, last and always, increases nourishing yin. Doing so is almost always effective therapy. It reduces the need for Inner and Outer over-doing of all kinds.
The same strategy, build-up the low-weak pole; then, hot pole calms down, can be used with the complementary poles of HPV axis: Hypothalamus-pituitary ~ Vagus nerve. Anyone following holistic neurology online knows there are about 100 books now on how to balance or healthfully stimulate vagus nerve function (goes by many names, basic self, yin-nourishing, see 22 names above).
Conclusion
I believe the above is a pretty good way for Westerners to understand the Chinese concept of YANG~yin. If you find better words to share this with others, please share with me. What I believe blocks most Westerners from grasping YANG~yin as life-serving and life-affirming is old Patriarchal ideas of good vs. evil always at war; and, darkness vs light, always at war.
Next article
The Mono-Mind myth was-is an old (2000 BC?) theory; it devolved from religious monotheism. It equated the waking adult psyche with the monotheistic concept of God.
To Learn More
Holistic Psychology 2.0 Third Edition; Balance on All Levels, PACME+S. Finally, a general holistic theory and experimental method (2023)
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