Yin & Yang side of body
forum post
Last week, during a diagnose seminar we had a discussion at school about the yin & yang side of the body. The discussion was open-ended since we moved on to another subject.
Front/back
Which is clear: the front side is yin, and the back side of the body is yang. This is explainable (soft vs hard, receiving vs protecting).
Left/right
The discussion was about the left and the right side though. The right side of the body has the fire kidney (Yang), whereas there’s a water kidney (Yin) on the left (to cool the heat of the heart). But is there a theory about one of the sides of the body being relatively more yin or yang, when we look at left & right?
Many sources (non-tcm) suggest the left side of the body would be more feminine (yin), because of its connection to the right brain. And so this would mean the right side of the body is seen as more masculine (yang).
What would the TCM view be upon this? And if one side would be more masculine/feminine, why would that be? Maybe there are more different theories and explanations. Any cues would be most welcome!
*The reason we came to this was because we had a case of a woman showing a masculine posture/attitude. Asking further: she has had issues with an ovarian cyst with a diameter of 13cm.
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Comments / Discussions:
comment by "anon15547"
on Oct 2019
Very interesting observation. Might I enquire as to which side of the body the ovarian cyst is located?
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comment by "anon87428"
on Oct 2019
The cyst was diagnosed on the left ovary. Later it was removed with a big incision, because of its size.
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comment by "anon53868"
on Feb 2020
Interestingly, had this discussion just yesterday with master acupuncturist ( he’s also fourth gen acupuncturist in the family). Quoting his words “there is no left side right side. Both sides are yin and yang”. Left/right side confusion might simply steam from kidney/gallbladder imbalances.
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comment by "radharamana" (student)
on Jul 2023
I've had digestive heaviness for 20 years and sleep maintenance insomnia for 10 years. I've been going for acupuncture for the last 4 months. I notice a definite difference between the therapeutic affect of treating the right ear or left ear and the right hand or left hand. For my condition left hand works and right ear works. Recently was treated in the left ear and immediately got a head cold and sleep problem came back. Did the exact same points but on the right ear and head cold cleared and sleep improved. From my personal experience it seems there is a gap in TCM knowledge on this point.
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