This article is going to share with you why Yin Yang philosophy is needed more than ever to improve personal and professional connection and healing.
With the rise of Chinese Medicine being practiced in the United States, mostly in the form of Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, martial arts, qi gong, mindfulness trainings, and meditation, Yin Yang philosophy is easy-to-learn and apply to our personal and professional lives. While many people may think "yin yang" is a synonym for "dualistic," Yin Yang philosophy is more than you think. When applied to our lives, Yin Yang philosophy, facilitates connection and healing. The complementary opposite qualities that define yin and yang, create a very basic language, void of power, jargon, or stigmas that helps us to find mutual understanding. I like to call these complimentary opposite qualities, Nature's Language*.
Below are the three main reasons why I wish every healthcare professional understood and applied this philosophy and Nature's Language into their lives:
Nature's Language is easy to use. Yin Yang philosophy offers us a very easy-to-use language. In a time in healthcare and academia where there are more models, theories, professional jargon, and lingo in the name of differentiation and branding, the basic qualitative language of Yin and Yang are accessible. At a personal level, understanding Yin and Yang helps us to understand the world we live in without dualist and judgmental "right and wrong" "good or bad" reasoning. The framework of Yin and Yang philosophy, coupled with its qualitative language is a framework that is easy to learn and apply immediately (if we choose). Every profession has its professional jargon, terminology, ethos, culture, and biases which often leads to stigma, judgements, and disconnection.
Nature's Language improves connection and understanding. Because of its simplicity, the language improves connection by reducing labels and parts of life and experiences that go unheard, unseen, and unnoticed into qualities that we can all relate to. When something is more relatable, then relationships and connection are strengthened. Using Nature's Language becomes a direct easy-to-use tool to address the US Surgeon General's 2023 findings on loneliness and the proposed Six pillar strategy outlined in his advisory paper (2023, HHS.gov) Understanding, applying, and using the language of yin and yang covers all 6 of his pillars with the ultimate goal of increasing connection. As a healthcare provider, creating connections and shared understanding is vital to our work. This type of connection can be the bridge of a patient, or professional, being unheard, unseen, unnoticed, and lonely to feeling seeing, heard, acknowledged, and partnering in their care.
Nature's Language redistributes power and authority. In any position of authority and power, like a healthcare provider, there is a dance between the patient/client and provider. The patient is looking for answers, and their expectations are that you, the wise one with a lot of education, will help them find the answers. The reality is, medicine is a practice, and each patient with a chief complaint is different. Much of what has been taught and practiced until recently has been so reductionist that people aren't getting the answers they are seeking. Luckily, we've entered an era when the idea of "individualized medicine" and "person-centered care" have become the new mission and vision. But if providers continue to use fancy medical terminology, this can also lead to a lack of connection and understanding by the patient. Nature's Language uses simple qualities that people around the globe can relate to. By using basic qualities, the provider and patient can use common language. We know there is a growing distrust in healthcare system since COVID 19 but Casselman-Hontalas, et al., show this was already beginning prior to COVID 19, (2024, Casselman-Hontalas, et al). The peer reviewed article Trust in Health Care: Insights From Ongoing Research points out, "There is much to be learned from the current body of research on trust that is focused on interpersonal relationships and community-level interventions." (Health Affairs Forefront, January 11, 2022). Using Nature's Language, the basic complementary opposing qualities, which can improve interpersonal relationships by creating mutual understanding in a professional setting.
Building interpersonal relationships at the community-level begins with each of us doing our part to learn new tools and broaden our understanding of each other. To move outside of labels, profession jargon, and terminology which come with stigma and judgements and can limit our interactions or even cause more disconnection or harm, we can move towards connection and understanding by employing Nature's Language of Yin and Yang.
*Gurvadi Gunas, in Ayurveda, is a similar concept but is limited to 10 pairs of opposites.
References
Discourses of Distrust: How Lack of Trust in the U.S. Health-Care System Shaped COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy. Amy Casselman-Hontalas, Dominique Adams-Santos, Celeste Watkins-Hayes. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Sep 2024, 10 (4) 154-172; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2024.10.4.07
New Surgeon General Advisory Raises Alarm about the Devastating Impact of the Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation in the United States | HHS.gov
"Trust In Health Care: Insights From Ongoing Research", Health Affairs Forefront, January 11, 2022. DOI: 10.1377/forefront.20220110.928032
Wilkins C. H. (2018). Effective Engagement Requires Trust and Being Trustworthy. Medical care, 56 Suppl 10 Suppl 1(10 Suppl 1), S6–S8. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000000953
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