Yin/Yang Bodytype in Macrobiotics

[Carol]

I am very new to Macrobiotics and a friend of mine from Korea said that I should first see a doctor to evaluate my Yin/Yang bodytype. She said that this will help me get a clearer idea of what types of foods I need to become better balanced. Does anyone have a suggestion for me regarding this?

[Bruce Paine]

Carole,

Is it true that the LAN (Local Area Network[s]) sing in Lansing, Michigan? ;-)


Macrobiotics, and the traditional medicine and philosophy of the non-macrobiotic oriental cultures, define yin and yang differently, so one might be a little careful when getting involved in macrobiotics to not try to compare the two (cultures).

In macrobiotics, the direction of yin (heaven's force) is centrifugal and the direction of yang (earth's force) is centripetal.

Whereas, in traditonal oriental medicine and philosophy, yin is (earth's force) centripetal and yang is (heaven's force) centrifugal.

If you or your friend already believe in traditonal oriental medicine and philosophy and you still wish to learn about macrobiotics, then that difference is one thing you will need to consider.

The yin/yang body types are only a part of macrobiotic diagnosis, however, whereas one's present condition as well as constitution, what one 's dietary history, present diet, one's work, lifestyle, climate, season, etc., all contribute to how a person is evaluated and how that person can heal themselves

Naboru Muramoto (in his out of print, "Healing Ourselves") describes yin/yang body types towards the end of his "Diagnosis" chapter, and I would like to share it here but it won't do you much good if you haven't yet learned much about what macrobiotics is or about what are the general characteristics of yin and yang in most common phenomena.

What do you know about macrobiotics, so far?

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Carol]

Dear Bruce,

Thank you so much for responding. I do appreciate it. Since I am so new to macrobiotics, (actually doing the diet regime) I know that there is much to learn. I started reading about it when I was in college (1982), but like so many others found it difficult (challenging ) to follow. Funny, that you should mention Muramoto. I just read his book, Natural Immunity-Insights on Diet and Aids. (The only book I could find at the E. Lansing Public Library that seemed interesting.) So, I’m obviously (NOT) Sing(ing) the praises of the Library;-) Yet, I must say that overall, the book was extremely interesting and informative.

I guess I’m ready at this stage in my life to take on the challenge. I have read a few other books mentioned here in the various forums, but I was so intrigued by my friend’s interpretation of what was Yin and Yang that I thought I should find out more about it. My friend is Korean, but she is a Japanese language teacher, and her husband is Japanese, so I didn’t think that there would be a cultural difference in the interpretation since it appears that she and her husband’s family (deeply macrobiotic) do not have any difference in their ideology regarding it. (But I think I should really investigate more since you have mentioned a huge difference in the actual way to analyze the yin/yang forces.)

Do you happen to know of a good book that describes this difference? (Then I will have a good discussion with my friend about the significance.) She is a great resource and I think it would be so good for me to really analzye the differences.


Thank you again for your response and insight.
Best wishes,
Carol

[Johnnyzen]

[Actually, if you are new to macrobiotics, you can start with the standard macro diet, w hich is 50 to 60 per-cent whole grains, 35 per-cent vegetables, 10 per-cent beans, 5 per-cent soups like miso. Check a book to see what veggies are best. My counsellor recommended some roots, leafys and some above ground veggies, a third of each. Beans in moderation. very little oil. Fruit maybe 3 times a week in moderation. Enjoy!!!!

[MJS]

Hi Carol,
I haven't been on the forums for a while but saw your post and felt
compelled to respond. I have had such good response to the body character diet that I follow. The system is Korean and the man who does the analysis (based on your birth chart) is a Buddhist monk living in Berkeley, CA. He has thousands of clients around the world and is even recommended by western medical professionals. What he will do is tell you what your internal conditions are, which organs are too weak/strong, and which foods to eat and avoid in order to correct these imbalances. I think someone combining his system with macrobiotics is guaranteed to get profound results -- I know that I have, in recovering from chronic fatigue.

His website is www.healingthesource.com

Good Luck!
Mara