1) OPPOSITION
Everything has two opposite aspects. Yin & Yang struggle with and control each other.

2) INTER-DEPENDENCE
Yin & Yang define each other and therefore one cannot exist without the other. (If there is no down, which way is up?)

3) MUTUAL CONSUMPTION & SUPPORT
Yin & Yang each give of themselves to nourish the other.

4) INTER-TRANSFORMATION
YIn can become Yang and Yang can become Yin. In fact, this is inevitable if the growth of one or the other is uncontrolled.

5) INFINITE SUBDIVISIBLITY
There is always a bit of one in the other. Anything can be subdivided again and again.

EXAMPLES OF YIN YANG RELATIONSHIPS

• OPPOSITION - ocean and beach, Democrat and Republican
• INTER-DEPENDENCE - up and down, in and out
• MUTUAL CONSUMPTION & SUPPORT - cows and pasture, tree and moss
• INTER-TRANSFORMATION - malaria, economic boom and bust
• INFINITE SUBDIVISIBLITY - United States Tax Code

The Yin Yang relationships below are utilized so frequently that each of the characteristics has been designated either Yin or Yang. Fixed categorization would violate the laws of Yin & Yang but the designations aren't fixed. They're simply a convenience which simplifies communication among those familiar with Yin & Yang.

Yin & Yang are so entwined that one cannot exist without the other. They are irrevocably two parts of a whole. That’s why their relationships are called The Law of the Unity of Opposites. When forces of the universe create a Yin and a Yang they come together and, in the case of humans, create a life. As long as Yin and Yang maintain their dynamic oscillating balance the life exists. The closer to the center of their oscillation the extremes of their cycles are, the less illness will occur. When they separate, that life ceases. These facts yield a very useful definition: Health is life in balance.