Juggling between Yin and Yang

From time to time, we hear people making remark that

vegetarian diet is too Yin
and hence it's not very ideal to go absolutely vegetarian.

While there is substantial wisdom behind this remark,
there is no need to be discouraged to go fully vegetarian/vegan.

I was sitting in a Macrobiotics guru, Richard Seah's lecture 6 years ago,
and heard him analysing a case study of
his close friend, Shakib Gunn who
was supposedly very wrong with his vegetarian diet.
Richard claimed that Shakib's diet was very "Expanding"
("Expanding" tho' not equivalent, but is very close to "Yin" in Macrobiotics term).

Richard scratched his head for a long time,
wondering how could a guy like Shakib
led an active and cheerful lifestyle with his totally 'imbalanced' diet;
until he discovered that Shakib had a routine of swimming in the sea every morning.

He explained to the audience that
the sea salt and the sun belongs to "Contracting" elecments (opp of "Expanding" ie Yang),
and these elements could balance the "Expanding" elements (Yin) from his diet.

From this small case study,
it was clear that when we talk about balancing Yin and Yang,
we have to think out of the dining plate.

The balance of Yin and Yang
takes into the consideration of diet, season, environment, emotion etc.

Hence, whether a Yin-inclined vegetarian diet can sustain a person's health/life,
relies not only on the diet itself,
but also how this very person balance multiple aspects of his life.

Vegetarian diet is a compassionate lifestyle
that cares for the environment and animals,
we should have good faith
that it will do good to everybody include our own good self  =)


Well regards,
Kee Yew


{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}