Eastern Philosophy and Relationships: The Interplay of Yin & Yang

Any and all kinds of relationships often call for us to go to hell and back in order to sustain them “successfully”. Whether its business, romantic, family, or a variety of social relationships, dealing with people seems to have become harder and harder in this age of social media, and times of unchecked political and corporate greed. Because of the pain and anxiety in these relationships, many people choose to remove themselves as best they can from social interactions to avoid dealing with the dynamics of relating to others. Folks in all age groups, but especially millennials are finding it incredibly hard to form stable and lasting friendships and romantic relationships. Businesses often function with unchecked dysfunctional relationships protected and aided by organizational and corporate mantras that range from the need to make a profit, to being a team player, to this is just the way things are in the business world. And families, bringing the weight of the world into their homes deal with new emergent types of relational dysfunction as in no other time before in modern history.

It doesn’t have to be this way and there are wonderful natural tools and teachings from the past that can help us.

How can an ancient philosophy of thought and perceptions about life phenomena over 3000 years old positively impact and improve our relationships today? In this Olio, we are going to explore the power of the ancient Chinese Taoist concepts of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements as they relate to relationships. Speculated to have arisen in Nigeria, Africa with the Yoruba people as “Ifa” around 20,000 BC and migrating over time to China, the binary concepts of Yin and Yang form a foundation to understanding all types of relationships and interactions in the world.

The philosophy of the Five Elements came along many years later and added nuance and depth to the understanding of the changes and interactions within relationships and how to successfully manage them in healthy, non-destructive ways. We are going to learn how to loosen up our western conditioned minds to accept a more fluid, dynamic and hopeful approach to navigating the waters of all types of relationships in our lives. You will walk away with tools that can potentially revolutionize your life in unimagined ways and last you a lifetime!

Darryl Aiken-Afam is a martial artist and a practitioner of the Taoist healing and meditation arts, Meridian Cleansing Qigong, Zen Shiatsu and Taoist psychology. Darryl created his own system of Chi energy based yoga called Meridian Touch back in 2000, derived from Chinese Tao-In exercises and blended with Zen Shiatsu, Athletic Training, and Martial Arts philosophy.