Ways to Enhance Yin Energy
“How can I increase my yin energy?”
I always respond to this question in the same way. I write about the concepts of yin and the feminine to bring clarity to our perception of these ideas. In my teachings, I explain this in depth and guide people to understand it through physical practice, aiming for a deeper embodiment.
I never believed I could understand yin energy through reading, and in truth, I didn’t. It was only after experiencing the “quality of yin” through dance that I began to grasp the meaning behind what I had read. For those of you who have danced with me before, what follows will likely resonate with you on a deeper, internal level.
1- We cannot “increase” yin energy. Yin energy doesn’t grow through effort; rather, it deepens through surrender and letting go. It is not something to be "worked on" or achieved, but rather something to be allowed.
2- Confusing the term “yin” with the gender “feminine” or “femininity” is a distortion. It is both a result of capitalist manipulation and a misunderstanding of the core concept. Yin energy isn’t about societal expectations of womanhood; it’s not a performance of femininity.
3- As the concept of biological sex continues to lose its significance, defining ourselves based on our biological gender will become increasingly irrelevant. It is more accurate to see yin and yang not as gender-based, but as complementary forces that shape the entire spectrum of existence. Yin and yang energy are not tied to gender, but rather to the polarities that exist within all of us.
4- When we free yin energy from the confines of “femininity,” we see that most suggestions for increasing it are externally driven. Yet yin energy is not concerned with the external world. Any approach that imposes control from the outside is inherently yang. Yin energy is about feeling, about being, and it transcends gender identity—it applies to all humans, regardless of whether we identify as female, male, non-binary, queer, or any other orientation. For instance, we might perceive a woman with a short haircut and wearing loose clothes as lacking feminine energy due to social conditioning, but in truth, we can never fully know how deeply she might be rooted in her own yin energy.
When we strip away these preconceptions and truly see someone, we may notice subtle signals of their authentic being.
However, paradoxically, this ability to truly perceive others requires a deepened yin energy within ourselves. The more we are disconnected from our yin, the harder it becomes to notice it in others.
5- Everyone is a unique blend of yin and yang energy. The notion that “yang serves yin” is often misinterpreted through the lens of gender: “Men serve women.” But the true meaning is more internal—it’s about how our actions (yang) serve our emotions and inner states (yin). This is an expression of the dynamic between the two forces within ourselves. It’s easy to coincide Feminism with Taoism here, but that would be a surface-level reading of the philosophy.
6- You cannot usually see yin energy. Just as we cannot fully perceive or define the unconscious mind, we know yin energy exists but our conscious access to it is limited. Like the unconscious, it directs much of our behavior. We can exercise a certain level of conscious control, but in the end, we often find ourselves trapped by emotions and actions we cannot escape, no matter how much we resist them. In a similar way, yin energy guides our lives invisibly, sometimes leaving us with a longing to reconnect with it.
7- We may resist dividing existence into these dualities, and rightfully so. Yet on the plane of human experience, we break things down into parts in order to make sense of them. But the moment we let go of the mind and fall back into ourselves, we can transcend these distinctions—gender, body, world, matter. In those moments, we can experience the sheer presence of being, realizing that while we are a tiny point in the vast universe, that point is also infinitely expansive.
8- Our physical body, as matter, is yang, while our feelings, emotions, and spirit are yin—more eternal, intangible. Here, dance becomes a means to bridge the two. We use our body as a gateway to touch our inner spiritual self. This is why sometimes dance leaves us unsatisfied, filled only with exertion and drive, while at other times, we transcend through dance, forget ourselves for a moment and simply BE.
9- To access this state of being—this connection with yin—humanity has developed countless methods: through art, music, meditation, walking, or any practice that fuses the material with the spiritual. By finding ways to feel the spirit through matter, we become more whole in the world. Relationships with others offer this experience too, but as we know, trying to fill our own gaps through others is ultimately damaging.
May we all reach a time when we fully embrace and integrate our yin and yang, experiencing unity within ourselves.