The Yin Power Of Acceptance

In today’s society people often view acceptance as resignation, giving up, cowardice, retreat, or other unappealing descriptive words. The society that worships, praises, and publicizes Yang energy, the energy of ‘doing,’ typically has little understanding for the power of Yin. Yin energy imagines, envisions, perceives. Yang manifests. We need both.

Yin is a warrior’s path. It is the path of acceptance, before reaction. As an example, the martial art Aikido is defined as a way of unifying with life energy or “moving Zen,” or as “the Way of harmonious spirit.” Aikido is an art that practitioners use to defend themselves, while also protecting their attacker from injury.

In Aikido we never attack. An attack is proof that one is out of control. Never run away from any kind of challenge, but do not try to suppress or control an opponent unnaturally. Let attackers come any way they like and then blend with them. Never chase after opponents. Redirect each attack and get firmly behind it ~ Morihei Ueshiba

Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack, rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength (Yang) but enormous spiritual development to sense the Chi of the moment and blend with it before acting (Yin). Acceptance and action… yin and yang.

The significant idea here is that the action comes from Spirit, not from the reactive human mind, but rather an opening to energies (acceptance) – an ability under pressure (attack) to be calm and centered enough and open enough (heart chakra) to feel and blend with energies, before choosing what to do (how to act, or how to not act).

Acceptance is a not for the faint-hearted, nor is it something to be used in peaceful and harmonious times only. It is in fact a weapon of the spiritual warrior,both female and male. When life squeezes us, that is when we typically get most reactive. That is when we usually tell Spirit to step back, so we can handle the situation with our (puny) human mind, and our reactive and subjective Yang energy. We can use ‘life Aikido’ when under stress. Feel the energy of the situation, blend with it, accept it all and allow Spirit to guide you in what is next.

Holding still long enough to receive guidance takes courage and bravery. Sometimes, the wave will wash over you, sometimes you have to swim, but in either case we want to seek and follow the guidance of Spirit rather than react out of fear. We can replace self protection with Spirit protection.