For me, this weekend was a smorgasbord of an interesting yin-yang mix of relaxation and activity, as well as contemplation and intellectualizing. As part of the long weekend, I spent some quality time in meditation, diving into the soul waters within, which was helpful for allowing me to get perspective on my relationship to my body and eating.

One of the things that came up for me to look at is the balance of masculine and feminine in my life.

Of course, we all have masculine and feminine aspects to our physical and psychological beings. After all, think of hormones – a man has estrogen and a woman has testosterone in his and her bodies, right? As for the psychological components, ancient Asian teachings have summarized these well: the masculine principle symbolizes being direct, linear, objective, scientific, outward-directed, methodical, and practical. Think of a sun shining brightly – this is the utmost masculine energy, fueling growth with its undying warmth and brilliance. The feminine part of our being is the other side of these qualities – being indirect, organic, subjective, spiritual, inward-directed, amorphous, and emotional. If the masculine is the sun, the feminine in us is like the moon – cool, nourishing, soothing, and gentle, harnessing the emotional tides within.

Both aspects are needed and one is not more important than the other. What is needed most of all is some degree of the balance of the opposites. By examining how and what you are eating, you can get a pretty good sense as to whether your feminine-masculine (yin-yang) aspects are in harmony.

When it comes to eating, the healthy masculine aspect reflects a connection with strong digestion, hearty metabolism, a healthy sense of hunger and satiety, and eating according to the body’s need. The male principle thrives off of instinct. However, in an imbalanced state, the masculine aspect could manifest as over-intellectualizing food – dissecting it to calories, grams, and endless deciphering of ingredients; eating too fast; indigestion; overeating; and eating large amounts of protein, especially animal protein.

Similarly, the feminine aspect of eating shines through honoring the beauty and nourishing qualities of food, tapping into sensual properties relating to eating such as taste, touch, smell, and sight, gathering food, and food preparation. The female inclination is to follow intuition. The converse of an imbalanced feminine state could unfold as over-emotionalizing food – connecting it to fear, anger, worry, sadness; eating copious amounts of fat (or fearing eating fat); and using food to show love to self and others.

Ask yourself – where are you at on your masculine-feminine continuum when it comes to food and eating? For me, I found I was checking in at both extremes of those continuums at different times – sometimes I found myself in a state of “analysis-paralysis”, while other times, I found I could easy cave in to eating for emotional reasons. By focusing on the masculine-feminine energies within and getting a read of where I was at, I noticed that I could balance my appetite and eating better. When I felt driven and stressed, I tried to allow the flower of my feminine nature to blossom and soothe me with silence and relaxed eating. When I was riding an emotional rollercoaster, I focused on tuning into my body rather than being lost in the “noise” of my feelings, like trying to get away from static on the radio to a station where you like the music.

Here are some ideas of what you may want to try:

If you say you are over-masculine, with a tendency to over-analyze everything you eat, allow your feminine to come to the rescue and surrender to the beauty of a well-prepared, savory meal.

If you find that you are over-feminine, and feel prone to emotional eating, allow yourself to cultivate and grow a direct relationship with your body, your temple.

And if one of these elements seems out of balance in eating, chances are it will manifest imbalances elsewhere, such as your personal or professional lives. By balancing your eating, you will balance your life, so eating is a great place to start!