Balancing Your Masculine and Feminine Energies

 

The thought that we all have masculine and feminine energies within ourselves is nothing new. If you take a look around, there are masculine and feminine energies everywhere in the universe. According to a very interesting book, The Kybalion, the Law of Gender states that “gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.”

 

 

The masculine and feminine energies can not only be found in humans, but also in plants, electrons, magnetic poles and minerals. We live in a polarized reality. There are many names for it; Eastern cultures call it Yin and Yang, and famous psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung coined the terms Anime and Animus.

 

 

 

So every man and woman have both masculine and feminine energies within. This has nothing to do with sexual preference or gender. Regardless of the gender of a person, each soul has a certain amount of male energy and female energy. This makes perfect sense, as each of us come from both the masculine and feminine, we all have a father and a mother: sperm and egg. And neither one is more important than the other. They just provide different and very necessary elements to our being. You can think of a battery, one end is negative and the other positive. It doesn’t mean that the positive end is good and the negative end bad. They are just opposite charges and they are both necessary for the battery to function.

 

The masculine and feminine energies within ourselves also act like a battery. They are the fuel that allows us to be who we are. Engaging both the masculine and feminine is what ends up making us whole. Unfortunately because of parental, societal but also cultural conditioning many people experience an imbalance in these energies. We can become overly identified with one or the other energy. This imbalance manifests in our emotions, thoughts and body causing all sorts of trouble.

 

 

How Do Masculine and Feminine Energy Differ?

 

Simply said the masculine energy contains the more direct, rational and practical qualities. This is usually linked to competition, ambition, strength, risk taking, and analytical abilities. The feminine energy on the other hand contains intuitive, creative, feeling and visionary qualities. And is usually linked to love, vulnerability, softness, receiving and accepting. The masculine energy is outward directed and the feminine energy is more inward looking. In the overview below you can see some of the different qualities:

 

Masculine Energy	Feminine Energy
Doing	Being
Aggression	Surrender
Analytical	Intuitive
Concrete	Abstract
Impatient	Patient
Striving	Tranquil
Rushing	Nurturting
Assertive	Receptive
Left brain	Right brain
Thrusting	Receiving
Organization	Synthesizing
Logical	Creative
Busy	Calm
Hard	Soft
Controlling	Allowing

 

The above list obviously contains generalizations. And the truth is that we are always in the flow of both energies. Sometimes we express more of the masculine and sometimes more of the feminine energy. Balancing these energies within is crucial for achieving piece and progress in life. A project at work will for example be a success, if you take inspired creativity (feminine energy) and channel it, with a logical plan (masculine energy). The result is a fabulous finished project. Also for healthy relationships the presence of both energies is needed to balance things out. It doesn’t really matter who plays which role, as long as both energies are present (people are diverse, not all men have high masculine energy and not all women have high feminine energy).

 

You can look at yourself in any given situation and see how the balance may shift towards one or the other. You should always strive to find a balance between the two. This brings calm and peace within. The opposite on the other hand will bring unrest, stress and an unbalanced life.

 

Imbalanced Masculine and Feminine Energies

 

That brings me to why we so many of us feel imbalanced.

 

Today, we live in a society where the traits of the masculine energy are overvalued. Men, but especially women have to become more masculine in order to succeed. They have to become more competitive and assertive, internalize their emotions and become more “logical”. Men and women that are out of touch with their feminine energy have the feeling that they have to keep moving and doing continually. As staying in the masculine means more ambition, more competition, more procedures and also more stress. This can put their nervous system on high alert and ultimately leading to adrenal fatigue and depression.

 

Signs of living too much in your masculine energy are : aggressiveness, anger, anxiety, overly critical and judgmental, overly confident, feeling burnt out, feeling overly competitive, inability to relax. If this sounds like you, you need to integrate the feminine back into your life.

 

On the other hand when people operate primarily from their feminine side they can struggle to create the experiences they want in the world. They lose sight of their goals, lose inspiration to create the things they want for themselves. They can slip into hopelessness and depression. Remember that it is the feminine that is the creative energy and the male energy is goal-oriented, directed and focused and acts on it by doing.

 

Signs of living too much in your feminine energy are: lack of confidence, low self-esteem, feelings of jealousy, confused, feeling weak and lifeless, stagnation, tired and depression. If this sounds like you, you need to integrate the masculine back into your life.

 

Some of the reasons why many of us today experience an imbalance between our inner masculine and feminine energies are:

 

• The mainstream media (tv shows, movies, songs and social media). As an example men are socialized not to show feelings or let others in, they cannot cry and need to be assertive, confident and strong. Women are conditioned to compare and compete with other women. They need to improve physically and alter their bodies to become “more beautiful”.
• The absence of fatherly love/energy during formative years and/or the lack of healthy female role models. They can all inhibit a natural connection to the masculine or feminine energies in our lives.
• The hierarchical, often ego-driven corporate office culture is very much a high masculine energy environment. Women sometimes struggle to soften once they leave their job. This may cause them to feel unbalanced, stressed and stuck. They may become rigid and lose their flow.

 

So if you feel stressed, unrest or feel that your life is unbalanced, the basic question you need to ask yourself is: “what is the current balance of male and female energies in my life?”  

 

Below are a number of practical ways you can get in touch with the masculine or feminine in yourself and in the world

 

If you want to get more in touch with the masculine or feminine in yourself you only have to remember that masculine energy is about doing, go getting, goal seeking and giving.  And feminine energy is about being, acceptance and receiving. So then, activities that incorporate the masculine qualities will increase your masculine energy and activities that incorporate the feminine qualities will raise your feminine energy. Here are some examples:

 

Ways to engage your masculine energy:

 

• Be an active giver. Give something freely, without expecting anything in return. This can be a gift (or even money), your attention, volunteer work or your time.
• Support your loved ones unconditionally. Don’t be judgmental in support of one of their dreams. But encourage them towards their fears; give them support for their attempt.
• Pick a skill, trade or specific expertise and fully master it.  It’s not really important what you choose to fully master as long as you have something in your life that you are determined to develop and master.
• Fight. Taking some kind of martial art or self defence class gives you a boost of masculine energy.
• Do something you enjoy. This includes any activity that you enjoy that requires “doing”. For instance working out, riding your bike or going for a walk.
• Have guys only time. You soak up each other’s energies and inspire each other’s masculine energy when you are exclusively in the company of other men.

 

Ways to engage your feminine energy:

 

• Simply receive. Whether it is a compliment, massage, pedicure, having someone make a meal for you, or laying down and just being aware of your energy, simply allow yourself to receive.
• Say “yes” when someone offers to do something for you. Just receive what someone is giving you and be nurtured. Don’t be tempted to step in to “fix” things if they don’t do it “right” in your eyes. As an example, if your child offers to fold the laundry don’t say yes, only to step in later to refold it. Simply receive!
• Have females only time. A big way to recharge your feminine energy is to spend intentional time with other women. Share and uplift each other, give and receive support and share  wisdom and advice. 
• Engage your creativity. Dance, sing, draw, paint, dress up or do any other activity that you want to do which engages your creativity.
• Nurture your body. Eat healthy foods, rub essential oils on your skin, take a bath. Just engage the senses and nurture your body in a way that feels good to you.

 

Have you experienced an imbalance between your masculine and feminine energy? If not, which strategies do you use to maintain the balance between these two?