Paying attention to the male and female sides of your body can help give you clues in how to balance your life.

If you look in the mirror and view your profile from each side, you may notice that the two sides of your face are slightly different from one another. Additionally, your left hand is similar to but different from your right hand. In fact, these subtle differences pervade both sides of your entire body. Considering these differences in the context of the idea that the right side of your body represents the masculine and the left side represents feminine may shed some light on how balanced you are in relation to your masculine and feminine qualities.

Intuition, feelings, openness, and unselfishness govern the feminine side of our natures. The masculine side is characterized by logic, facts, systems, and self-interest. If you are giving too much to others to the detriment of yourself, your feminine side may be overactive and your right side may need strengthening to speak up on your behalf, protecting and conserving your energy. If your life is too rigidly structured, your masculine aspect may be overactive; developing your feminine aspect will bring a more open-ended and creative approach.

Maintaining harmony between the left side and the right side, the feminine and masculine, is a key to wholeness. We can foster awareness of our own relative state of balance by tuning in to our bodies. When you close your eyes and scan your body, what do you see? You may find that most of your ailments, from acne to muscle tension, occur on the left side of your body. This might indicate that your feminine aspect is out of balance in some way. Similarly, if you notice a lot of tension in your right shoulder, perhaps your masculine side is overtaxed or weakened. Just noticing an imbalance is the beginning of healing it. Some imbalances may be long-standing, and it may take time to bring your system into equilibrium. Remember to be gentle with yourself and listen to your body. Over time, doing this can guide you to a dynamic state of inner and outer balance.