Moving With the Hum of the Universe

I know this new age kind of language can turn people off. I usually write about the practical side of tai chi. But honestly, the more I practice, the more I see alignment as the priority. Even over fighting. Even over longevity.

I know that sounds strange coming from someone in public health. We are trained to focus on outcomes, on years, on metrics. But spiritual alignment and nervous system regulation matter in a deeper way. Maybe they lead to a longer life. Maybe they do not. But does the number of years really matter if you are out of tune?  

Another moment that shaped this for me happened almost 30 years ago. I met Fook Yueng at a workshop. He taught a form of Tien Shan Qi Gong that he had learned in Tibet. When I practiced it, the experience was immediate and undeniable. It felt like an acid trip without drugs. I was completely in tune. In that moment I knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life.

He was an incredible teacher. That experience also changed my relationship with substances. I have been sober for many years now because I realized I did not need anything external to access that state. The body and the mind are capable of it on their own.

There is another layer to this that I do not dismiss.

For me, the idea of being one with the universe is not abstract or poetic. It is motivating. It always has been.

I remember being a kid in high school when I first heard Brain Damage and Eclipse by Pink Floyd. The line stayed with me. 

And all that is now

And all that is gone

And all that's to come

And everything under the sun is in tune. 

It did not just sound good. It felt like a direction. Like something to aim at. A way of being.

I did not have the language for it then, but I knew I wanted that sense of connection. To be in tune. Not separate. Not fragmented.

I have strayed from that many times. But I have always come back. Even this morning.

Because there are moments when the body settles into something deeper than effort. The nervous system quiets. The noise drops out. What is left feels like alignment. Like you are moving at the right frequency.

You can call it vibrational. You can call it nervous system regulation. The language does not really matter.

What matters is the experience.

For me, that is where the real power is. Not just in strength or balance or longevity, but in the ability to settle into a state where the body and mind feel in tune with something larger.

And that state changes things.

It makes you want to move better.
It makes you want to take care of your body.
It makes you less willing to drift into that slow surrender.

So yes, the practical side matters.

But the feeling of being in tune, of moving with that underlying hum, is what keeps me coming back.