Oneness is actually not about learning in the usual way. Most teachings tell you how to learn – how to let go, how to calm down, how to manage anger. Oneness does the opposite: we stand, we train the body to correct the heart, and then we live from that heart.
Today’s episode is about something most of us long for: feeling healthy in our bodies and calm in our minds – not by pushing harder, but by letting the body restore itself. Our guest today is LD Chen, an entrepreneur-turned-author who discovered the ancient wisdom that healing doesn’t come from trying harder, but from restoring the body’s natural intelligence. LD believes everyone has the right to live peacefully and free from constant stress and anxiety – to move through life with genuine joy, peace, and appreciation. After quickly building a 1,000-person company and then facing burnout and serious health issues, LD’s life changed when he encountered an ancient standing practice called Oneness. He is now the Head Coach of the Oneness Institute for America and Europe, and author of the Amazon bestseller Oneness: The Self-Healing Secret You Were Never Supposed to Know.
L.D. CHEN
Many people today talk about flow, balance, effortlessness — but this idea is actually very old. German philosopher Karl Jaspers called 800–300 BCE the Axial Age — the time when our greatest teachers appeared almost together: in Greece (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), in India (the Buddha), and in China (Lao Tzu). Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching is the second-most translated book in the world after the Bible.
There is one verse — Chapter 48 — that explains Oneness perfectly: “When you pursue knowledge, you gain every day.
When you practice the Tao, you lose every day.”
Tao means the Way, the Truth.
So to live in flow and balance, we don’t keep adding — we remove what covers our original clarity.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
You often say “subtraction, not accumulation.” That’s very counter-cultural to our Western way of thinking? How do you explain that to someone used to self-improvement as constant effort?
L.D. CHEN
We live in stress. Social media makes us compare, want, prove — all day. Every time we scroll, we stir the mud again. So if we really want peace, we cannot add more — we must subtract. Subtraction isn’t suppression. It’s letting the mud settle. When we stop stirring, the water clears by itself. That’s why I say: healing is not addition — healing is subtraction.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
You say Oneness is about learning to know yourself. That sounds simple, but what does it mean in practice?
L.D. CHEN
Oneness is actually not about learning in the usual way. Most teachings tell you how to learn — how to let go, how to calm down, how to manage anger. Oneness does the opposite: we stand, we train the body to correct the heart, and then we live from that heart.
When you practice, energy and awareness gradually build. When both are strong, the mind settles naturally. Then you start seeing truth — about yourself, your reactions, your habits — very clearly. This is why every person’s journey is different. We’ve seen students come for depression, anxiety, chronic pain — but their journeys are not the same because their tendencies are not the same: childhood, education, work style, family pattern — all different.
My teacher, Grandmaster Yu, says:
“Practice one minute, and there is one minute of change.”
You may not notice it — but it’s already happening.
I like to use the mountain-climbing metaphor: At first you climb but the view hasn’t changed — you think “nothing’s happening.” You keep climbing. Then one day you turn back — and the view is completely different. The air is fresh, the world wider, and you realize how far you’ve come.
That’s what happens inside: symptoms lighter, thoughts clearer, creativity stronger. Then you climb again — sometimes the view won’t change for a while — then suddenly it changes again. After nine years, my health is much better, my anger is almost dissolved, my awareness is deeper. But every time I meet Grandmaster Yu, I realized — my ego is still hiding somewhere.
So to know yourself is a long journey — what Zen calls awakening. But it’s also exciting — because once I healed, and experienced the changes, I became curious: How far can a human go? That curiosity keeps me practicing — and sharing.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
So the body becomes a mirror – showing us who we really are.
L.D. CHEN
Exactly. Knowing yourself is not intellectual – it’s felt.
Thich Nhat Hanh said: when there is no wind, the surface of the lake reflects mountains and valleys clearly. When even a small wind blows, the reflection distorts.
It’s the same with us. Fear, desire, stress – they are the wind. When we stand and let the wind stop, the reflection becomes clear.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
I love that. And it’s something everyone can do. Would you guide us through 60 seconds?
L.D. CHEN
So the standing posture is ingenious. So we stand straight, our head is straight, and then our whole spine is loosened. Our spine is not just backbone, it’s the superhighway for our nervous system.
So once our spine is loose, then our nervous system flows freely. Our energy and awareness flow freely. And also with a smile, and with this smile, actually our whole mind just calms down. Our pelvis is tucked in. With your pelvis tucked in, it actually supports the whole spine, the whole body likes spine stability, which enables you to stand still for a long time, while still feeling effortless. And also, our knees are very soft, like a spring, our chest is open, our two arms are dropped, and our breath is deep, abdominal breathing. So the whole situation is just to prepare you for standing there effortlessly.
But wait a second. This is not the practice yet. This is just the preparation. So right now, during the entire preparation, your eyes are looking horizontally forward, then 180 degrees back. In this state, you enjoy being one with nature. So your whole body and your mind are one with nature. You just enjoy.
That’s your body remembering. That’s Oneness.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Indeed, that really makes sense, and it’s something everyone can do, really opening the senses, just the fullness of that. It’s the opposite of emptiness, and it really is a wonderful way to reset and get back to who we are. So you’ve said, Oneness can touch every part of life. Can you walk us through some of the areas it supports?
L.D. CHEN
Yes. Mental health. Most approaches teach you how to let go or how to control. Oneness builds a foundation so strong that over time, anger doesn’t even arise, anxiety dissolves before it forms. You don’t do calm – you become calm.
Physical health. The posture corrects alignment and restores energy flow. We’ve seen decades-long lower-back pain, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, joint pains, insomnia – all improve. Oneness treats the root, not the leaves.
Work stress. When foundation is strong, pressure can’t stir your mud. Like a Kung Fu master – no fear, no enemy, just balance and response.
Relationships. Grandmaster Yu says: “When you practice right, your heart becomes bigger.” Bigger heart → more compassion → less fighting → deeper listening.
Healthy living. With awareness, the body tells you what food and rhythm work. When the system is right, it self-balances. (I love sweets, I eat them daily, and my labs are good – because the system is balanced.)
Aging. This is exactly what the Huangdi Neijing – Yellow Emperor’s Classic – talks about. The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: Why did people in ancient times live over 100 without aging, but now at 50 we age? Qi Bo said: because ancient people lived in rhythm with nature. Oneness restores that rhythm: health, joy, compassion, love. It doesn’t just add years to life – it adds life to years.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
That’s such a broad reach – it’s really a way of living, not just a technique.
L.D. CHEN
Yes. When body and mind align, everything comes into balance.
I really feel lucky. There’s a quote I love:
“What stands in the way becomes the way.”
The bigger the challenge, the greater the gift. If my symptoms had been mild, maybe I would have kept chasing. I would never have found this. Oneness didn’t just heal me; it changed me – and it keeps changing me. As Grandmaster Yu says: this is limitless for life transformation.
Thanks for this platform for sharing this information with people who want their whole body and mind be one with nature and to become whole again.
