I’ve been thinking a lot about Molecular Zen this month, which is of course the underlining theme of this column and the basis of my personal world view. And thus, in the tradition of pop science writers everywhere, I must reveal at least one great truth about the universe per article using a paucity of verbiage. So before your rectangle beeps you yet again with an instant message, here it tis:

The crux of the Molecular Zen biscuit is to practice NOT viewing the world-at-large as a bundle of separate objects we find ourselves wandering around in, but practicing Wholeness Perception.

Notice that I said “practice”. Buddha knew that all of us are practicing at being ourselves every day. Optimistically, we are practicing being the best selves we can be right now. Like everything else in life, the more you practice something the more you get out of it and, presumably, the better you become at it. Practicing not being self-obsessed is ALWAYS a good idea. Practicing NOT viewing the world-at-large as a bundle of separate objects means keeping to the forefront of one’s thinking the ones-ness of it all.

Keeping to the forefront the ones-ness of it all means understanding that the Universe has an operating system that is increasingly discernable over time (by practicing Wholeness Perception). Seeing the system of life and interlocking existence as an ocean – rather than a mishmash of waves and currents -helps us to understand the basic principles of how life and stuff are put together and behave here at home base.

You see, Nature does not reinvent itself every time it creates something new. Rather it borrows heavily from everything that came before, building off of the previous models.

The point is this:

The basic laws and working systems that operate on every level, from atomic system to ecosystem to solar system, all apply equally to human existence and behavior. The distribution of warm water into cooler water is no different from the dissemination of new ideas into a society. The colonizing behavior of penicillin mold on bread is incredibly similar to the colonization of “virgin” land by humans.

Humans are passionate; so are molecules. They hook up, long or short term and form new families with new properties when they “mate” with other molecules. Every law of Newtonian Physics and Biology can and is applied to human construction and human behavior.

We arose out of the Universe, are made of its stuff, and follow the same principles in our short existence as does the rest of the mess.

Simple! Molecular Zen rules. Now back to practicing… practice, practice……

One of my personal top 10 favorite molecules for health and longevity is sodium alginate aka Algin. Faithful readers may recall my mention of it in past articles, and it is so useful, cheap and nontoxic that I finally had to dedicate an entire column to it.

Extracted from brown seaweeds, algin is used in baking to make hard shell custards and long lasting food decorations. It soothes upset tummies and helps to bind up loose bowels. I have never known anyone to react to it negatively. Pharmaceutical companies use sodium alginate in the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure, to lower cholesterol levels and to soothe irritated throats. It’s most common source in the US is in Miso Soup. Two cups of miso soup a day will have profound effects on your health and you will not need to supplement with pills under normal conditions.

Most importantly, sodium alginate is proven to reduce the buildup of toxic metals in your body, including radiation and it’s by-products like strontium 90, barium, tin, cadmium, manganese, zinc, and even mercury. Algin works best as a metal detox when it is already present in your body at the time of exposure. Radiation for example binds with your calcium. Get enough of a radiation dosage and you will experience severe calcium deficiency ie brittle bones, hair loss with possible death resulting. If you already have algin built up in your body, the radiation (or metals) will bind with it instead and it will pass on out without harm.

Even if you are exposed before it is built up in your body, algin will clean you out over time. Six pills a day for six weeks are recommended for a real de-tox, but even three caps a day can have a positive effect. Repeat the treatment yearly for best results. I leave some caps on the kitchen table so I at least get take some once in a while throughout the week.

Sodium alginate binds with some good stuff too, notably calcium and lucapene. It is best to take your algin with a different meal than one containing calcium and lucapene. Lucapene is what makes tomatoes red so get your algin when you are not eating Italian style!

Algin is of special benefit to people opting for conventional treatments for cancer like chemotherapy and radiation. Once the treatments are done almost killing you, sodium alginate will help to get the poisons out, potentially hastening the healing process and the return to normalcy.

This is the Soapman reminding you that Nature is the source of all healing and that plants are chemical factories with a billion years of practice fighting virus’s, fungus, bacteria and cancer. As humans we learn to concentrate and even synthesize these same plant molecules to fight back against those same opportunivors.

All of nature and physics seeks balance. Why is it so hard for we humans to do the same?

Note: Getting this one can potentially save you a world of pain.

A 2×4 is a piece of wood. It is the basic building block of residential construction.

Zen is a kind of spiritual self-help program.

Here’s how 2×4 Zen works:

Let’s say there is some lesson, some information you need to understand, a message to receive; something you need to learn or a life change that you need to make. Well, first the Universe gives it to you gently.

It says, “Hey Kid! Did you hear about suchandsuch?”

Now you may or may not pay a lot of attention to this message, and may simply hurry on with your busy day.

A few days later you might be talking to someone and out of the blue they say, “Hey Kid! Did you hear about suchandsuch?”

Now you may think it quite odd that for no apparent reason suchandsuch is mentioned in your presence once again. Then you get on with your busy day. A couple of weeks later you visit your long lost cousin that you haven’t seen in ages. As you are catching up she reaches into her handbag and pulls out a book, “SUCHANDSUCH REVEALED”.

Now, maybe you forgot your reading glasses, or maybe you really just don’t want to think about suchandsuch at all, but let’s say that somehow you miss the cue.

The Universe has been lobbing you softballs up until now, at worst a paper airplane to the side of the head. And if you do not pay attention, one day the Universe is going to WHUP you upside that thick skull of yours. But before it does that it might just give you a CLOSE CALL.

We’ve all had that close call. The one that starts, “It’s a miracle anyone survived that fillintheblank”.

THAT is the whistle of the 2×4 coming through the air to whup your sorry you-know-what. Do yourself a favor. Learn to duck. Quickly.

Hopefully you agree with me that paying attention, that “listening” is way better than getting whupped with a 2×4!

“OK. That’s great”, you might say. “But how do I pay attention more? I have a busy schedule. If I pay attention any harder I’ll give myself a migraine!”

My immune system buffer signals me this way. First I begin to feel very small. I breathe in little panting breaths and my face goes pale. Then I begin to feel panicked and claustrophobic and my focus becomes very narrow.

My wife and I have a key phrase we use when this happens.

If I say, “Shit! I gotta get out of here quick.”

Then she says, “I got it honey. Why don’t you wait for me in the car?”

Life should ALWAYS run so smoothly.

This documentary brings a whole new meaning to the phrase homesick. In “Homesick: Living With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities“, Susan Abod travels through the American Southwest to meet other people like herself – people suffering form Multiple Chemical Sensitivities – to see how they’re living their lives and dealing with their symptoms.