What kind of music do you like to listen to? Does your music choice change with your mood? Mine certainly does! I have a tendency to get easily distracted by lyrics in music when I'm trying to read or get work done, so I tend to listen to a lot of music without lyrics or simply live in silence. I love to listen to classical, jazz, new age, and electronic music most of the time. I also love pop music, country, and oldies; but there's something enlightening that you can feel when there's no lyrics to distract your mind or thoughts. 

I've been focusing on self-healing a lot lately. I've found that listening to therapeutic music in the background, when I work on the computer all day, has helped me to feel calmer and let go of my stress tendencies. Music has the power to heal the soul, it can bring back memories and emotions of the past, it can create a mood that you're looking to be in, and it can take you back to an era that you never lived in but somehow can still feel in some way. 

When I was a kid growing up, there was constant sound in our home. Not only did I have four siblings, but we had a television in every room the house (even the bathroom and backyard). I got used to the noise and even felt weird when I didn't have that noise around me. My early years living on my own, I tended to need a movie on the background because I was uncomfortable without the noise. But somewhere along the line that changed. As I started to go inward and heal my emotions, I became more comfortable with silence and ambiance music. 

I think there's something very powerful in being able to work, sit, or live in silence. It gives you the opportunity to create awareness of your own thoughts, emotions, and energy. We live in a world of chaos, noise, stress, constant movement, and a need to feel like we have to be doing something every moment or else we're not successful. But that's not really what life is about. Life is about being present. It's about loving and accepting each moment just as it is, without wanting to change it. If we're constantly lost in the noise of television, people, traffic, loud music, and our thoughts, then when are ever going to take a moment to truly live in the present?

Right now I'm listening to Deuter's album "East Of The Full Moon". It quite serene. Definitely an album you'd want playing when getting a massage. If you're interested in relaxing, enlightening, energizing music that takes you back to your authentic self, take a look at Better Wellbeing's new category for CDs. This music category will continue to grow with more inspiring CDs over the next several month. You might find something you like to put on while you work, doing Yoga, meditate, or simply have for the moments you need it. 

So what kind of music do you like and why? Share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences by posting comments below. I look forward to hearing about the music that inspires your life.

I wanted to share with you today one of my favorite books of all time, The Four Agreements. The first time I read the book was almost 15 years ago, and since then, I've re-read it at least 5 times. Every time I read this book, I have deeper understanding of the four agreements. As you start to implement these agreements into your life, you'll experience greater awareness and happiness. This book is a quick and easy read, which makes it great for everyone.

We all have our moments when we just start talking without thinking through what we are saying or if we truly mean what we say. This first agreement asks you to be impeccable with your word. Say only what you truly mean. Avoid hurtful gossip or saying something rude to someone. Words are powerful, so always do your best to choose your words wisely and speak with integrity.

This was a big one for me when I first read this book. I used to take everything personally. When someone said something hurtful to me, I took it personally and let it bring me down. I now understand that when someone else is upset and says something hurtful to me, it's really a reflection of their misery and not mine. It's counterproductive to allow yourself to be a victim and suffer. Just realize that what other project onto you is coming from the pain in their life and doesn't need to affect you. Don't take it personally.

Coming from a family full of females, I've realized that this is one of the biggest ways to avoid drama. The moment you interpret a situation and add your own assumptions to it, you've created a lie that will only turn around and cause misunderstanding and drama. Making assumptions puts your perception of reality into a world you created that is not real. Always clarify by asking questions and getting the whole story. Communication and clarity will bring peace, while assumptions and misunderstandings only bring stress and drama.

This may seem simple, but it's important. If you're always doing your best each day, with every activity you do, with whatever your best is for that day, you'll never have regrets or need to judge yourself. Our best from day to day will change. On days you're sick or didn't get enough sleep, you best is going to be different than on days when you feel rested and have energy and that's okay. Do what you can in the moment, and know that you're living up to your full potential.

There's a lot more detailed examples and stories in the book to help you understand these agreements better. You'll also learn the history of Toltec wisdom that inspired these agreements. Don Miguel Ruiz is a wonderful writer that will inspire your life. If you like The Four Agreements, you'll also like his other books The Fifth Agreement, The Mastery of Love, and The Voice of Knowledge. I've read them all, and most of them multiple times. Like I said before, each time you read one of Don Miguel Ruiz's books, you'll find new meaning and inspiration. As your life, awareness, and perception evolves over the years, you will find new examples in your own life and see the progress you make with your own awareness. Find more inspirational books in our New Age Books category.

I've taught Pilates for 3 years now, and have been practicing Pilates for over 10 years. There are still many people who don't know what Pilates is or what the possible benefits are. In the Pilates repertoire, there are hundreds of exercises each with their own breath pattern. The exercises range from a single joint movement to isolate a specific muscle group to full body movements that challenge your coordination, strength, and flexibility in new ways. There are multiple apparatus that can be use for Pilates training including just your own body on the floor. Many of the apparatus use spring resistance to intensify your strengthening workout. Because of the nature, variety, and progression of movement patterns, Pilates is excellent for rehabbing injuries and cross training for other sports. Let's take a look at some of the major benefits of Pilates training.

Every Pilates exercise integrates full body awareness. Your alignment is crucial for getting the most out of each exercise, therefore your core is stabilizing your torso and pelvis in every movement. Whether you are performing an exercise where you roll through your spine and actively engage your core muscles or you are performing arm strengthening exercises where you must maintain optimal alignment in your posture by engaging your core, you are always working your mid section in Pilates.

Because your alignment and technique are essential in Pilates, it automatically gives you better posture. Good posture is part of every Pilates exercise. Each exercise is designed to stack the body correctly and engage your deep postural muscles while working in various movement patterns. This type of postural strengthening is also essential for reducing and preventing chronic low back pain.

Pilates incorporates unique patterns of movements that you may not find in any other type of workout. You will be circling your legs in various directions and compiling multiple movements into one flowing exercise. As you advance your exercises, certain body segments will be stabilized while isolating various joints and moving at different speeds and directions agains spring resistance and a moving carriage. Your coordination will improve with practice.

Pilates is a strengthening workout that will help you to improve your overall muscle tone. Performing exercises agains spring resistance or gravity tones the body. Many of the exercises in Pilates can be quite challenging. With a variety of modifications and progressions, Pilates can be designed as an excellent workout for all levels.

Because many of the dynamic exercises move in large ranges of motion, you will also gain flexibility in Pilates. Over time your body will ease into the exercise and your practice will deepen through added strength and flexibility. There are specific stretches that may be incorporated into your workout, but the dynamic stretching while simultaneously strengthening is key for your health.

With many sports and activities, there tends to be repetitive movements that create an imbalance in the body. Certain muscle groups tend to get over worked while other muscle groups get weaker. Pilates is an excellent way to improve your other sports conditioning because it will help balance your body by working all of your muscle groups including your feet.

Most injuries occur because of muscular imbalances. By strengthening your entire body and keeping your body flexible, you are less likely to incur an injury. The balance of muscular strength helps with decreasing risk of sports injuries. Overall muscle tone in the core and lower body with increased coordination can help with injuries due to aging. 

If you're interested in getting into shape with Pilates, check out our Pilates DVDs and Exercise Books. We also offer a variety of Pilates and Yoga Kits so you can workout at home with your props and workout Mat. Leave comments on your favorite Pilates exercises and questions regarding your Pilates practice.

Dave and I (Natalie) went through a wonderful training last week to get Reiki Certified Level II. We've both had Reiki done on us in the past, and we came across an amazing instructor that we just felt we needed to take this class from. Since Dave and I both have careers where we are hands on healing with patients and clients (Dave is a Chiropractor/Massage Therapist and I am an Athletic Trainer/Pilates Instructor/Aerial Yoga Instructor), we thought Reiki would be the perfect addition to our set of current skills. Both of us have had incidences where we felt as if we picked up heavy energy from our clients or depleted our energy system working hands on healing someone else. Once we found out that Reiki uses divine source energy for healing, and not your own energy source, we knew it was something we both needed to help protect ourselves and to help others on another level.

Rei, in Japanese, means spiritual wisdom. And Ki means life energy. Together the word Reiki is expressed as 'Spiritually Guided Life Energy'. Because the healing life energy is coming from and being guided by a spiritual source greater than ourselves, it does not deplete the healers energy system. For years, we have been using our own energy source to help heal others, which is why we were being depleted of our health at times. Reiki healing energy can be express with hands on a patient, hands a few inches away from a patients body, can be sent over great distances, can be sent into the future or the past, and can even be placed on objects in your home, living spaces, car, etc. Reiki is truly only limited to potential of your creative mind. Anyone is able to tap into their Reiki energy source. We all have the ability within us. But there is a specific attunement process that you must go through with a Certified Reiki Master in order to access true Reiki energy. 

The photo of the symbol that you see above are three Reiki symbols that can send out energy in areas of Power (Cho Ku Rei), Mental/Emotional Healing (Sei He Ki), and Distance Healing (Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen). These symbols can be printed out and placed around your home. You may want to put a Sei-He-Ki under your bed and pillow to help you relax at night. Put a Cho-Ku-Rei under your office desk chair and your couches to help you pull in the Power energy. Place a Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen behind a picture of family member that needs your love and healing from a distance. Have fun with these symbols and start to feel the difference in the energy around you. 

If you're interested reading more on Reiki, check out our book The Complete Book of Traditional Reiki

For those of you interested in having a Reiki session, getting Reiki training, or looking for other spiritual guidance, past life regression, or hypnosis from a well trained Metaphysician, take a look at Carolyn Paige's Website. She's located in Santa Barbara, CA, but also does distance consultations through Skype. 

Leave your comments about personal Reiki experiences and share the abundance of life force energy in your life!

Back in January, I did a cleanse with cutting out sugar for 30 days. It was difficult at times, but I learned a lot about myself, my food cravings, and how food truly was affecting my mood, energy, and emotions. By the end of the cleanse, I wasn't as excited about sugar as I used to be (and I'm the type of person who used to have to have chocolate every day, usually a couple bites multiple times a day!). 

I did treat myself to a yummy cupcake after completing my 30 days, and it was very sugary and tasty! But it just wasn't as satisfying as it used to be. I used to have a strong emotional connection to my chocolate and sugar. I'd get a craving and just had to have it. Or I would need a boost of energy or concentration, so I'd have a bite or two of dark chocolate. But things have truly changed since the cleanse.

Aside from becoming more in tune with how I felt after eating each type of food (which helped me to understand what my body truly liked or disliked), I read a couple books by Doreen Virtue. She's currently one of my favorite authors because of her ability to inspire through her personal experiences and spirituality. I read "Eating in the Light" and "Constant Cravings: What Your Food Cravings Mean And How To Overcome Them" while on the cleanse and afterward. Eating in the Light guides you on a spiritual journey about whether or not to eat meat and all the variety of vegetarian diets, while Constant Cravings explains the emotional aspect of food cravings and how to deal with food cravings.  

I highly recommend the book Constant Cravings to anyone who wants to understand their cravings and start to become more in control of your own eating habits. Once I started to understand where the cravings came from (and realized how much better I tend to feel without those foods), it sort of took the fun out of eating those trigger foods. I simply don't get the same amount of satisfaction out of eating chocolate the way I used to. Don't get me wrong, I still love chocolate and treat myself to desserts on occasion, but it doesn't fill the void with the same euphoria I used to experience.

Through Constant Cravings, I've learned the difference between true hunger and emotional cravings. I have a better understanding of how many of us eat to create a physiological state that falsely satisfies us temporarily, and the true nature of the craving is coming from an emotional need that is not being met. Once you can recognize the emotional need, you can learn to heal that need without food, and therefore become less of an emotional eater and gain control of your life and health.

Check out this book and let me know what you think by posting your comments here. We don't currently offer this book on Better-Wellbeing.com. But hopefully one of these days we will. We do offer a variety of other health related books that can help you heal the emotional spirit within to bring your body, diet, and health back into balance. And if you're looking for a healthy cookbook, we do offer a wonderful Raw Food Cookbook written by Doreen Virtue and Jenny Ross that I use on a weekly basis called Art of Raw Living.

Check Out Our Books here: Better Wellbeing Books

Yours Truly,

Natalie

Here at Better Wellbeing, we are dedicated to offering items that we feel will help improve your life. One area that we feel very strongly about is the bed that you sleep on. You spend approximately 8 hours a day (1/3 of your life) sleeping on a mattress. Over the years, standards have changed, and for a long time your mattress was required to meet certain flame retardant standards. I've done the research for you, so can understand why almost all mattresses have toxic chemicals in them and why we prefer to offer mattresses and bedding that are chemical free. You'll sleep better knowing you're on a mattress that isn't leaching fire retardant chemicals.

In 1975 California passed a law, TB117, requiring mattresses and furniture to be flame retardant for a certain period of time in order to protect people from instantaneous fires happening from a candle or cigarette falling on a mattress or couch cushion. To meet these standards, companies began using flame retardant chemicals. Since companies could not sell furniture in California without complying with this law, the rest of the country started adding flame retardants to their furniture as well. After all, it’s easier to apply the same process for all items than have two manufacturing processes. Ironically, the flame retardants do not prevent the materials from burning, it just postpones the material from burning for several seconds. Once the material does burn, those chemicals are released into the air. Studies have shown that Californians have higher levels of PBDE (pentabromodiphenyl--a highly harmful flame retardant, known to cause cancer, that has been banned from California and other countries since 2004 and voluntarily stop production in 2005). There are still many unknown chemicals being used as flame retardants including formaldehyde.

In 2013 the TB 117 law was revised to TB117-2013 to meet new standards and provide options that do not rely on flame retardants for furniture and mattresses. As of January 1, 2015 the new law is in effect. This law does not prohibit the use of fire retardants. Furniture and mattresses may still have fire retardants in them. If the tag is labeled with code TB117, it most likely has flame retardants in it. If the tag is labeled with code TB117-2013, it may or may not have flame retardants in it. This new law allows for individuals to get prescriptions from a licensed healthcare professional for mattresses specifically made without flame retardant chemicals.

Wool is the most widely used source of an all natural flame retardant for mattresses and bedding. Sheep secrete a waxy substance called lanolin which protects their coat from the rain. The lanolin fills their coat with the wax, which repels too much water and also makes it flame retardant. Flame retardant is different from flame resistant. The wool will eventually burn if the flame it held to it long enough, but it does not immediate ignite in flames. Wool that still has lanolin on it will typically smolders or chars and extinguishes itself when the flame is removed.

Check Out Our Chemical Free Mattresses and Eco-Friendly Furniture:

Better Wellbeing Bedroom

Information from the Center For Environmental Health:

http://www.ceh.org/campaigns/flame-retardants/faqs/

Green Science Policy FAQ:

http://greensciencepolicy.org/faq/

     As part of my New Year's Resolution, I wanted to do a cleanse. We all have fluctuations in our diets from one day to the next, week by week and month by month. I actually did pretty well over the holidays this year. Probably the first year I didn't gain 5 pounds over the holiday. But never the less, I wanted to start my year out right. My goal was to clean up my diet, so that I began craving the healthy foods more and making healthier meals overall. (I'm also getting married in June, so there's a desire to look better than ever on that day since those pictures will last a lifetime!)

     I started my cleanse with cutting out all processed sugar for 4 days. It wasn't nearly as difficult to cut out the sugar as I had thought it would be. I was still eating fruit and starchy carbohydrates these first days. Then, for days 5-7, I cut out all sugars including the fruit and starchy carbohydrates...this was rough! I only ate non starchy vegetables, protein, and healthy fats. I felt like I was wasting away. I thank my fiance for keeping me sane and doing the cleanse with me. He's the type of person that eats to live, while I am the type of person who lives to eat! I feel like I spend a good portion of my day thinking of what I'm going to eat next.

     During these few days of only vegetables, protein, and fats, I noticed that I became much more in tune with how food was affecting me. I started to realize that I don't really like animal protein all that much. Fish didn't seem to bother as much as land animal meat. I also noticed that I was having a difficult time focusing, probably because I wasn't getting the same amount of glucose in my system as I was used to. Glucose feeds your brain, and is what all your sugars and starches turn into during the digestive process.

     On week two, I started adding in carbohydrates again but no fruits. I definitely felt better. I wasn't craving other foods anymore, and I got my energy back. At this point, I was also very tuned into how foods were affecting my body. I came to a definite realization that my body doesn't like meat very much. Twice I got a headache right after eating bacon and turkey bacon. I could literally feel where the pain was coming from. I don't know how else to explain it other than my gut instinct knew the headache came directly from the meat. It didn't happen every time I ate meat, but just those couple experiences confirmed to me I don't need meat in my life. So I've decided to become semi-vegetarian. 

     I don't consider myself an extremist when it comes to my diet. And I know that if I try to cut out something completely, I may feel deprived and want to eat it more. So, for now, I'm not buying any meat, and I won't order anything at a restaurant where the meal is designed around meat. If I happen to be at someones house and there's a little bit of meat in something they prepared, I'm not going to complain. Or if I'm at a sushi restaurant and want a roll that has meat in it, I'm okay with that. But I don't want my life to revolve around meat as a necessity. I've sort of eaten this way for years anyway, but the past two years I got off track and started eating more meat since my fiance eats meat. It's time for me to get back on track.

     Aside from that, I've truly been enjoying my diet recently. I'm on day 22 and feel good overall. I have energy, I'm eating a little bit of fruit again, no meat, mostly vegetables and healthy fats. I've been enjoying making green smoothies in my high powered blender, preparing large skillets of stir frys, going to the farmer's market once or twice a week, and making vegan sauces, dressings, and soups from healthy cookbooks. 

     I highly recommend doing a cleanse at some point. There's so many ways to cleanse your diet. You don't have to follow my method. But I do recommend going vegan for at least a few days and then re-introducing foods back into your diet. This will allow you to better assess how foods are affecting you. If you can go completely no sugar, you will feel amazing and not want to make it a daily part of your diet anymore. Some people like to go on a juice cleanse or soup and smoothie cleanse for a couple days or more. There's endless possibilities to healing your body and creating awareness through cleansing.
     Leave comments about your cleanses and stay tuned for more cleansing updates!
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