Obsession with youth is not only the plague of modern society. In the 1930s, a retired British army officer stumbled upon a remote monastery in the Himalayas where the monks were rumored to have found the fountain of youth. Amazed by their age-defying health and energy, he attributed their vitality to a series of yoga-like postures they practiced daily – as had generations of monks for thousands of years. These Five Tibetan Rites are believed to work by stimulating and balancing energy centers in our bodies called chakras that correspond to each of our endocrine glands. "They're like electricity transformers, receiving and regulating energy and transmitting it throughout the body," explains Sydney-based Carolinda Witt, who's been teaching the rites for more than seven years.

Witt says practicing The Five Rites is like flicking these energy switches to ON. And they're easy to do. In fact, she's made modifications that focus on breathing and building core strength so you don't have to be a veteran yogini to get yourself, well, turned on. Plus, it's yoga, so you'll create a leaner, stronger body! Start with three repetitions of each posture daily and in order. Add two per week until you're doing 21 in about 10 minutes. When you finish each move, pause and take three energy breaths. The directions are below.

Rite #1: Spinning
Harmonizes chakra spin rates. Improves balance, focus and coordination.

Rite #2: Modified Leg Raise
Strengthens and tones the core, hips, lower back, legs and neck.

Last Monday I had a meeting with my son's teachers to set up a plan to help him succeed at school this year. My son has some residual emotional issues left over from his years in foster care; his anxieties can generate some behavior issues in school. In addition, he has ADHD which creates many classroom challenges.

Though I know he's a difficult student to have in class, I always hope his teachers see how bright and creative he is. My son has enormous potential and possesses one of the most brilliantly free-thinking minds I've ever encountered. Luckily, his teachers this year have already noticed that about him and they're ready and willing to work with him and help him succeed.

Since meeting with them, I've been searching for other tips and tricks to help my son succeed in class. This article has some great points. However, it's missing an important component -- exercise.

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I used to be vigilant about exercising every morning... and it felt great. I started my day out with energy and a sense of accomplishment. After adopting my son, however, my schedule has changed and my morning exercise has become sporadic at best. I've vowed to get back on the bandwagon when he returns to school next week, though. Our schedule will be changing naturally -- so it's a good time for me to get my morning self in gear again.

Divine Caroline offers some great inspiration with five reasons to start the day with a workout:

• Better performance at work.
  
• A metabolism boost throughout the day.
• A better night's sleep.
• Increased likelihood to stick with it.
• A happier outlook.

Check out the original article for details. Then, set that alarm clock a little bit earlier and get your move on in the am.

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Is your child heading back to school soon? If so, be sure to get an A on the healthy lunches you provide.

Good nutrition can improve kids' concentration and help them get through the school day successfully. If your child is lucky enough to attend a school with healthy hot lunch options, then your job is a bit easier. But if your child's school is like my son's, pizza and chicken nuggets just don't make the grade.

Foods that are high in fat and/or high in sugar will only lead to an energy crash later in the day. You don't want your kiddo zonking out in the middle of math class, so be sure to provide long-lasting energy with good nutrition. First, make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast. Oatmeal, fruit, eggs, and whole-grain (low-sugar) cereals all make good options. For lunch, pack lean protein such as tuna or turkey, whole grains such as whole-wheat crackers or pita, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and 100% juice.

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My son has ADHD and I know how important a good breakfast is for him. When he gets a nutritious breakfast -- preferably with some whole grains -- and gets good exercise in the morning, he's always more focused and better able to control his behavior. Previous research has confirmed what I (and probably every other parent) knew: Breakfast does a kid's body -- and mind -- good.

A new study supports this previous finding and takes it one step further. It turns out that, while beneficial for all, the benefits of breakfast vary in boys and girls. Researchers had half of students in the study eat a standardized breakfast while the other half didn't eat breakfast. All students later took a test to measure cognitive ability and mood. A week later, the test was repeated except the previous non-breakfast eaters ate a morning meal and vice versa.

While there was measurable improvement in focus, all of the students who ate breakfast reported feeling more alert. In addition, boys reported having an elevated mood and the boys performed better on visuospatial memory tests.

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Do you resemble a walking zombie in the mornings? Or maybe you're familiar with the 3 p.m. crash and burn? Well, get ready to charge your batteries with Qigong.

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I adopted a 10-year-old boy last summer. Prior to that, I used to be quite organized. But since my son moved home, I swear that I've lost my mind. I constantly forget things. And I frequently say the wrong words in a sentence. Just yesterday I drove my son to a doctor's appointment that I thought was at 4:00 ... only to find out the appointment was actually at 5:00. I thank goodness that my head is attached to my body, because otherwise I don't think I'd remember to bring it with me. Luckily, I don't think I'm alone in this mysterious affliction. Most of my friends who are moms do the same types of things so we fondly (or not-so-fondly) refer to our forgetfulness as "mommy brain."

According to this article in Prevention, our forgetfulness isn't because our kids are slowly destroying our brain cells -- it's simply because moms have more to remember. From doctor's appointments, to math tests, to wear-baseball-hat-to-school days, to sports practices, to who likes what/who doesn't like what for dinner ... we're constantly remembering all the minutiae of our family's daily lives. So what can we do to improve our memories?

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My son has ADHD. He has an awesome teacher, but he is one of 32 students in his class. I know that he takes a significant amount of encouragement and redirection from his teacher. I think it's safe to say that he's the most ill-behaved kid in class. As a parent, I always hope that his teacher can remember that -- behind the behaviors -- is an incredibly bright boy with enormous potential. My son struggles to focus on work, to pay attention, and to sit still. But he is not a bad student.

Early this morning I saw a commercial on TV for a free "ADHD Road Map." When you register to receive your copy, you also gain access to online information about their four steps: taking a snapshot of how your child is currently doing, setting goals, taking action, and tracking/rewarding progress.

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Have you ever run into an acquittance and could not remember his or her name? That mental block happens to everyone. It happened to me just yesterday when I racked my head for 30 minutes trying to recall the name of a person with whom I'd just carried on a conversation. No matter how hard I tried to remember, I couldn't match the face with a name -- even as I was talking to him!

It wasn't until later last night when I was relaxed on the couch that it came to me. It was the iconic "Aha!" moment. Scientists have been studying that mental breakthrough moment for a while now, and they've finally made a connection to mental blocks and the "Aha!" instances that follow.

Well it turns out the best way to remember, is to just forget it! Put it away and try not to think about whatever is giving you such a hard time. The lead researcher on the project says you must be "relaxed, to allow the spontaneous, free-floating ideas to emerge." If you mull over it too much, you're just going to muddy the water even more. This makes perfect sense, because remember names was the last thing on my mind last night.

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The world is filling up with people, and that means competition in all kinds of different areas of our lives. But maybe one of the most noticeable, and the most stressful, is the competition that we face in our careers while we're at work. If you're not always on the top of your game and blowing everybody away with your amazing abilities then there's somebody right behind you who ready, willing, and waiting to do just that.

So how do you deal with the pressure? Unfortunately a growing number of working people are looking to boost brain power, productivity, and alertness in all the wrong ways. Sports (most recently baseball) have always struggled with keeping drugs and other unnatural means of performance enhancement out of the picture, but now it seems the trend is moving into the working class. People are doping up in the hopes of doing better at their jobs.

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Ever heard of Computer Vision Syndrome? You might not have but chances are you've experienced it at one point or another. Afterall, if you're reading this, you've used a computer, and the majority of us use computers for several hours a day. CVS is characterized by dry, red eyes, headaches, neck and back pain, double vision and trouble focusing. Yikes -- it sounds serious.

So what can you do to reduce the effects of CVS? Taking breaks is important, whether you physically walk away from the computer or simply just look at something else for a few minutes. Use artificial tears to reduce any dryness and lower your computer so you're looking down on the computer rather than straight on.

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Almost nobody I know prepares for a large meeting or presentation by thinking about nutrition preparation. Most are honing PowerPoint slides and talking to themselves in a mirror.

But, if you want to remain sharp and focused in that meeting, how about seeking out foods to eat beforehand that will give you the mental edge as that competing salesperson drones on about quota smashing?

Try some mango salsa on whole-wheat bread along with a fresh dash of blueberries on the side. Also, an entree of chicken may help cognitive performance, seeing as poultry proteins help get some needed neurotransmitters firing as good as they can be.

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Sometimes it is all those little distractions during the day that we curse under our breaths. But distraction is a good method to relieve pain. People use this method without even realizing it when they watch TV or listen to the radio to take their minds off of worry or their pain. Distraction may be used to manage mild pain or used with medicine to help manage episodes of severe pain.

Any activity that occupies your attention can be used for distraction. I personally play the guitar to "take my mind off of pain". Distractions could be doing needlework, model building, painting or diving into a good book. Use your hobbies as a way to focus and distract your attention off of pain. Listening to fast music through a headset or earphones keeps your attention on the music and tapping out a rhythm will help hold your attention away from the pain. Playing video games can be a way to keep your focus off of pain. Distraction can also be internal such as singing mentally to yourself, praying, counting or repeating yourself with statements such as "I can cope" or demand the pain away with statements over and over like "pain leave my body."

Of course the best distraction of all to me is to pop in a favorite movie in the DVD player and get focused on the screen.

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If you're looking to improve your focus and train your brain to filter out passing distractions then meditation may be able to help you do that. Recent research from the University of Wisconsin Madison shows that intensive meditation training may help people pay better attention to tasks at hand -- even when they aren't actively meditating.

But I'm not sure it sounds like a realistic method to practice for many of us, as the participants went to a 3 month intensive meditation retreat and practiced Vipassana meditation for 10-12 hours per day. That's a lot of vacation time and a lot of meditating. I wonder if they considered that maybe just "getting away from it all" for that long was enough to refresh their minds?

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Keeping a work and home life balance when you work out of your home can be very difficult. By balance I mean finding ways to give proper attention to my family and household chores and not letting my work suffer and getting my work done without making my family feel neglected. Being a workaholic does not help when my office is the first door on the right coming out of my bedroom in the mornings. It is also tough to concentrate on work when family and pets find their way into the office and beg for attention.

Helpful hints on what has made it easier for me to work out of my home and still give family and pets the attention they need. I wake up at least one hour before everyone else except for the dog who follows me around everywhere. That gives me time to walk and feed the dog, and a little time to take care of myself or have a nice hot soak in the bath. Which leads me to my next hint, get cleaned up and dressed before starting to work. You never know when the doorbell is going to ring. Set a daily time with your spouse or partner. Determine when and how much time you are going to devote to your job and how much time you are going to spend with family or doing household chores and stick to that plan. Work less or not at all on the days your spouse or partner has off from their job. Come up with a daily menu plan so that you have at least one meal a day together. Come up with a daily work schedule at least one or two days in advance and try to stay as focused on finishing those task before starting new ones. And last but not least, know when to walk out of the office door and stay out.