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.

Ouch, your shoulders. Ouch, your neck. Ouch, your head. Sitting all day in an office chair staring at a computer screen certainly doesn't do any favors for these body parts. But a 90-second workout, done every few hours, might.

Italian workers are a little more limber after engaging in 90 seconds of exercise every two to three hours for six months. They participated in this study, you see, and they liked what they felt: 41 percent fewer headaches and 43 percent fewer shoulder and neck pains. Want to get in on these percentages? Well, then, the experts at Good Housekeeping say you should stand with your back and head against a wall and repeat the following moves eight to 10 times:

• Pull your shoulders back until they touch the wall, then release.
• Move your head forward and backward slowly, without tipping your chin forward or your head back.
• Cup your hands behind your neck, and ease your head up and back.

Now, because this workout will really only warm you up, I'm thinking you should conquer some cubicle squats, lunges, push-ups and planks too. Don't forget crunches. Think your boss will mind? If so, practice some of these celebrity gallery tips on your own time and see how fit you can get.

Source

Tomorrow is the deadline for my book, The Everything Flat Belly Cookbook. I'm thrilled with Adams Media for hiring me to write it but on occasion, my body has been very angry at them for giving me such a tight deadline. This uber short deadline has caused little Miss Fitzness Trainer to sit for 12 hours at a time with my head buried in my laptop quite often. My brain is thrilled, but my back has been bummed.

The only reason I've survived is because I'm already really good at taking care of my body. I've never had to sit down for such long periods of time as a requirement of my job, but when the side effects of doing so set in ... I knew how to respond.

I imagine a lot of you are stuck at a desk for hours on a daily basis. I feel for you. I also have some ideas to help you survive it without all of the stiff, achy and strained body parts.

Poor posture not only causes you to look 10 pounds heavier and feel less confident ... it also hurts! Check out this video from Stacy McCarthy, the yoga expert from She's Active Health Network. Stacy offers up a few simple stretches you can do anywhere at anytime to get you standing as tall as you should.

For more fun, quick, tips and recipes from degreed experts ...

Source

Hold your head up high. it's more than just a saying, it's a beauty secret -- one that most photographers like myself already know. Sucking in your chin and holding it up is and easy way to take pounds -- and years -- off your face, according to this article from The Daily Mail.

And just as exercise helps your body become taut and slim, exercises for your face can help slim the chin. Says facial fitness expert Eva Fraser: "By exercising certain muscles in the face for ten to 15 minutes, several times a week you can maintain, or even recreate, a good jawline. There's no magic wand, but as long as you have the discipline and patience to maintain it, this method is far more effective than any facelift."

Complimentary haircut and make-up will also do wonders for your chin. Share your beauty tips in the comments below. And check out the gallery below for clothing that will slim your shape.

Source

Your mother was right -- stop slouching and sit up straight! Why? Perfecting your posture is an easy way to look 10 lbs slimmer instantly. And that's just the icing on the cake -- having good posture will help your keep you spine healthy and flexible for years to come. After all, who wants to look like Quasimoto in their golden years?

Check out Divine Caroline to learn the ins and outs of good posture -- and straighten up with these quick tips:

• Sit on the tip of your chair. That way, you're unable to lean back and slouch.
• Check in with your posture every few minutes -- you might be slouching without realizing it. Sit up straight and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
• Get on the ball. The exercise ball, that is. Get one for your home office or ask your company to supply one for you.

How do you keep preserve your posture?

Source

A message to Mr. Clean, Daddy Warbucks, Dr. Evil, and Howie Mandell: Scalp and neck melanoma were recently found to be twice as deadly as skin cancer on other parts of the body.

A study by University of North Carolina School of Medicine examined of 51,704 patients who diagnosed with skin cancer between 1992 and 2003. Of these patients, 43 percent had melanoma on arms or leg, 34 percent on their trunk, 12 percent on their ears or face, 6 percent on their scalp and/or neck, and 4 percent on other parts of their body. And though only 6 percent of patients had skin lesions on their scalp and/or neck, they accounted for 10 percent of all melanoma death cases.

While being bald certainly doesn't help, it's not only those with sparsely populated pates who are at risk. Even with a reasonably full coif, the sun can still penetrate to the scalp. And, unless you pop your collar like a 19-year-old frat guy, your neck is almost always exposed. Therefore, try to limit your exposure to direct sunlight and be sure to apply and reapply sunscreen throughout the day.

Source

If your kid has a big neck, he or she may be more likely to develop a sleep-related breathing disorder, say researchers at the University of Virginia. Translation for big: Obese.

Of 215 children, ages 18 months to 18 years, who were referred to a pediatric sleep clinic, 37.3 percent were obese and snored more than not-so-heavy kids, says this Virginia study. Basically, neck size showed a strong inverse correlation with oxygen saturation and was an even better indicator of breathing problems than BMI, weight, or tonsil size.

One implication of this finding, says study author Dr. Pearl L. Yu, is this: "Children with bigger neck sizes for age should be queried about snoring, apnea, excessive sleepiness, and hyperactivity. Neck size should be considered in the clinical evaluation of children with a history of snoring and apnea."

Source

When I was younger, I used to have perfect posture. I had a choir director who just drilled posture into us. Through the years, my posture has changed. I'm a writer, so my job has me glued to my computer desk all day long. I try to maintain good posture but by the end of the day, I find my shoulders hunched forward and I end up with an aching back.

I found an article about this simple exercise designed to improve your posture. The exercise is dubbed "The Superman" because you start with your arms stretched straight out in front of you. There are no weights required and it works all the right muscles. I tried it and my back and shoulders feel loose and better than they did before. Whether it will improve my posture remains to be seen, but I'm willing to give it a try!

Want to try something different? Back in March, Jacki posted about a posture exercise she's been having luck with. Developing better posture is well worth the effort. Not only will your back and shoulders thank you for it, better posture can even help you look slimmer in your swimsuit.

Source

Prevent muscle mutiny with these four feel-good moves from the April issue of Women's Health, on newsstands now! Instead of letting a great workout leave you feeling miserable, use some of these suggested exercises to prevent muscle imbalances in your: back, knees, neck, and shoulders.

Ball Squat with tubing

Pain-prone area: Fronts and sides of the knees
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and wrap resistance tubing around your knees so there's no slack in the band. Place a stability ball between the middle of your back and a wall, but put only enough pressure on it to keep the ball from falling. Squat down as if sitting on a chair, pushing out against the tubing to keep your knees from caving inward. Press back up to start. Do two sets of 12 reps, resting for 30 to 60 seconds between sets.

Source

Every time you smoke another cigarette, it's almost like loading a Russian Roulette revolver with another bullet. This dangerous habit markedly increases your chances of premature death, be it from cardiovascular complications or several types of cancer. Lung cancer is typically among those most closely linked to cigarette smoking, but the risk of head and neck cancers is also be increased.

A large study on smoking, conducted by the National Cancer Institute, revealed a strong association between smoking and malignancies of the neck and head. These cancers also include cancers of the nasal passage, larynx, pharynx, and oral cavity. An estimated 500,000 people are diagnosed with one of these types of cancer each year. While it was already known that smoking elevated the risk of these types of cancer, the study uncovered new information regarding gender.

Evidently, smoking may play a greater role in the development of head and neck cancers in women than in men. After examining an extensive amount of data, researchers found that 45 percent of these cancers could be attributed to smoking in men, 75 percent could be attributed to smoking in women.

The results of this study can be found in the October 2007 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cancer.

Source

I am sore. I train hard, I play hard, and I am sore. But, I just treated myself to something I think will allow me to be less sore in the future. An iNeed shiatsu massager pillow from Brookstone. Mmmmm. It makes me so happy. If you're unfamiliar with this thing, it's a pillow you attach to a chair and lean back on. Then these thumb-like knobby things move around and massage the sore parts on your back and neck.

In fact, right now as I'm writing this I have that weird look of ecstasy on my face. I'm using my shiatsu pillow. Usually folks come to me on advice on how to become more sore. Training equipment, strategies, etc. Today you get the opposite. My $59 pillow of pleasure from Brookstone will satisfy my aching back for much longer than any single massage at a spa. (Although I love those too).

Source

If you feel a little pain, tension, or pull on your shoulder, take a look inside your purse. What you've got crammed in there may be weighing you down.

A heavy bag can cause pain in your neck, tingling in your fingers, even headaches, says family practitioner Jane Sadler of the Baylor Medical Center in Garland, Texas. Sadler recommends carrying bags no heavier than three pounds and definitely no more than 10 percent of your body weight. For those wishing to lighten up a bit, Sadler offers these tips:

• Clean out your wallet. Only carry credit cards, papers, and store cards you'll need that day.

• Stash a duplicate make-up bag at the office and in your gym locker and remove the one you've got stashed in your purse.

• Keep your cell phone or PDA in a pocket.

• Wear bags with the strap-messenger style (across the body).

• Alternate shoulders.

• Watch your posture. Slumping adds to the strain.

Source

A substance found in delicious fruits like mangoes and strawberries has found to be very effective in stopping the spread of cancer cells in the head and neck area, according to a new study out of Hong Kong this week.

Lupeol was found to be most effective when used with traditional chemotherapy drugs, and was noted as suppressing both the movement and growth of cancer cells. Not surprisingly, the compound was more effective than some cutting-edge pharmaceutical drugs as well.

No surprise there -- I continue to believe that a good vegetable (broccoli) and fruit (blueberry) cancer defense beats the tar out of drugs that have horrid side effects.

Source

If you are having trouble balancing during certain exercises using a spotter is a good idea until you build up body muscles that will hold you for that particular exercise. Spotters are not just for weight lifting.

One of the most important things to know with exercise is proper body alignment and balance. Maintaining a good position with your head so that you are not pulling on your neck while doing sit ups or other ab exercises is important to reduce your risks of injuries. If you're doing a set of abdominal exercises and your neck hurts but not your stomach then you might want to look and see how you were lying or how you were holding your head because you're neck shouldn't hurt after you've been doing abdominal exercises. You need to check your body alignment. If you are holding your hands behind your neck and you're actually irritating your neck or straining then you are doing either too much or trying to go too fast and you are straining and that is creating stress on your neck.

One of the top exercises that you can do for abs is a reverse crunch. Lie down on a bench with your knees bent and your upper legs at a 90 degree angle with your torso. Hold the bench above your head for stability. Use your ab muscles to pull your knees toward your chest until they reach your elbows. Hold the crunch position for three seconds and return to the starting position. Doing ten of these in your exercise routine every day will give you a toner midsection.