Be !livingproof — Be A Well World Ambassador

By Shannon Wagner, Community Engagement Intern

DailyFeats recently teamed up with Deepak Chopra and WellWorld.org to help spread the message of peace, sustainability, and justice. Together we’re asking for 1,000 people to become Well World ambassadors. If we can reach this goal, $250 will be donated to Well World—a organization that provides a platform through which you can think, speak, and act the change you wish to see in the world. An initiative of The Chopra Foundation, Well World aims to inspire all the passions people have toward change.

You may be wondering what a Well World ambassador is exactly. A Well World ambassador is someone who vows to make peace a part of his or her everyday life and puts that vow into action—by meditating, by sharing the vow with others, by advocating for nonviolence…the possibilities are endless. The Well World website has a great Q&A section that offers examples of how to incorporate your vow of nonviolence into your daily life, and other resources so you can engage in conversation with other Well World ambassadors and focus on your intent.

Join the community of Well World ambassadors. Join the Well World challenge today!

Also, as you take steps toward a well world, remember to check you your feats and tell us what you did. We love hearing from you!

7 Tips To Revolutionize Your Financial Habits

By Shannon Wagner, Community Engagement Intern

As many of you already know, we recently launched a challenge with DailyWorth that’s designed to help you streamline your finances and make the most of your savings. Easier said than done, right? That’s why we pulled some of the many practical tips right from the DailyWorth site and compiled them here for you. (This is just a starting point—visit DailyWorth.com for more financial advice and tips. And feel free to share what’s worked for you! We can learn some of the best lessons from each other.)

Budgeting & Saving

1. The Classic 50/30/20: If you’re on a fixed income, try dividing your paycheck like
one DailyWorth reader did:

• 20% automatically goes into a high-yield savings account
• 30% is guilt-free spending for clothing,
  entertainment, etc., and bills for things that I enjoy but aren’t essential, like cable and Internet
• 50% goes to my essentials, like rent, maintenance, groceries, utilities, and gas

This is an easy way to set up a budget that you can really stick to.

2. Manage your money with Mint.com: It’s a free, easy-to-use, online money management tool that helps you track spending, take control of debt payments, and set up budgets and savings goals. Mint.com gives you your full financial picture right at your finger tips.

3. Limit your access to your money: Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to a savings account that doesn’t have a debit card attached to it. This strategy is similar to #1, but with the opportunity to easily tailor your transfer amount to your needs.

4. Take stock of your banking options: Whether you stay with your current bank or make the switch to a new one, look at your options to see where you could be saving money.

Credit & Debt Management

1. Be aggressive and tactful: Many of us have daunting student loan debts, or mortgage payments, or car payments, or all three—the dreaded triple debt-threat. One DailyWorth reader devised her game plan using these three attack strategies that will help tackle debt and take years off payment plans:

• Low-balance method: Tackle the loans with the lowest balance first. The reasoning: Rapidly paying off small debts keeps you motivated.
• Avalanche method: Tackle the loans with the highest interest first. The reasoning: You save the most money over the life of the loans.
• Biweekly payment: Make half a payment every two weeks instead of one monthly payment. The reasoning: By making 26 payments you end up with the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12—and you barely feel the pinch.

By getting clear on her game plan, and doing a combination of these methods with a “snowballing” strategy, she’ll be able to pay off three loan payments in half the projected time.

2. Clean up your credit: While juggling savings and debt management with the cost of living (and all the other little things that pop up in life), it’s important to keep your credit score in mind. I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to not think about my credit until I need it, say when I’m applying for a loan or wanting to buy a car. But if we can keep our credit in mind as we streamline our finances and build new habits, we’ll rest easier in the long run.

Here’s a rundown of what factors into your credit score:

Payment history = 35% your score
Amounts owed = 30%.
Length of credit history = 15%
Types of credit used= 10%
New Credit = 10%

3. Always remember to take a !deepbreath. This process might not be easy, and it might seem overwhelming, but you can definitely do it!

As you’re doing !research and making your !budget, remember to check in your feats! We love hearing about your progress and all the good things you’re doing!

And if you haven’t yet joined the DailyWorth challenge, what are you waiting for? Get started today!

4 Things a !deepbreath Can Do For You

By Shannon Wagner, Community Engagement Intern

We all know that taking a deep breath can relieve tension and anxiety, and help us keep our cool in stressful situations, but deep breathing shouldn’t be reserved for only those moments when we feel stressed. Many people may not know that deep breathing can provide more health benefits than just calm nerves when done regularly. Check out some of the awesome perks a deep belly breath can offer:

1. Mental Clarity: Most people are “shallow breathers” (or “chest breathers”), meaning they draw small breaths into their chest areas rather than big breaths deep into their lungs via their diaphragms. Shallow breathing can promote tension, anxiety, and lead to a build of carbon dioxide in the body. Regular deep breathing spreads oxygen throughout your body and helps you expel more carbon dioxide from your lungs. The release of carbon dioxide and increase of oxygen will create better blood flow, which in turn will clear out mental fog and reduce fatigue.

2. Better natural healing capabilities: That better blood flow mentioned above will promote cell regeneration, and strengthen your heart and lungs, and improve your immune system.

3. Improved digestion and metabolism: Your digestive track operates more efficiently with more oxygen. Since carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of your metabolism, the more you release those toxins through deep breathing, the better your metabolism will function.

4. Improved mental and physical performance: It’s common to a hit mental wall when working through a difficult challenge. Whether you hit the wall while working out or while working in the office, the wall is the same—it makes you doubt your ability to reach your goals. Sakyong Mipham, meditation guru and head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, says that meditation could be the key to achieving your fitness (and work) goals and reaching new skill levels. Working out your mind with meditation and deep breathing exercises will help you to overcome those mental obstacles.

How can you tell if you’re a shallow breather?

Place your palm on your lower abdomen and release all the air from your lungs as possible. Now take a big breath. If your chest rises but your abdomen doesn’t, you’re not breathing deeply enough. However, if you feel your belly expand as you breathe in, you’re doing good.

Here is a simple deep breathing exercise that can put you on the right track to better health and happiness. Now you can check in more of those feats!

5 Really Good Reasons Why You Should Floss (Every Day!)

by Shannon Wagner, Community Engagement Intern

I’ll admit that when I was younger I didn’t floss. Ever. When a dentist appointment came near, I would sort of “cram floss”—that is, I would floss the night before and again right before the appointment, thinking that would be enough to get out any food particles that were stuck in my teeth. The dentist would ask if I floss, and if so, how often, and of course I would lie (“Oh, about 3 times a week”). Somehow the dentist would just know—but how? And, more importantly, why isn’t brushing alone enough? I’m a very thorough brusher, after all. Turns out, the dentist can tell just by looking at your gums whether you floss. The health of your gums as well as the quality of your overall health are linked to how well and how often you floss. So to help you tackle that !floss feat, here’s a quick list of what flossing regularly can really do for you: 

1. Prevent serious (and costly) oral health issues, such as bad breath (halitosis), cavities, gingivitis, and gum disease, which are caused by the bacteria that lurks between your teeth (where brushes can’t reach).  

2. Reduce your risk for serious physical health issues such as Alzheimer’s disease, pancreatic cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and pneumonia, which can all be linked to that same bacteria mentioned above.

4. Look younger. Taking care of yourself inside and out is the best way to maintain your natural beauty (or handsome-ness) and stay looking young. A good oral hygiene regimen is one of the best defenses against the effects of aging.

5. Save money. Prevention is the best form of medicine—and budgeting! (Seriously, $3 floss versus a $900 root canal. I know which one I’m choosing.)

So check in your !floss feat and floss your way to a better you!

(For more expert how-to tips, see Oral B’s key elements of proper flossing.)