5 surprising benefits of going braless

If there is one thing that almost every woman will agree on it is this: There is nothing quite so freeing as that moment when you slip off your bra at the end of a long day. Even a good bra will pinch, tug and chafe as the day goes on, so is it really any wonder that it feels so good to cast it off and set the ladies free?

If you've ever wondered what it might feel like to go completely braless for a day, why not give it a try on Oct. 13 — a day officially recognized as National No Bra Day? The basic premise is that it is a day set aside to raise awareness about breast cancer (though no reputable cancer organizations claim an association with it) and remind women it's time to take a closer look at what's happening inside their undergarments.

Need more good reasons to go braless? Here are five:

1. Bras do nothing for your boobs. If you're like me, you might be under the impression that wearing a bra may keep your boobs from sagging over time. In fact, the opposite is true. In a study at France's University of Franche-Comté, professor Jean-Denis Rouillon found that breast muscle tissue was stronger in women who did not wear a bra. The same study, which tracked women over a 15-year-period, found that bras don't actually do anything to improve the overall health or appearance of your boobs.

2. Going braless improves circulation. It's kind of a no-brainer that when you remove your bra — and thereby remove the constricting band encircling your chest — your circulation will improve. Better circulation equates to healthier and firmer skin, and who couldn't use a little bit more of that?

3. Your boobs will be "perkier." Rouillon's study found that the nipples of women who went braless were an average of 7 millimeters higher than those of the women who did wear bras. Higher nipples = perkier boobs.

4. It just feels better. Why not enjoy that end-of-the day comfort all day long by skipping the bra, even if just for one day? If you're worried about how it will look, try wearing a top with a built-in shelf bra to get the benefits of support without the constriction of a bra.

5. Going braless gives you a chance to check things out. Ditching the bra for one day will give you a better opportunity to get up close and personal with your boobs in a way that you would not if they were ensconced in fabric. Now is a good time to do that breast self-exam you keep forgetting about and to make that mammogram appointment you've been meaning to schedule all year.

22 of the Very best Quotes of All time

1. “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.” – Mark Twain
2. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.” – Abraham Lincoln
3. “There are essentially only two drugs that Western civilization tolerates: Caffeine from Monday to Friday to energize you enough to make you a productive member of society, and alcohol from Friday to Monday to keep you too stupid to figure out the prison that you are living in.” – Bill Hicks
4. “No one is saying that you’ve broken any laws, Mr. President… We’re just saying it’s a little weird that you didn’t have to.” – John Oliver on PRISM
5. “When Students cheat on exams it’s because our school system values grades more than students value learning.” – Neil Degrasse Tyson
6. “We ask 18-year-olds to make huge decisions about their career and financial future, when a month ago they had to ask to go to the bathroom.” – Adam Kotsko
7. “Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.” – Wallace Stevens
8. “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye hard.” – Winnie the Pooh
9. “In war, the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich makes slaves of the poor.” – Oscar Wilde
10. “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
11. “Danger seems terrible from a distance; it is not so bad if you have a close look at it.” – Abhishek Vicky
12. “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Seuss
13. “The most important things are the hardest to say because words diminish them.” – Stephen King
14. “You can tell how smart people are by what they laugh at.” – Tina Fey
15. “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” – Dumbledore
16. “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” – Bill Gates
17. “Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice.” – Henry Ford
18. “You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.” – Buddha
19. “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for an hour.” – Zen adage
20. “If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.” – Raylan Givens
21. “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
22. “Of all sad words of mouth or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.” – John Greenleaf Whittier

Amazing Craft - One man, 100,000 toothpicks, and 35 years: An incredible kinetic sculpture of San Francisco

Thirty five years ago I had yet to be born, but artist Scott Weaver had already begun work on this insanely complex kinetic sculpture, Rolling through the Bay, that he continues to modify and expand even today. The elaborate sculpture is comprised of multiple “tours” that move pingpong balls through neighborhoods, historical locations, and iconic symbols of San Francisco, all recreated with a little glue, some toothpicks, and an incredible amount of ingenuity. He admits in the video that there are several toothpick sculptures even larger than his, but none has the unique kinetic components he’s constructed. Via his website Weaver estimates he’s spent over 3,000 hours on the project, and the toothpicks have been sourced from around the world:

I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding.