What is dry skin brushing?

Brushing the skin of your entire body BEFORE you shower or bathe.

Four good reasons to do it.

1. Enhance lymphatic flow. Lymph is like the fluid vacuum cleaning force of the tissues. Healthy flow supports cleansing, immune function and vitality (read: helps to combat cellulite).

2. Stimulate circulation of blood, which supports healthy skin regeneration (to mention but one benefit).

3. Shed some of the dead surplus cells and keep pores clear to help to maintain balanced skin secretion (of waxes and sweat).

4. A great opportunity for daily, deliberate self-care and appreciation.

How do it?

Use a vegetable bristle brush. Stroke your skin at comfortably firm pressure. Initially, begin with light strokes for short periods and gradually increase pressure and duration.

This is an enjoyable process, never uncomfortable.

Don’t scrub or over-brush. After a week or two of brushing, you will be able to enjoyably brush your skin and leave it pinkened from the process.

Don’t brush sensitive bits, like breasts, face and neck.

Brush before taking a warm to cool shower each day. It will take 45 seconds to 3 minutes to perform.

There are different opinions on the sequencing and direction of strokes.

The most common methodology suggests to start brushing at your feet, and stroking always TOWARDS your heart. This is the most simple and straight forward method, which will still confer benefits.

The other technique, from Emil Vodder, is a little more complex. This is called manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) suggests using circular motions to open the lymphatic ducts. Clockwise strokes are revitalising.  The MLD method suggests to brush AWAY from the heart during dry skin brushing (just to confuse things). Performing strokes from the centre of the body out to the periphery, helps to open valves and clear lymph channels and enable a clear flow of lymph fluid through the superficial layers of the skin.

In MLD, you start stroking near the armpit, where a cluster of lymphatic nodes is located. Gently stroke down towards the fingertips, using circular motion. Imagine that you’re drawing spirals down each arm. Stroke down both front and back of each arm. Another lymph cluster in the groin is the starting place for the strokes all the way down to the feet. After the arms and legs are done, start to make circular strokes from the belly button to the groin areas. Follow this with strokes from the buttocks around to the front of the hips. According to the Vodder technique, using this lymphatic drainage technique on the right side of the body supports the right brain and liver. Stroking the left side acts on legs, the gastrointestinal tract and left brain.

Tips for effective brushing.

* Use a vegetable bristle brush, not one with synthetic fibres. The rounded tips of natural fibres work with the skin, unlike the chiselled edges of synthetic fibres, that can micro-cut the skin surface. I recommend Dr Bernard Jensen Vegetable bristle brush. The bristles are about 4 cms.

Brush care.

Leave brush in sun after use. Wash your brush in soap and water once ever month or two. Leave to dry in the sun.

This is one element of Sparkle Detox Course – a step-by-step, effective and safe, body tissue cleansing process designed by Naturopath Sally Mathrick. If you haven’t already, join Sparkle Detox. You’ll have life-time access to wholistic, doable, ‘delicious-with-benefits’ practices to keep your precious body-mind healthy, fresh and vital. JOIN NOW