Dedicating just three to five minutes each day to dry brushing can help your skin look and feel better while stimulating your body’s lymphatic system for better basic functions.
I have thrown away thousands of dollars on creams, lotions, and dermatologist treatments to get softer, healthier looking skin. For all of that time, money, and effort wasted on futile treatments, I should have been dry brushing. This new trend is changing the way people approach healthy skin treatments. But what is dry brushing and why is everyone doing it?
According to one skin care and spa expert:3
“…many naturopathic doctors use dry brushing to help with bloating because massaging the lymph nodes helps the body shed excess water and toxins. One of the immediate effects of dry brushing is smoother skin, but it can also help improve digestion, kidney function, and more.”
Dry brushing is basically a way to exfoliate the whole body and stimulate the lymph system by using a brush made with all-natural bristles (don’t use anything synthetic!) and using the brush in specific motions on the entire body. Why? The skin is the largest organ of the human body, and it is estimated that about ⅓ of the body’s toxins are excreted by the skin. When you dry brush, is removes dead skin cells and increases circulation to help push out toxins. It will leave your skin smoother, softer, and can even help reduce cellulite. Ok. There’s the magic word. So why are you not dry brushing right now?!
How to Get Started
To get started, make sure you have a brush with natural bristles. It is also better to have a brush that has a detachable longer handle so you can reach all areas of the body, but still be able to comfortably brush the easy to reach areas too. The general rule is to brush towards your heart or local lymph organs in soft, smooth strokes. It shouldn’t hurt! And while there is no set number of strokes, I usually like to count to 7 (it’s my favorite number) for each before moving on to the next area.
- Starting at the feet, stroke the bottoms, then tops, brushing towards your ankle.
- Move on to your legs starting with the bottom section (from ankle to knee) brushing up towards the knee. Then do the top half (knee to hip), brushing up towards hips/pelvic area.
- Repeat the same process with your arms, starting with the palms of the hands and then brushing up the arm towards your shoulders/head.
- Once I reach the shoulders, I will do some short, smooth strokes from the front of my shoulders to my armpits (a lymph drainage area), then working from the center of my chest towards my armpits.
- Brush your stomach in a circular clockwise motion and repeat the process on your back (attach the long handle for ease).
- Finish off with a smaller brush for your face.
Once you are done brushing, shower off all of the dead skin alternating between hot and cold water. It will help stimulate blood flow and the lymphatic system. Stimulating blood flow and the lymphatic system will help your body in a variety of ways from appearance to even better digestion. Afterwards, I recommend applying a lotion or oil to help keep your skin moisturized.
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I love that this is a natural way to stimulate the body’s toxin removal is an easy way to look and feel better. Experts recommend people dry brushing in the morning because of its energizing effects, but I actually like incorporating it into my nighttime routine as it’s very relaxing. They say some benefits can be noticed immediately after the first time (like glowing skin), but most agree you need to give it 3-4 months to really get the full effect.
Have you tried dry brushing? What do you think?