Your Guide To Self-Care Via The Lymphatic System
As you know, we are big advocates for holistic wellness and caring for ourselves from the inside out. Our bodies are beautifully complex systems and each facet and function is just as important as the last. When we look at our skin and our skincare practices, what lies beneath the surface should be at front-of-mind. One aspect of skincare that can often be overlooked is caring for the lymphatic system.
Practices involving the lymphatic system are becoming increasingly popular in the wellness and beauty space, but there’s a lot you might not know about the system itself and how you can incorporate it into your daily rituals. First and foremost, what is the lymphatic system? Good question!
What is the Lymphatic System?
The lymphatic system is a seriously busy system that is built up of tissues and organs that work to clear out toxins, waste, and unwanted materials from the body. This system’s main job is fueling the body with lymph, a fluid that helps the body fight infections. The lymphatic system belongs to both the circulatory and the immune system, so it is a pretty serious powerhouse that works to keep you healthy and clear toxins out of that body of yours.
The more general tactics for caring for your lymphatic system look the same as caring for your body overall: drinking lots of water, doing physical activity, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, and avoiding too much processed foods when possible. Beyond those methods of care, there are several other ways you can activate your lymphatic system to support the health of other parts of your body (like your skin!).
Introducing Lymphatic Drainage
Lymphatic drainage is a form of massage used to stimulate the lymphatic system and help encourage the movement of lymph around the body. This practice is also known as lymphatic massage or lymphatic drainage massage. Not only does it give your lymphatic system a helping hand in carrying out its normal functions, but it also helps to remove accumulated liquid to reduce the appearance of swelling or puffiness in various areas of the body.
The benefits of lymphatic drainage are multi-faceted. Some of the many benefits include blood circulation, tissue regeneration, increased lymphatic flow, removal of excess fluid, reduction of swelling, reduced water retention, elimination of toxins, relaxation, and even more energy.
Lymphatic massage can be practiced all over the body, but for the purpose of this exploration, we will focus on the face and neck area.
So, let’s talk about how you can practice lymphatic drainage at home.
How to Practice Lymphatic Drainage On Your Face & Surrounding Area
A lymphatic drainage massage on the face helps reduce puffiness, energize your skin, promote suppleness, and enhance blood flow. It can also promote the overall health and glowiness of your complexion.
The process looks like pressing gently, moving the pressure slowly, and releasing. There are several strokes and methods that are suggested for the best results. This can be performed with your fingers or with a tool such as a gua sha stone or a facial roller. Our go-to tool is the gua sha stone.
Gua sha is a practice rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In TCM, the practice is often referred to as scraping and involves repeated strokes over lubricated skin with the gua sha tool. The tool has recently become popular in western beauty and wellness culture and is mainly leaned upon for lymphatic drainage.
For your at-home lymphatic massage, you begin by applying facial oil to your skin for an easy glide and no uncomfortable tugging on your skin. You can then use your tool or your fingers and slide gently along the jawline, chin, cheeks, cheekbones, orbital bone, forehead, and neck. Renee Rouleau has an excellent diagram on her blog if you’re interested.
We are big fans of the gua sha stone for lymphatic drainage massage and our Sun Empress Serum is the perfect oil to lean on for this practice. It’s an excellent way to begin your day or wind down before bed. We adore lymphatic drainage as part of our daily rituals and we love nothing more than giving our bodies a little TLC to support our health, inside and out.
You can invite this form of gentle massage into your care practices for your entire body. Things like dry brushes or wooden massage tools are available and can assist you in this practice.
As always, be sure to do your research and consult your family doctor for medical questions and concerns.
