Lymphatic Support
“What the heck is lymphatic and why are we supporting it?”
For those of you asking this question, much like myself when I first heard about it, let me break it down to the basics for you in true Nicole fashion.
Most people realize that we have an immune system, right? Well your lymphatic system is part of your immune system. It’s made up of tissues, vessels and organs that all work together. It flows all around your body, hauling fluid called lymph, back into your circulatory system (aka your bloodstream). The lymph is held within your fascia, which is the skin under your skin, that holds everything together. In fact your fascia holds nearly three times more lymphatic fluid than the amount of blood in your body. Crazy, right?
You can think about your lymphatic system like your own sanitation system. So imagine it being garbage day all day, everyday and you have garbage trucks driving around your body. They are constantly trying to haul garbage away so you don’t have a build up of trash sitting anywhere at once. If one of the trucks breaks down then the route it covers can start to back up. Over time if it nobody fixes that truck then your lymph (the garbage truck) can become stuck, lessening its ability to keep its route clean. Think of this breakdown as your lymph becoming thick and slow-moving, which can cause inflammation, infection and bacterial overgrowth to name a few. Instead we want all of our garbage trucks (lymph) moving fast and easily zipping around their routes. Make sense? So not only does our lymphatic system help remove garbage (cellular waste) from our bodies but it also helps to protect us from foreign invaders by filtering out viruses and bacteria. It does a ton of other stuff too but to me these are the heavy hitters that made me realize just how important it is to take care of.
How do we know if your lymphatic system is working well?
That was my initial thought as I was learning about this. One of the easiest things to check was something I heard Kelly Kennedy (aka “The Lymph Queen”) say on a podcast. She said to ask yourself, “Do you have arm puffs or arm pits?” I immediately looked at my underarms and my jaw dropped. There was no denying that I had puffs. Everyday when I put on deodorant (aluminum-free) and see my armpits, I always thought they looked that way from being muscular. Nope! Kelly went on to show what hers look like highlighting an actual pit, a little cave, under her arm. I felt immediately called to action. I wanted to know exactly what I could do to start fixing this right away. It was clear that my garbage trucks had broken down and I wanted them up and running stat. I dove into learning how I could get my lymph moving, but unfortunately, like weight-loss, there wasn’t a quick fix. It was going to take effort and time. I was up for the challenge and committed to making arm pits. How about that for a goal? I never thought that would be on my vision board!
I learned that another thing that can cause your lymph to slow down is physical scarring, injuries or anything that damages the fascia. If you have any of those then there’s a chance you may need to give your lymphatic system some TLC.
How do we support our lymphatic system?
Before we begin to think about how to support our lymphatic system we first must consider what Kelly Kennedy put so well, “…first think about every single body on the planet is challenged with keeping their lymphatic filter clean; no easy job considering the quality of the food we ingest, the air we breathe and the toxicity of products under the sink, in the laundry room, in our hygiene routines, and in our medicine cabinets. The most basic question I learned to ask and answer in all cases is: Can the body drain waste and toxins faster than creation of and exposure to such factors?”
When we are constantly exposing ourselves to such a heavy toxic load (see my toxins page to learn more), it’s hard to repair the damage that already occurred…let alone keep up with all of the new threats. That’s why I think that lowering your daily toxin exposure is essential to start. Of course many conditions are out of our control and we can only do so much, but if we begin to make it a priority then we can significantly reduce the burden on our bodies. When we lessen our toxic influx, then all of these following tools can be much more effective.
Drink plenty of fresh, clean water: Making sure that your body is properly hydrated helps to flush out the “garbage.”
Limit EMF (Electric Magnetic Fields): Turn off your WiFi when you can, put your phone away from you when possible (don’t sleep with it right next to you), use EMF blocking devices to help mitigate exposure.
Wear loose, comfortable clothing: Anything that is really tight stops the “garbage trucks” from completing their routes. You know when you wear something tight and once you take it off there’s a mark on your skin (i.e. socks, a hair tie on your wrist, underwire bra)? Well that’s a sign that your lymph was blocked while wearing it.
Eat higher quality food: You get what you pay for. Try to limit your processed food intake and the hateful eight oils as I mentioned in my nutrition 101 page. You can check it out for other ideas on how to make better food choices as well.
Stress Management: When we take time to calm our mind and body we can enter into a parasympathetic state where the body can actually rest and repair itself. If you don’t currently do anything try meditation, breath work, EFT Tapping, taking a hot bath or journaling and see what works well for you.
Move throughout the day: Physical movement stimulates the fascia and allows the lymph to flow. Of course you already knew daily exercise was great, now you have one more reason to get up and do it. Don’t be overwhelmed by this because even just standing up to walk around for a couple minutes every hour instead of sitting all day can be a major benefit.
Manually pump your lymph: This can be done in just a minute but there is a definite order to do this in. See the video below to learn how. It’s easy and once you have it down you can do it just sixty seconds.
Rebounding: This is also highlighted frequently in addition to movement. If your kids have a trampoline go bounce with them or get a small at home rebounder to use. I asked for one for Christmas a couple years ago and love it! I love taking a work break by putting on a favorite song and bouncing for the entire track. It not only helps my lymph but my mental state as well. Pro Tip: Manually pump your lymph first to open up your pathways so when the lymph is stimulated it can flow freely.
Dry Brushing: Be careful- almost everyone teaches to dry brush the wrong way. For years I did it the way most people teach it by starting at your toes then brushing up towards your heart. I learned from “The Lymph Queen” that if you don’t first “unclog the drain” then the dry brushing won’t do much because your lymph won’t be able to go anywhere. So be sure to manually pump your lymph and then you can dry brush your heart out.
Note To Self: Having a healthy immune system isn’t just about popping vitamin C and D each day. There’s more to it, as we’ve just discussed. We need a strong immune system now more than ever, so start supporting your lymphatic system today! Remember this will take time to fix. You can’t just do these things for a day or a week and expect a change. You need consistent effort. I still have yet to get arm pits, but I’m working on it!
Resources:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21199-lymphatic-system
Lymphatic Lessons By: Kelly Kennedy
NotMedsGlobal.com
