48 Hours to a Healthier Life

6. L for Lymph

The lymphatic system is like the guttering of the body. From all over it collects and takes away the cells’ rubbish. This debris is filtered by the lymph nodes for infectious invaders and then dumped into the bloodstream to circulate to the liver, where it’s further broken down and eliminated. The lymphatic system is a secondary circulatory system, running alongside the blood but, unlike blood, it has no pump of its own and relies on a little bit of help to get it going. It’s full of lymph, a pale yellow, watery fluid that is very similar to blood plasma in composition. Every time we breathe or move we are helping 3 litres (over 5 pints) of lymph to circulate through the lymphatic system via the nodes and out into the blood.

Hundreds of lymph nodes are dotted all over the body. They’re oval or bean-shaped and can be as small as a pinhead or up to the size of a large kidney bean. These clever little filtering plants prevent any infection or foreign particle from travelling on into the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body. Lymph nodes also produce and store lymphocytes, white blood cells that fight infection by ingesting bacteria. It is the nodes that we can feel as little hard lumps when we are run down or infected – usually in the area closest to the infection.

where are my lymph nodes?

Neck

Groin

Behind the Knees

Armpits

All over the Breasts

Above the Elbow

Tonsils, Adenoids, Appendix

Small Intestine

When the lymphatic system gets blocked by an infection or overloaded by excessive toxins things can start going wrong. A congested lymph node won’t drain properly, the system’s circulation slows down and the cells don’t get enough nourishment or protection. Swollen glands, aches and pains, a sore throat, a temperature and itchy skin are all signs of being run down and having toxicity or a virus stuck in the cells and lymph. Water retention is also a sign of blocked lymph. The tissues will react according to where the lymph is blocked in the body. For example, if the lymph nodes in the head and neck are congested, your complexion can look dull and you may be holding more water than usual around your chin.

Salon treatments such as Manual Lymphatic Drainage can really help a sluggish lymphatic system, but you can give it a boost yourself at home on a daily basis.

how to get lymph moving:

Skin-Brushing.

Alternate Hot and Cold Water in the Shower.

Exercise Daily.

Give Yourself Regular Massage.

skin-brushing

The skin is our largest organ and, just like the kidneys, liver and colon, it’s an eliminating organ that gets rid of more than half a kilo (one lb) of waste and toxins each and every day. If the skin gets choked up by millions of dead cells and clogged pores, toxins and impurities will stay in the body, and the other eliminating organs will have to work harder to clear the waste.

This is a really simple, quick and effective technique that’ll help your skin eliminate that waste. Skin-brushing can be done before your shower or bath each day – and definitely over the Weekend, when you’ll have more time. It only takes 10 minutes, but you can do it in five when you’re in a real hurry.

benefits of daily skin-brushing

Boosts blood circulation.

Stimulates the lymph.

Helps fight cellulite.

Softens skin.

Helps prevent skin infections and irritations.

Freshens body.

Rejuvenates.

First, if you haven’t already done so, buy a body brush. Make sure it’s from a natural source and not plastic. (But don’t go for ‘natural bristle’, because that’s made from badger hair!) There are plenty on sale these days and you can usually find a reasonable one in a health shop, beauty salon or even supermarket.

Before showering or bathing, on dry skin, start brushing firmly UP TOWARDS THE HEART, starting from the soles of your feet. Work up the front of each leg to your abdomen. Brush your tummy with circular movements in a CLOCKWISE direction. Carry on brushing upwards to the bottom of your breasts. Then work all the way UP the back of your legs, past your bottom, as far as you can reach, and brushing as vigorously as feels comfortable. The bottom and thighs are good areas to concentrate on as they usually carry the most fat cells!

When you get to your upper chest and upper back, change the direction and start brushing from the neck DOWNWARDS TOWARDS THE HEART, both front and back, always in the direction that the blood flows to the heart. Finally, brush your hands and all the way UP each arm, on the top and the underside. And don’t forget to brush inside your armpit by holding your arm up and brushing DOWNWARDS.

Don’t do your face, but you can give the back of your neck and your scalp a good going-over!

You should feel very energized at the end of this session. By the conclusion of the Plan, when you can see and feel the benefits of skin-brushing, you’ll want to find five minutes every morning to carry on. Why not start now?

hot and cold showering

If you haven’t got a body brush, or are away from home without it, here’s another way to help the lymph flow and boost your immune system. Have a shower, and when you’ve reached the end of your ablutions turn the shower on as cold as you can stand it for 10 seconds (building up over time to 30 seconds), then turn it up to warm again for a minute or two. Repeat this three or four times, and end on cool. As the hot water warms up your skin, the blood – and therefore the lymph – rushes up to the surface of your body to keep the heat away from precious organs. As the cold water hits the surface of your skin, the blood and the lymph rush away from the surface of your skin to protect the organs. So you can see this is a really good way to get things pumping – and it’s free!

! TOP TIP FOR CELLULITE-BUSTING

If you have a fairly high-powered shower, you might like to try this as a cellulite-buster. Using a hand-held shower, with the water pressure up as high as it’ll go, concentrate on blasting the areas of cellulite – thighs, buttocks, upper arms, etc. – using a circular movement.

exercise

Exercising daily is essential if you want to get a sluggish lymphatic system going because as it doesn’t have a pump of its own it relies on muscular activity to pump the lymph fluid upwards. It doesn’t matter what you do – as long as you do it regularly. Gentle jogging is excellent, but does not suit all of us. Brisk walking, especially uphill, is just as good, and 10–20 minutes of this a day is all that is needed. But more is better!

rebounder

One of the best exercises for the lymph has to be jumping up and down on a rebounder – a mini trampoline – for 10 minutes a day. If you happen to have one lurking around under a bed somewhere, dig it out, put on some loud music and start bouncing. Bouncing works with the earth’s natural gravity, which means that when you get to the top of a bounce for a nanosecond you’re weightless, and at the bottom of the bounce gravity is increased by two or three times. This will really encourage the lymph to shift toxins, as well as halving the impact on your joints.

swimming-pool bouncing

If you don’t have a rebounder there is a very good and cheap alternative: bouncing up and down in a swimming pool – or in the sea if it’s warm enough. The water will bear your weight so, again, there will be no stress to the joints. Get far enough into the pool so that the water reaches your breastbone, then start jumping up and down, using the water as support. Or gently run on the spot in the water.

If you’re not in the habit of taking regular exercise, start off slowly and build up your exercise routine. There are more suggestions in chapter 10, all of which will help get the lymph going.

self-massage

As well as giving you a bit of a pamper, deep-tissue massage will also help move the lymph – and it’s something you can do at home with this simple version. What you’ll be doing is slightly different from ordinary salon massage, in that you will be squeezing and stretching the connective tissues which are made up of fluids and fibres. This creates a cleansing, flushing effect similar to rinsing out a sponge, or stirring the water in a ditch that is clogged with algae!

This DIY version has been compiled for you by Janie Hildebrand, a deep-tissue masseuse, who I see regularly to benefit my neglected emotional senses, touch and smell! In between visits, I find the following plan very quick and easy to do straight after a shower or bath.

diy method

So that your hands glide over your skin easily, and to make it softer, use either almond oil or cold-pressed virgin olive oil, or any other oil you have in the house that suits your skin and doesn’t offend your nose. They all work well as ‘carrier’ oils, as well as feeding your skin, and, as this Weekend is all about relaxing, you might also like to consider adding an essential oil.

CARRIER OILS

ESSENTIAL OILS

Have a look at the suggestions and pick your essential and carrier oils. For massages, essential oils are NOT to be used neat. Put 1–2 tablespoons of the carrier oil into a little bowl. Then add 3–6 drops of your chosen essential oil and mix it through. For repeated use you could also fill a little plastic bottle with a carrier oil and then add 5–10 drops of your essential oil; give the bottle a good shake every time.

Make sure you put plenty of the mixed oils on your hands or fingers so that these glide over your skin, much like when applying body lotion. It’s amazing how quickly a dry skin will lap it up, so keep putting on more oil till you’re really greased up! Don’t be afraid of it. The more you put on, the easier it is to carry out the suggested movements.

Again, because we are helping the lymph move, it’s important to always work in the direction of the blood flow to the heart. You work from the head DOWN and from the legs and stomach UP, just as you do with skin-brushing, but this time start with the head. You might prefer to do a massage after your bath or shower, when the skin is nice and warm and a little damp. You might find it best to sit on the edge of the bath, on the loo, or on a towel on the floor. Experiment and see what works for you.

HEAD

To begin with, sit up straight in a comfy but supporting chair, or on the floor with your back against something. Slowly ‘shampoo’ your scalp all over, using the pads of your fingers, not your nails, working the oil well into the scalp. This movement is incredibly relaxing as well as being very good for your hair. Leave the oil on while you carry on with the rest of the massage.

FACE

Warm a teaspoon of your mixed oils in your palms. Rub your hands together and then press them all over your face quickly and firmly. Using your fingertips, tap lightly and quickly all over your face, starting from the centre and working outwards: along your eyebrows, under eyes, along the cheekbones, around your mouth and along your chin. Then, using your fingers, make little circles starting at the hairline and working down round the outside of the face. As you reach the chin, gently pinch the flesh between fingers and thumbs, working from the point of the chin to the ears. Then using the index fingers and thumbs gently pinch the eyebrows, moving outwards. Massage the middle of your forehead and the temples in circular motions. With two or three of your middle fingers, start at the nose and gently sweep along the bone under the eye, moving out from the nose towards your ears. Do the same under the cheekbones, sweeping outwards from nose to ears. Then put your fingers under the middle of your nose and sweep downwards above the mouth, following the line of your upper lip. And, finally, put your fingers under the middle of your bottom lip and sweep upwards and out, again following the line of your lip. Finish the face by pulling on the ear lobes and give them a good massage. This will help the blood flow to your face and wake up your complexion. Lastly, rub your hands together quite fast and then place them over your face, keeping your eyes closed. Inhale the essential oils and the heat radiating from your hands.

NECK AND SHOULDERS

Very hard to do on yourself, but what you can do, with a well-oiled hand, is to pinch the flesh along the top of your shoulder blade, between the first three fingers and thumb of the opposite hand, moving up and down the entire length of each shoulder. And then, with one hand, very gently massage the back of your neck.

ARMS

Try and cup the whole of the opposite arm by placing your fingers on top and your thumb underneath. Start at the wrist and, using upward strokes, glide up the arm, pressing firmly. Repeat several times on each arm, alternating between thumb on top and thumb underneath.

FEET

In a seated position, put a foot on the opposite knee. Cradle your toes in the same-side hand, and with your opposite hand, using your knuckles only, circle all over the bottom of your foot. Squeeze the back and sides of the foot above the heel. This is where a lot of tension is held. Finish by pulling each toe firmly and briskly, making sure each one is oiled. Repeat on the other foot.

LEGS AND THIGHS

With one foot up on the side of the bath, cup your two hands around both sides of the leg, from above the anklebone, and firmly and slowly glide both hands together right up the leg and over the knee. You might have to do this several times to make sure your whole leg has been massaged. Re-oil your hands and repeat the same on your thighs as high up as you can, but this time you can use more pressure. Repeat on the other leg.

ABDOMEN AND BOTTOM

For the abdomen, just use circular movements, in a clockwise direction, as gently or as firmly as you feel comfortable with. A lot of people don’t like having their tummies massaged so see how you feel. The bottom is a very difficult muscle to work on your own, so instead give it a good scrub with a loofah when you’re in the shower!

And talking of showers – do resist the urge to jump in and wash off the oil. It won’t take long for most of it to soak in. Don’t forget that your skin is the body’s largest organ and anything on it, good or bad, is absorbed into the bloodstream. So try not to wash the benefits away. Instead, wrap up warmly in an old towelling dressing gown and have a lie-down!

Practise self-massage whenever you get a chance to spend a little bit of ‘me time’ in the bathroom. Apart from helping your lymph, it’s good to get into the habit of looking after yourself and monitoring your stress levels. Beneficial techniques such as self-massage and skin-brushing shouldn’t be rationed to a once-a-year treat, so get into the habit of doing them more often from now on. You and your body deserve them!

You also deserve a rest from all the toxins that bombard us in ever-increasing amounts, and that’s what we’ll be looking at next. You might be surprised by the list of things that I consider to be toxic – but after thinking about it you might even add some more that I haven’t considered!