Dry Skin Brushing and its benefitsHello Everyone!
Hope you are enjoying your holidays with family and friends. I know this is the time of year for parties and gatherings which usually means a lot of endulging. During this time we usually are not thinking about what ingredients are in that appy or nanaimo bar. Thus, we are usually taking in a lot of sugar, fat, and chemicals from non-organic ingredients. Our bodies tend to get overloaded and we can pay for it through fatigue, moodiness, weight gain, and even colds or flus (I'll go into more depth on this on a later post). So, why not detox during the holidays?
One of the easiest ways to detox is dry skin brushing. The skin is the largest organ and is critical in eliminating toxins. The skin actually contributes to 25% of the bodies detoxification. According to an article on Natural News , the skin can become clogged from cosmetics, environmental toxins, and from chemicals/pesticides in food. Brushing the skin unclogs the pores allowing the skin to take part in a more intensive toxin elimination process. The liver and kidneys are very grateful for this as their toxic loads are reduced.
So, here is the scientific part. The detoxification is actually through the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system depends on the circulation system to move the lymph containing all the toxins out of the body. Skin brushing greatly improves this circulation and thus the elimination of the toxic substances out of your body.
You are probably thinking "ya ya that's great and all but what will my skin look and feel like?" Well, let me tell you, I started dry skin brushing a couple of months ago and after the first couple of weeks of brushin I noticed a difference. My skin was softer and the small, round bumps around my elbows were almost gone. These bumps were most likely dead skin cells stuck to my skin which were harboring bacteria. Not a pretty picture!
The best time to skin brush is before you have a shower as the water aids to completly remo
ve all the dead cells. The best tool to use is a long handle brush made of natural hair. I don't have one of these yet so I just use exfoliating gloves. The technique is easy and so give it a try today!
- Start at the hands and work in a circular motion towards the shoulder
- Start a the feet and move towards the hips, again in a circular motion
- Circular motion on the torso towards the heart
- Optional: soles of feet, palms of hands, areas of cellulite, and armpits.
Hope you found today's post helpful! Let me know of the benefits you have received from skin brushing.
Finally, I would like to finish up with a picture that makes me smile! Their names are Nemo (orange) and Bailey. We are fostering them for the
Nelson SPCA . Recently, Bailey got adopted to a real nice family so that was awesome! We still have Nemo and he is totally awesome and we love him. His favorite games are to chase a lazer beam or a ball of yarn. The neighbors dog was outside and so they were very curious. The funny thing is Nemo really didn't like Bailey too close to him but I guess he made an exception here!
Joy and Gingerbread,
Melissa
s are National Lampoons Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story. Hopefully you get to see some of these or the many other holiday movies out there. They are always a good laugh and a great stress reliever! My husband and I are spending the holidays away from all our family and friends this year. It's the first time in both our lives that we will not be at home so its been a little tough on us emotionally. Yet, this is probably the one time in our lives that it will be just the two of us. So you could say this year is bittersweet,yet, we are going to make the best of it and enjoy this special time with each other. Whoever you are with tomorrow, try to enjoy the day and do something that makes you smile. I know I will be making quite a few vegan goodies in the morning and playing the Christmas music loud and proud. I originally had plans to go tobogganing but the snow has all melted. Here I was bragging about how awesome its going to be to experience a snowy Kootenay Christmas and yet the forecast shows no signs of snow. If you have snow throw a few snowballs around for me or make a snow angel!
