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| *skin brushing diagram |
I'm referring to dry skin brushing.
Dry skin brushing is a health and beauty technique that involves using a natural fiber brush or loofah pad, to detoxify the skin. This procedure is done when you are dry and naked, right before you get in the shower.
Some facts on skin:
- The skin is the largest most important eliminative organ in the body and is responsible for one quarter of the body’s detoxification each day
- The skin eliminates over one pound of waste acids each day in the average adult, most of it through the sweat glands
- That the skin is known also as our third kidney
- That the skin receives one third of all the blood circulated in the body
- That the skin is the last to receive nutrients in the body, yet the first to show signs of imbalance or deficiency
Detoxification is performed by a number of organs, glands, and transportation systems, including the skin, gut, kidneys, liver, lungs, lymphatic system, and mucous membranes. The dry brushing technique deals with detoxification of the skin.
Dry brushing is a way to stimulate all the above organs of detoxification because it provides a gentle internal massage.
Dry Brushing was recommended by the Finnish Dr., Paavo Airola for his patients 30 years ago and is still popular in European spas and many cancer treatment centers today. The Russians, Turks and Scandinavians have used this treatment for centuries. Dry brushing is promoted as a preventative for dry skin and a way to exfoliate the skin, thus stimulating skin renewal that is super soft to the touch, but there are many other benefits as well:
Benefits of Dry Skin Brushing:
1. Removes cellulite
2. Cleanses the lymphatic system
3. Removes dead skin layers
4. Strengthens the immune system
5. Stimulates the hormone and oil-producing glands
6. Tightens the skin preventing premature aging
7. Tones the muscles
8. Stimulates circulation
9. Improves the function of the nervous system
10. Helps digestion
11. AND it’s easy, inexpensive and invigorating!
I consistently dry brushed my skin daily for a little over a month. At first, the sensation was a bit rough and I found my skin to react sensitively to it. I also noticed that I felt a little crappy shortly after beginning brushing. I took this as my body was going through detox. After a few days though, I felt great and so did the brush on my skin.
After dry brushing my body, I immediately jumped into the shower to wash off the impurities from my brushing session.
SOME NEED-TO-KNOW POINTERS ON DRY SKIN BRUSHING:
• Always dry brush your dry and naked body before you shower or bathe because you will want to wash off the impurities from the skin as a result from the brushing action.
• You can do the brushing head-to-toe or toe-to-head. It really doesn’t matter as long as the entire body is brushed. Long sweeping strokes starting from the bottom of your feet upwards, and from the hands towards the shoulders, and on the torso in an upward direction help drain the lymph back to your heart.
• Use light pressure in areas where the skin is thin and harder pressure on places like the soles of the feet.
• Skin brushing should be performed once a day, preferably first thing in the morning. A thorough skin brushing takes about 15 minutes, but any time spent brushing prior to bathing will benefit the body. If you are feeling ill, increasing the treatments to twice a day is good. You can also dry brush areas of cellulite five to 10 minutes twice a day to achieve cellulite dissolving but the technique needs to be done consistently for a minimum of five months.
• Avoid sensitive areas and anywhere the skin is broken such as areas of skin rash, wounds, cuts, and infections. Also, never brush an area affected by poison oak or poison ivy.
• Finish up with your regular shower and ending with three hot and cold cycles. That means turning on the water as hot as you can take it for several seconds, then as cold as you can handle it, then hot, then cold for three cycles. End with either hot or cold. This will further invigorate the skin and stimulate blood circulation, bringing more blood to the outer layers of the skin.
• After getting out of the shower, dry off vigorously and massage your skin with pure plant oils such as olive, avocado, apricot, almond, sesame, coconut or cocoa butter. Add a little peanut and Castor oil to the mix if you have arthritis. Edgar Cayce says this works to take out some of the pain, and we’ve found that to be true over the years.
• Clean your skin brush using soap and water once a week. After rinsing, dry your skin brush in an open, sunny spot to prevent mildew.
• Any well designed program will take about 30 days to see and experience the changes. Please be patient and keep up the program! For a thorough lymphatic cleansing, perform skin brushing daily for a minimum of three months.
Note: Stroking away from your heart puts extra pressure on the valves within the veins and lymph vessels and can cause ruptured vessels and varicose veins.
**This information is from Natural Health Techniques.com. You can read more up on dry skin brushing here.
Also, Evelyn, from EvelynParham.com (A great healthy raw & live plant-based living site!), did a great video that you can use as a visual to show you how to dry skin brush properly. You can click the link to it here.
{{Hugs}},
