With the skin being our body’s largest organ, we need to treat it with RESPECT! The skin helps us eliminate toxins each day to keep our body healthy. Have you ever heard of dry skin brushing? Brushing the skin is a helps unplug pores, increases its ability to absorb nutrients and increases circulation to skin cells. A dry brush is a powerful tool to revitalize the skin as well as promote healthy blood circulation and lymphatic cleansing.
Why brush your skin?
Exfoliates the skin
Increases blood circulation
Stimulates the lymphatic system
As part of a daily home regimen of dry brushing, the skin brush removes dry, dead skin cells to expose fresh new skin cells, while deep cleaning and bringing nutrients to the surface for more beautiful, youthful skin. Exfoliation with the brush stimulates the growth of young healthy skin cells, and may help reduce cellulite and other skin blemishes.
Skin brushing is one of the most powerful ways to cleanse the lymphatic system. Waste material is carried away from the cells by the blood and the lymph. Skin brushing stimulates the release of this material from the cells near the surface of the body. Eventually, most of the toxins along with their carrier cells, primarily lymphocytes, find their way to the colon for elimination.
How Will Dry Skin Brushing Benefit you?
1. Dry skin brushing is employed by alternative health practitioners in order to facilitate toxin removal:
Via the sweat by unclogging the pores
Via the blood by shuttling them to the liver and kidneys for elimination
Via the lymph by increasing lymphatic circulation
2. Beauty Benefits
Skin brushing is also used by spas and beauty salons as part of a program for:
Gently exfoliating and deep cleaning the skin
Allowing fresh, new skin cells to emerge
Reducing the appearance of cellulite
How Do You Use a Dry Skin Brush?
Brush your skin while dry, right before you shower, so you can wash away dead skin and released toxins. Be sure to avoid brushing skin that has rashes, cuts or infections, or where you have a fresh sunburn. If you are skin brushing for the first time, start with very gentle strokes, especially if you have sensitive skin. “No pain, no gain” does not apply here!
1. Start with the outer parts of your body (hands and feet) and move up your arms and legs, toward your heart. Some people like long smooth strokes, others short quick strokes. Both work just fine.
2. Brush up the back and front of your torso, and down from the shoulders. Some people like to brush clockwise on the abdomen around the belly button, following the direction of the colon.
3. Cover your whole body except your face, breasts, and groin.
A slight flush of the skin is normal, but don’t brush so hard that your skin feels irritated (or turns bright red in light-skinned people). The whole process normally takes 2-3 minutes, though you can brush even more thoroughly if that feels good to you. You will feel an invigorating, tingling sensation, especially when you step in the shower and rinse off after dry brushing.
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.
Avoid dry skin brushing if you:
Suffer from a heart condition, have high blood pressure or diabetes
Have psorisis, eczema or extremely sensitive, easily-irritated skin
Have broken skin wounds or infections
Dry skin brushing has been used in cultures worldwide for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Skin brushing with birch twigs, rough towels, and even corn cobs has traditionally been practiced in the baths of Japan and Turkey, the saunas of Finland and Russia, and the sweat lodges of the Native Americans.
After dry skin brushing, you will feel the invigorating, tingling energy of increased circulation. That’s one more reason why so many people love dry skin brushing every day. With just 2-3 minutes each day spent dry brushing your skin, you will see and feel long lasting results both inside and out. Give it a try!
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