Get Lymphasizing!

Can you believe how beautiful everything is outside right now? From exploding blossom to now petal-snow, the earth is so elegantly draped right now it is my favourite time of year.

When was the last time you took a really good walk? Whether you walk to work or went for a leisure walk, do you remember the feeling afterwards? Do you get that clean, happily tired and perhaps even drowsy post-walk feeling? I love it!

Now that we are entering the bank holiday season in the UK, I hope you will take some time out for walking. Why? Well, here is something to consider:

Do you know how walking helps you detoxify, energise and lose weight?

Put simply, every time you take a step and breathe deeply using your skeletal muscles, your lymph system gets pushed round your body. When you walk, your calf muscles squeeze and move your lymph fluid up your leg. Unlike lungfish, amphibians, reptiles and flightless birds, humans don’t have a lymph heart to pump our lymph fluid round our bodies. So our lymph relies on our walking/movement and breathing to circulate round our bodies.

Think of your lymph system as your body’s grey-water drainage system. It sits just under your skin, on top of your blood system and is comprised of a fluid called lymph (‘lympha’ meaning water in Latin) which runs directionally towards the heart. The lymph vessels carry waste (remember, fat is a toxic storage tank so “waste” equals fat and toxins) away from the tissues and back towards the heart. As long as you are properly hydrated, this system works very hard for you each day making sure waste goes where it should and supporting the blood to fight off any attackers.

The good news is that the more you drink the more you move
…to use the facilities. The more you need the facilities, the more you need to MOVE towards them and in doing so, you pump your lymphatic system. So if you have an office-based job, instead of being annoyed that you have to interrupt yourself and leave your desk, see it as an opportunity to move your lymphatic system round! If you travel a lot then I can understand it may not always be convenient to stop for a toilet, but have you ever tried cleaning the kitchen floor with a dry mop? It’ll pick up all the fluffs but it sure won’t clean off the grime. Only liquid will do that! And the best liquid is water.

Cleaning the floor with cola? Ewwwww!
The body is the same. Imagine pouring 2.5 litres of cola into your kitchen mop bucket and cleaning the floor with that. Even with a Xero cola, do you think you’d get the result you’re after? I don’t. I think you’d want to clean your floor with mostly water and a bit of cleaner and it’s the same with the body. Water is water and cleaner is…well, there are a number of things you can add to support your body’s cleaning system – chlorella, aloe, lemon or limes – you choose. The lymphatic system can move around 2.5L of fluid per day and even more if you’re exercising, so help it do it’s job. Drink, breathe, walk. Drink, breathe, bounce.

To take it to the next level, using a power plate and rebounding or jumping on a trampoline are also top lymph movers. The nice thing about using a trampoline is that you can do something else, like watch or listen to your favourite content. Tony Robbins’s “Unleash the Power Within” conference (which we attended last year) begins tomorrow and he has an entire page dedicated to what he calls “Lymphasizing”.

Lastly, dry skin brushing everyday before you jump in the shower or get dressed activates your lymphatic system and gets it moving round brilliantly. Combined with sufficient hydration and regular walking and/or bouncing, you’ll find your skin glowing from great exfoliation and circulation in addition to having a cleared system compliments of your lymph.

4lbs still off!
We finished our April detoxes on a high 2 weeks ago and I just got an email today from a lady saying that she’s kept off the 4lbs that she shed then. She’s still learning all sorts of new recipes and tips from the WhatsApp group the clients formed among themselves to stay in touch, isn’t that great news?!