Your Lymphatic System is Most Important in detoxing, yet often ignored

We constantly talk about our circulatory system, our digestive system and our immune system but our lymphatic system; the vast network of vessels, nodes and fluid that runs alongside your circulatory system through every tissue in your body, is the one that most people have never thought about until something goes wrong with it. This is tragic because it is the most important cleansing system we have.

Your lymphatic system is your body's internal waste management network. It collects cellular debris, metabolic waste, excess fluid, pathogens, toxins and immune cells from the tissues throughout your body and transports them through a web of lymphatic vessels to your lymph nodes, where they are filtered, processed and neutralized before the clean fluid is returned to your circulation.

Think of it as your body's drainage system; quietly and continuously collecting everything your cells produce as waste and moving it towards an exit. It is also a critical part of our immune system. Your lymph nodes are manufacturing and staging sites for white blood cells. When you are fighting an infection and your glands feel swollen, that is your lymph nodes working hard. The swelling is immune activity, not a problem but doing exactly what it is designed to do.

Unlike your blood, which has the heart to pump it continuously around your body, lymph has no central pump. It moves only when you move it through muscle contraction, deep breathing, massage and intentional practice. A sedentary body, a stressed body, a body that sits for long hours and moves too little, is a body with sluggish lymphatic flow.

The signs of a congested lymphatic system are varied and often attributed incorrectly to other causes. The most common signs include persistent puffiness, particularly in the face, ankles and hands, fatigue that sleep does not resolve, feeling of heaviness in your body, frequent illness and slow recovery, skin conditions including dullness, breakouts and congestion, cellulite, brain fog, fluid retention that diet and exercise do not seem to address.

If any of these sound familiar, your lymphatic system may simply be asking for attention and the good news is that it will respond quickly and gratefully to a little support. You don’t need expensive equipment as you can perform effective drainage gently with your hands.

Your lymphatic system has primary drainage points which are the places where the lymph vessels empty into your blood. The two most important points are located just below your collarbones on each side and in each groin crease. If these points are congested or closed, working the limbs is like trying to drain a sink with the plug still in and the fluid has nowhere to go.

Before you begin it important to open these four drainage points first. For the collarbone area, use two or three fingers to make gentle brushing movements in the hollow just below each collarbone, working movements from your shoulder towards the center. For the groin, use the flat of your hand to make gentle movements in each groin crease. Do not press deeply but with the lightest possible pressure, because lymphatic vessels sit just beneath the skin.

I do a short lymphatic drainage practice most mornings, often while sitting quietly or in the sauna. It takes five minutes and the cumulative effect over weeks and months is significant. Here is exactly what I do:

Step 1 — Open the collarbone drainage centres — thirty seconds each side, gentle movements inwards below your collarbone.

Step 2 — Open the groin drainage centres — thirty seconds each side, gentle movements upwards in the crease where your thigh meets your torso.

Step 3 — Drain your Face — Place your fingers on each side of your ears and gently stroke down, then stroke from the center of your face towards your ears and down your neck. This drains the cervical lymph nodes and is particularly useful if you carry tension in your neck and jaw.

Step 4 — Drain your arms — using the flat of your hand, stroke from your fingertips towards your armpit in long slow movements, always towards the heart. Finish with a few gentle tapping movements in the armpit itself, where a cluster of lymph nodes sits.

Step 5 — Drain your legs — using both hands, stroke from your ankle up toward your groin in long slow movements. Work in sections if it helps — first knee to groin and then ankle to knee, tapping behind your knees.

The whole sequence takes five minutes and when done consistently three to four evenings per week it produces noticeable results in puffiness, energy, skin clarity and that general sense of heaviness that many of us carry without quite knowing why.

If you want to amplify your lymphatic drainage practice, try using a dry, soft, natural bristle brush in the sauna or before your shower.

Dry brushing also exfoliates dead skin whilst stimulating circulation and most importantly activating lymphatic flow. It takes three minutes and the skin benefits alone make it worth doing.

Of all the tools available for supporting lymphatic flow, Aeropilates rebounding is my favourite and the one I have used consistently for years.

Rebounding is one of the most effective known methods for stimulating lymphatic flow; more effective, studies suggest, than walking or jogging, because the continuous change in gravitational force with each bounce creates a pumping action throughout your lymphatic system that no other form of exercise quite replicates.

It is also, frankly, one of the most enjoyable ways to move your body, destress and manage your weight. Ten minutes of rebounding in the morning before the day begins activates your lymphatic system, elevates your mood, raises your heart rate gently, and sets a physiological tone for the day that carries through for hours afterward.

Lastly I love my infrared sauna session, usually timed right before I wash my hair! The deep penetrating heat of infrared increases circulation throughout my body, raises my core temperature and drives a thorough sweat that carries lymphatic waste out through my skin.

I use my infrared sauna twice weekly for forty minutes and I always do a short lymphatic drainage massage before or during each session.

If you have access to an infrared sauna, pair it with this manual drainage routine and you will feel the difference within weeks. Open your drainage centers, stroke from your extremities toward your heart, drink a large glass of water with a pinch of salt afterward to replenish the fluid and minerals released.

Do it again tomorrow and the day after. Your body will tell you, in the language of energy and lightness and clear skin and genuine vitality, that it noticed.

written by Marjolein Brugman

Marjolein Brugman is the founder of lighterliving and Aeropilates. “lighterliving is a movement and lifestyle choice we can all make. Let’s make it simple – make one decision a day to be better and watch the small steps lead to big changes. Eat smart, stay active, and you’ll live to feel a lighter life."