I’ve been listening to health and Ayurveda experts telling me I should be dry brushing for years. It’s great for you and it’s been around since the dawn of time. Alright, cool but not a huge priority. It took me a really long time to get around to it though because I didn’t fully understand what it was or why I should do it.
Dry brushing is, in a nut shell, where you take a natural bristled brush and brush yourself in a specific way for benefits in health and appearance. Yeah, sure, that sounds great and all but it doesn’t really explain it fully. A lot of things can do that for me. They should have led with the “It’ll vastly improve your cellulite” approach.
I started dry brushing a couple of months ago. I’m not going to post pictures of my butt because, class. But I’ll say the difference is dramatic. Like, craters to minor pot holes. I wish I had taken before pictures.
It’s crazy simple and only takes about 2 minutes. If that.
Benefits of dry brushing
- Ease anxiety
- Lessen cellulite
- Improve circulation
- Stimulates Lymphatic system
- Exfoliates skin
- Relieves stress
- Supports immune system
- Grounding
- Detoxing
- Improves Digestion
The practice of dry brushing can bring you into the here and now. It’s methodical, rhythmic and calming which can invite more mindfulness into your life, ease anxiety and bring you down to earth, helping you to stay grounded.
By stimulating the lymphatic system, it can help to release toxins that have become trapped within your body. Doing it just before you get in the shower can enhance the benefits. Something about the hot water interacting with the activation of the brushing in the body. My sources were kinda vague in explaining this part.
Dry brushing also helps to keep skin healthy by exfoliating and stimulating it’s natural processes, aiding in hydration. You’ll find your skin needs less outside help in the form of lotions and creams. A natural bristle brush is going to help even more in this process since it’s bristles can pick up our skin’s natural oils and distribute them to other areas.
You can also get a small brush for dry brushing your face which I hear can help with acne. I haven’t tried this yet but may look into it later. Make sure you sign up for The Temple Tablet so you get notified about that blog post in the future!
Dry brushing is a super simple self care practice that has tons of benefits.
How to Dry Brush
Dry brushing is very specific. It’s not hard but if you don’t do it properly, you can cause strain on your veins causing unsightly varicose veins. We only wanna do good. No harm.
- Use a natural bristle brush.
- Get Naked.
- Don’t wet skin but do before shower (DRY brushing..)
- Start at your feet and brush up to your stomach in long, sweeping motions.
- Brush clockwise on the stomach, flowing with digestion. (Down on the left, up on the right)
- Brush from your hands, up toward your heart to your arm pits
Move with the lymphatic system, towards the heart and don’t over think it. It’s really quite simple.
It’s important to use a natural bristle brush since synthetic ones can scratch and damage the skin. Buttt…I can’t find any ethically sourced brushes so I just use a synthetic one and haven’t had any problems. The ones pictured in the header are mine. I got them at Walmart.
Brush lightly. If your skin is red or has marks after dry brushing, you’re doing it to hard. It should feel good, not painful.
It’s also possible that the practice of dry brushing could cause you to feel lightheaded and nauseas. This is due to the activation of the lymphatic system which helps detox our body. If there are a lot of toxins built up in the body, this may happen for a few times until you get the toxins released. Keep it up! You’re doing your body good by getting these stagnant energies out! It’ll get better.
If you do it in the morning upon waking before your morning shower it can provide great mental clarity and really wake you up and get you going for the day!
Cleaning your brush
You really don’t have to clean your brush very often. While you’re brushing, your brush is picking up dead skin but it’s also picking up oils on your body and good bacteria that are eating the dead skin.
This sounds horribly gross in our germaphobic society. I know. But the truth is that these things are good for you. The natural oils are picked up and moved around, moisturizing your skin. The good bacteria helps to keep the bad bacteria in check, making for a balanced and healthy microbiome.
Once a month or so is plenty. Use soap and water and let it air dry by hanging.
Best Vibes Always, S.S.Blake
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Author
S.S.Blake; Spiritual Life Coach, Yoga + Meditation Teacher and Founder of Earth and Water
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