The Benefits of Dry Body Brushing

Each month this year, the Natural Health Forever blog will focus on a different area of health. During March the focus will be on skin health. We will look into the benefits of dry body brushing, exfoliating scrubs & masks, magnesium salt baths, skin detox baths and each week will provide a skin health recipe including a body scrub, juice, smoothie and salad recipe.

Today we start with the benefits of body brushing

Five minutes of dry body brushing is a great inclusion into a morning routine to jump start the day, or for an evening wind down routine. The skin is an elimination organ and being the largest organ in the body, it excretes around 1/3 of the body’s toxins and impurities daily. Body brushing is highly invigorating, not just to the skin but to the body. It stimulates circulation energising the body, removes dead skin cells and toxins and helps break down cellulite and fatty deposits below the skin surface. Other benefits include stimulating the lymphatic system, stimulating digestion, reducing muscle tension, relieving stress by calming the mind, tightening the skin and preventing premature ageing. For just five minutes of brushing daily that’s a pretty good pay off!

To start with you’ll need a natural bristle brush (avoid synthetic or nylon alternatives which can damage the skin).  Start softly if you are brushing for the first time and build up the pressure gradually to stronger strokes. Be careful not to over brush areas and don’t brush areas that are inflamed, irritated or sunburnt. Also avoid the breasts, genitals, face and neck.

How to body brush

• Before your shower and starting at the feet, brush the legs upwards towards your heart and in a circular movement,
• Next move to the arms and starting with the hands brush towards the heart,
• A long handle brush helps to brush the back, brush using circular movement towards the heart,
• Lastly brush the abdomen area using a circular clockwise motion to follow the direction of the colon,
• Brush until the skin is slightly tingly and shower afterwards to remove the dead skin cells,
• After the shower pat the body dry with a towel and try using a little coconut oil or another natural oil to moisturise the skin.

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