Skin Brushing and Hot and cold showering
Why?
The body eliminates accumulated waste and toxins in several way one of which is through the skin. Skin brushing helps to improve elimination through the skin by removing surface layers, which store high levels of uric acid.
Blood circulates the body pumped by the heart. Lymphatic fluids follow a similar route to the blood but having no pump of its own relies on stimulation from external sources to help it along. For a number of reasons these sources may become inadequate and cause the lymph fluid to stagnate often causing inflammation and discomfort. Skin brushing can help to elevate the stagnation and move the lymph on to its natural course of drainage.
How?
On dry skin using a pure bristle brush, make short brisk movements from the feet up the legs over the front and back of the body toward the heart covering each surface two or three times. Do the same from the fingertips over the arm and neck towards the heart. And out across the shoulders down the back.
Follow dry skin brushing with hot and cold showering. After washing in the usual way, shower alternating between hot and cold water until the body gets hot then until it gets cold, three times ending on cold.
The process of hot and cold showing causes the blood vessels to dilate and contract as they try to compensate for the temperature changes. As they do this they carry the lymph fluid with them helping to relieve stagnation. Ending on cold encourages the body to draw on latent heat energy to warm itself up again ultimately leaving you warm. (Finishing on hot water means that the body is left trying to cool you down rather than warm you up which can leave the surface of the skin chilled)