Dry Brushing - How To Tips
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skincare Tools & Do-It-Yourself Skincare

free skin care · Tue May 27, 2008 3:25 pm

I'm posting this info in response to Mars' question about dry brushing on the 55 and Over Skin Care Issues thread.

While doing an EDS search, I found many mentions of dry brushing. Here are two good ones:
http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=3204
Can You Dry Brush Your Face?
http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=21409&start=0
But there isn't that much info on EDS about how to dry brush.

You can find info online by placing "dry brushing" in a search engine. But I figured I would post some pointers about dry brushing. The general rule is to always do the brushing toward the heart. And, it's best to use a brush with natural fibers (like tampico) v. a sythetic brush. I use a tampico brush made by Yerba Prima but I hadn't been doing dry brushing regularly. You can sometimes find this brush in Whole Foods or your local health food store. Or online:
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Yerba%20Prima%20dry%20brush

Well, dry brushing has gotten bumped up on my to do list. It's great for your skin (your largest organ of detoxification) and moving your lymph. I recently got back from my Donna Eden Energy Medicine program class and had an "expert" give me instruction in dry brushing. Her name is Eva and she teaches it to her clients.

Anyway, I can offer some tips I got from Eva:

- you definitely want to get a brush with some friction - not too soft!!! - that's counter the purpose. She's found that people who start with a soft brush don't want to bump up to the one they should be using

- you will not get the same effect with loofah as dry brushing. For the full effect of dry brushing, the brush must be DRY

- you brush equally on each side of the body - otherwise, you may promote imbalance. Thus, pick a #. If it's 3, it's 3 brushes up from foot to knee on the right side of the body; then 3 brushes up the foot to the knee on the left, etc.

- Start the process using the back of the brush. Pick the # you're going with. If 3: First thump near the clavicle (3); then the groin (3); then back of the knees (3). This is to get the lymph moving/activated.

- you follow the lymph flow and always brush toward the heart; you do the body in natural sections (from joint bend to joint - like from foot to knee, knee to groin, etc.)

- because of the way the lymph flows on the right and left side below the arm pits, always start on the right foot; then do the same on the left side until you get above the waist. After that you can start on either side - but remember to do balanced (3-3).

- at the solar plexus area - start at the illeocecal valve on the lower right side of the abdomen and go in a circle in the direction of the digestive tract. This will help your digestion.

- if you are not big chested (like me) or a man, you can do figure eights above and under around your breasts. Don't brush your nipple area.

- when doing the arms, don't forget the armpits (down toward heart) - much lymph gathers here

- when doing the back as you reach the shoulders, do go continue over the shoulder toward the heart

- definitely do the neck

- for the face, you could have a separate brush or use the one you have gently. The most important parts for lymph drainage on the face are near the cheekbones (under I think) for sinus drainage. If you don't want to use the brush, you can use your fingers (tapping or massaging). Just massage or brush out to side of face.

- a good way to end your session is to do some cold-hot-cold 30 second (doesn't matter which first - hot or cold) or so bursts in the shower to open and close, thus, pumping the lymph. Then you can take your usual shower.

But, Eva said you don't have to shower afterward. It's just that you probably will want to - especially if you have any dead skin clouds coming off - as it helps rinse off what's started to come out (toxins).

free skin care · Sat May 31, 2008 2:06 pm

I agree with you re dry skin brushing. The only thing I would add, is that if you have any lose skin or sagging, one of the things that I would usually recommend to people is to take a multi-mineral.

Skin becomes lose and spongey when it begins lacking in minerals. And often when people do dieting etc, the minerals go out the window and as a result the skin is delayed in snapping back or around the muscles etc. So if you want to make the most of skin brushing, adding a multimineral is really effective. You can get them in tablet or liquid form and there are loads out there. Minerals are such an overlooked thing, because the media advertises that we need and are lacking in vitamins - but for the body to make full use of vitamins it needs minerals.

I love Dr. Berkowsky's Vital Chi Skin-Brushing System. I have just ordered the dvd (it only recently became available) but it is such a great system and he really did research it well. The dvd hasn't arrived yet, but Toby I think said she had got it and felt she had good results from it. Apparently the dvd is a full demonstration of the book (which I do have and is fantastic). It should get here any day now.

As for the face, usually body brushes can be a little too harsh, so many people drop to natural nail brushes (of the softer variety) but still enough to exfoliate. I tend to work from the top to bottom of the face, from centre outwards (so will start mid forehead and brush outwards on either side, nose bridge to tip, and then cheeks outwards to ears, I also do behind the ears and under the eyes (lymph glands go here too), and then the chin and jawline. The one place I have differed though from the regular norms is that I brush upwards on the neck (and not downwards as per the book above mentioned).

I do this because usually if a blockage is there, brushing downwards simply moves the blockage and doesn't disburse it, whereas brushing upwards tends to stimulate the blood and alert the brain that there is a blockage and as a result when it comes to doing the rest of the body you can feel the blockage disburse, but it might not be for everyone to do it that way (just my understanding of it at the moment).

free skin care · Sat May 31, 2008 4:09 pm

The Vita Chi Skin-brushing from Dr. Berkowsky is excellent. I haven't followed a format of others so I can't compare, but his focuses on generating chi energy and lymphatic drainage. Of course the benefit of what it does for the skin is there. I ordered the book and dvd but if you are in the saving mode the dvd is very complete and it is 14.95. The webiste is www.NaturalHealthScience.com. I highly recommend it. I was absolutely amazed at the energy I have from 12 minutes of brushing. It is solid energy that last beyond a day.
Toby

free skin care · Sat Aug 16, 2008 11:24 pm

Adding a new how to link here Smile

This one is extremely detailed!

http://www.racingsmarter.com/health/natural/skin_brushing.htm

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