Get Beautiful Skin and Improve Your Health With Dry Brushing - Mother Distracted (2024)

If you watched the BBC programme “The Truth About Looking Good” with Cherry Healey recently, you’ll have discovered that there is one thing thatdefinitely works for cellulite – dry brushing of the skin. So I asked my friend Lindsay at Pure Health HQ to explain what it is, what it can do and how to get the best results. Here’s what she had to say.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get smoother, healthier skin then dry brushing may be the answer!

An ancient technique, dry brushing is essentially the removal of dead skin with a dry, bristle brush. Done once a day, for just 5 minutes, dry brushing can help promote a person’s overall health from the outside in.

Not only will your skin feel silky smooth, the rest of your body will benefit too. Dry brushing can help increase circulation, improve organ function and provide some much needed stress relief in our hectic lives.

7 Benefits of Dry Brushing

Benefit #1: Immune Function and Body Detoxification

One of the most well-known reasons to dry brush is to stimulate the body’s lymphatic system. By doing so, lymph nodes (which are responsible for helping to rid the body of toxins) become cleared.

Proper lymph node function is essential for naturally detoxing the body, since they are responsible for filtering out bacteria and other particles that may otherwise make us sick. A clear lymphatic system can dispose of toxins quicker, in turn reducing inflammation and keeping illnesses at bay.

Benefit #2: Increased Circulation

Since dry brushing is done on dry skin instead of wet skin, circulation to your body is increased. Increased circulation means you will have more oxygen flowing through your blood which is key to maintaining a properly working heart and muscles. This stimulation of blood flow may also increase your overall energy.

Benefit #3: Exfoliation

Dry brushing not only provides benefits to the inside of your body, it also helps the appearance of your skin. When you dry brush, you remove dead skin cells (which often hold toxins). Once removed, skin is left looking and feeling smoother, thanks to dead skin cells being gone, and the promotion of skin regeneration being activated.

Benefit #4: Clear Pores

By dry brushing, you eliminate the dirt and grime that has accumulated deep within your skin as well as any pollutant that has built up on the outside of the skin. This means that pore clogging dirt and toxins are removed from your body.

Unclogged pores are beneficial to have because they increase the amount of essential nutrients you can absorb through your skin. Higher nutrient absorption often leads to a healthier, happier life.

Benefit #5: Cellulite Reduction

Since dry brushing helps break apart toxins on top of and beneath the skin, a reduction in the appearance of cellulite may occur. Fat often stores in clumps under the skin, so dry brushing may aid in the softening and redistribution of these cells.

Benefit #6: Stress Relief

Everyone has some stress in their lives. Another great benefit of dry brushing is that it can act as a natural stress reliever. While dry brushing, you are essentially providing your body with a massage. This massaging effect can help calm your mind and relieve tension in your muscles, which often leads to a reduction of stress.

Benefit #7: Helps with Digestion and Kidney Function

By working your lymphatic system, you engage key lymph nodes that work to eliminate toxins and excess water. With the lymph nodes doing more work to eliminate unwanted particles in the body, the digestive system and kidneys don’t become overloaded when doing their jobs to detoxify the body.

Spending about 5 minutes to dry brush your entire body is all you need to take advantage of numerous benefits. In order to maximize the health benefits that dry brushing has to offer however, you must use proper dry brushing techniques.

How To Dry Brush

When dry brushing, the most important thing to remember is to always brush the skin upwards. Since the body’s lymph system flows in this direction, brushing in the same manner helps to keep toxins moving forward on their path to removal.

It is best to start dry brushing at your feet, brushing towards your heart and work up from there, using small gentle, circular, overlapping strokes. When you get to your upper body, start at your hands, and again move in an upward direction.

After you have dry brushed your entire body, hop into the shower to maximize your benefits. If you have a bit more time, follow the dry brushing with a relaxing Epsom salt bath. The mineral-rich salts will continue to remove impurities from your body, improve circulation, and unclog pores- all while increasing the body’s much needed magnesium.

Selecting a Dry Brush

Always remember that when choosing a brush to use for dry brushing, it’s important to find one that is the right rigidness for your skin. Dry brushing should help promote health and eliminate dead skin, not create scratches or damage the skin.

Look for a natural bristle brush, preferably with a handle to help you easily reach all areas of your body. You might want to start with a softer brush and work your way up to a firmer brush.

With so many health benefits, dry brushing is sure to remain around for even more centuries to come.

Author Bio:

Lindsay is concerned about health, nutrition and the environment. She believes natural products are best and wants to help others learn more about the benefits of using them. When she’s not outside playing with her young daughter, she can be found writing about oils, herbs and organic makeup at her site, Pure Health HQ.

So what do you think? Will you be giving dry skin brushing a try?

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