Oh my goodness, friend -- I can’t WAIT to share this week's focus with you. We totally get to geek out on anatomy, and it's gonna be awesome. This focus will hopefully inspire you to fall even more in love with your body… AND it might just help keep you moving for LIFE.
Plus, if you ever struggle with fluid retention, puffiness, illness, nutrient deficiencies, chronic inflammation, or hormonal imbalances, this focus may really help. Seriously.
This week, we’ll focus on: dancing to enhance our lymphatic flow.
What the heck is lymphatic flow?
Why, I'm so glad you asked! Friends, let me introduce you to your incredibly amazing lymphatic system.
Overview of the Lymphatic System
Your lymphatic system is a fluid-filled system of the body that is especially important for several body functions: clearing waste, fighting infections, maintaining appropriate fluid balance (like preventing fluid retention), and transporting important nutrients and hormones (like helping to maintain a proper balance of progesterone and estrogen).
Like our circulatory system, the lymphatic system involves fluids moving through vessels; but —-here’s the kicker—- a big difference is that there’s no heart to push the lymph around (at least in mammals like us).
Instead, and here comes the really important part:
To move your lymph, you need to move your body!
You can think of your lymph vessels as the highways for your body’s garbage and recycling services, for sanitation and water-management, as well as for police and first responders. Now imagine a city where all of those are at a standstill and everything gets stagnant and backed up. Yikes. For a healthy body, we definitely want these systems flowing. The good news? We only need to keep our bodies moving!
The most fun way to keep your lymph flowing? DANCING, of course! :)
As you dance your heart out, you also dance your lymph UP!
Your muscles contact & relax, and those pressure changes help pump the lymph into (and up) through the one-way valves of your lymph vessels towards the lymph nodes, where the lymph is filtered. From there it travels allllllll the way up to your subclavicular veins (beneath your collar bones) where it can re-enter the bloodstream. As you dance, you are literally pumping your lymph and helping to cleanse & detox your body of waste, pathogens, damaged cells, and so much more.
Here are 10 awesome reasons to keep your lymph moving!
Helps transport, identify, breakdown, and clear waste products from your body
Transports immune cells to where they’re needed
Moves & identifies foreign particles to be filtered out by the liver & kidneys
Transports cancer cells where they can be gobbled up
Enables your body to find & fight bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens
Balances water levels throughout your tissues
Keeps the fluid of your body moving (vs. allowing it to stagnate)
Moves fats to where they can be utilized
Replenishes your circulatory system
Helps to balance hormones
WHOA! So much!
So what can you do?
Move daily: Start small. Even just a few more minutes of movement can make a big difference. Need a daily dance buddy? I’m here for you! Join DANCEmber and I’ll send you a surprise dance break video every morning.
Do what you enjoy: this is key, babe. Find forms of exercise you’ll want to do.
Move your whole body: move everything -your legs, arms, head, and torso- to stimulate lymphatic flow throughout your entire body.
Variety is great! Wiggle, shake, stretch, bounce, reach, jump, bend, twist, flow….
Sweat: This helps your lymphatic system further expel toxins through your skin.
Drink up: Drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated and help your lymphatic system flush out toxins.
Listen to your body: Start slowly and listen to how your body feels.
Easy. breezy. lymph-y. squeezy.
Ok, friend. Those are the nuts & bolts, but if you'd like more science-y details, I'll add more really cool info for you below. Just keep on scrolling. 👇
Thanks so much for reading. Isn’t your lymphatic system cool? And wow - in this way - dancing is the ultimate detox! How awesome is that? Doesn’t it make you want to get up and get all that lymphy goodness flowing? Meeeeee too.
As always, I can't wait to see what we’ll discover together this week. See you on the dance floor!
Much love,
💛 Dani
P.S. Want to know even more about your Lymphatic System?
Awesome! I have so much more for you! 👇
Image thanks to Wikimedia Commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anatomy_of_the_lymphatic_system.jpg
What makes up the Lymphatic System?
You can think of your lymphatic system as a combination of your body’s security service, heath-care, sanitation, waste, and water management forces. It’s tasked with keeping your body clean, healthy, and balanced, and is comprised primarily of four components:
1) Lymph - a clear, yellowish fluid that circulates throughout the lymphatic system, transporting many incredibly important things like: white blood cells and waste products, immune cells, metabolites, particulates, foreign antigens, exosomes (cellular bags of genetic material, etc), damaged cells, cancer cells, bacteria, viruses, water, proteins, hormones, and fat.
2) Lymphatic Vessels - tiny tube-like, one-way tunnels all throughout the body. These transport the lymph from throughout the body’s tissues, up through the lymph nodes to be filtered, where it can then be reincorporated back into the bloodstream, where waste products can be excreted via the kidneys, liver, and sweat glands.
3) Lymph Nodes - Why keep the lymph moving? That’s where your lymph nodes come in. These puppies are small, bean-shaped glands that act as the filters, waste-management factories, hospitals, and security check-points. These house things like macrophages, which gobble up waste, and lymphocytes, which fight infections. You have ~600-800 lymph nodes spread throughout your body, with many located where your limbs meet your core: your groin, your armpits, and your neck.
4) Organs - thymus, spleen, and tonsils. You can think of these like special dojos where immune cells are made and/or trained to fight off germs.
Image thanks to Wikimedia Commons & Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436.
What all is the Lymphatic System is responsible for?
Waste Management/Detoxification:
it removes cellular waste, metabolic byproducts, and toxins from the tissues
it recognizes & filters harmful toxins and foreign invaders
it filters out damaged cells, cancer cells, and metabolites
it cleans the fluid so it can be circulated again throughout the body
Fighting Infection / Immune Support
it produces & transports white blood cells, which produce antibodies to fight infections
it transports foreign invaders to check-points (lymph nodes) to be fought/filtered
it finds, fights, and filters out harmful germs, bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells, preventing the spread of infections and disease
if a pathogen is detected, lymph nodes trigger an immune response to neutralize the threat
by neutralizing pathogens before they circulate through the body, lymph nodes help prevent widespread infections
Maintaining Fluid Balance/Reducing Inflammation & Swelling
manages healthy fluid levels throughout the body
collects excess fluid from the tissues and moves it to the circulatory system
Lymph also carries electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride, which help with fluid balance and cellular function
Transportation of Fats, Proteins, Hormones, and Nutrients
a free flowing lymphatic system helps to balance hormones (such as cortisol, estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone) and transport them to other areas to regulation functions
transports ingested fats (along with fat-soluble vitamins) from the small intestine to the bloodstream, where they can be utilized/absorbed
lymph movement is also the essential for transporting some proteins, such as antibodies (which are essential for a healthy & effective immune response)
Plus: Fun Facts!
You have 2-3x more lymph in your body than blood! Whoa!
Although the lymphatic system hasn’t been appreciated or studied nearly enough in modern science, Hippocrates knew of it wayyyyyy back (fifth century BC) and referred to the lymph as“white blood” and or “chyle” (which is Greek for “juice”).
Some cold-blooded animals, such as snakes and salamanders, have many “lymph hearts” distributed throughout their body to help pump lymph. However, mammals like us rely on body movement.
You may have heard of practices such as Gua sha & dry brushing. These are both ancient practices (going back thousands of years), designed to help promote lymphatic movement and drainage.
There are roughly 600-800 lymph nodes distributed throughout your body, with many especially in the areas of your groin, armpits, and neck. Here they serve as checkpoints before the fluid from the limbs and face enters the torso of the body. This helps isolate infections and prevent them from spreading. Isn’t that awesome?
Ever have a doctor feel your throat when you are feeling unwell? They are likely feeling for swollen lymph nodes, which can get bigger (and may feel sore) when fighting an infection.
Inversions (i.e., downward facing dog, or positioning your legs up the wall, etc.) can also help promote lymphatic movement. So —go ahead— put those feet up, baby.
Ever experience swelling or fluid retention in your lower legs and ankles while at a movie theater, on a road trip, or on a flight? This is primarily due to lack of lymph movement. Taking little breaks to get up and move your body can help..
Ok, friend, that’s all I’ve got. :) Thanks again for reading, and see you soon!
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