Activate your Lymphatic System!

You can think of the lymph system as your secondary circulatory system and part of your immune system.   This parallel pathway which carries lymph fluid initially forms in the connective tissue.  It carries large proteins, pathogens and toxins and transports these and many other components into lymphatic nodes which act as active purification centers.  These lymphatic nodes are important features of our immune system.

Unlike the circulation of blood, the lymph circulation is slow and it has low velocity and low pressure.  The lymph system does not have a heart to assist in the return of fluid.  The milking of the lymph pathways by muscle contraction and/or by manual massage assists in returning of lymph fluid back to the heart.

No wonder exercise is so good for us!  and, no wonder sitting is being called the ‘new smoking’.  Movement helps to get fluids flowing through our bodies!  Have you been sitting in front of a screen or in your car for too long?  Activate and energize that lymph system of yours by either moving your muscles or by receiving a session of lymph drainage therapy, a very gentle form of bodywork which activates a sluggish lymph system.