the movement
honor ancestors, serve descendants, nourish all
Photo: A stream near Great Falls,Virginia.
How do the “waters” of your body flow?
“Study the nature of water flow to understand the Lymphatic System.” This sage advice came from a Reflexology teacher in 2004. 20 years on, I’m still studying the nature of water and the lymphatic system.
The various fluids within our body act like water because they are primarily made of water. The flow of blood in the body is propelled by the pump of your heart beating. Lymph is another bodily fluid that wants to flow throughout the whole body, but it does not have a pump like the heart. The whole lymphatic system relies on movement and hydration to flow. That means the more we move, the better it functions. A fundamental awareness of how our lymphatic system operates increases the effectiveness of the daily measures we can take to maintain a healthy lymphatic system.
What are the benefits of tending to your lymphatic system?
Besides the removal of waste from our entire body there is more,
There are multiple reasons a person may be dealing with inflammation. Your healthy lymphatic system reduces inflammation.
There are also many reasons you might experience swelling. Perhaps you wake up after a night of rich foods and an alcoholic drink (or two) and your eye lids feel puffy, or your belly feels bloated. Yes, you guessed right! Your robust lymphatic system lessens swelling.
I personally find that maintaining my lymphatic system helps with reducing muscle fatigue during and muscle recovery after a hard work out.
The bottom line is if you take care of your lymphatic system it takes care of you.
What does the lymphatic system do?
Broadly speaking the lymphatic system keeps body fluid levels in balance. It is one of the largest systems in our body and is made up of a network of lymphatic vessels, tissues, organs, and glands. While it is true that everything in the human body is interrelated, there are three intersections to highlight with the lymphatic system:
· As part of the immune system the lymphatic system defends the body against infection.
· As a transportation system it
Gets rid of waste products. Every cell in our body takes in nutrients and excretes waste. In this regard the lymphatic system is similar to a sewage system.
Carries away dead cells. The natural order of human existence means we generate cells and after some time they die. The dead cells need to be continuously flushed out.
Intersects with the gastrointestinal system and transports dietary fats and fat-soluble vitamins.
· As part of the cardiovascular system (heart and blood circulation)
The intricate lymphatic system drains and moves lymph (a watery fluid) throughout your body and returns it to your blood. The lymphatic system unloads plasma (the end product of the lymphatic system) directly into the subclavian veins that send blood back to the heart.
It is important to note that the location for the unload of plasma happens in the area close to our collarbones. The veins that receive the plasma are called the subclavian veins (sub=under clavian=collar bone) and these direct the “used blood” from all over the body to the heart. The heart pumps “used blood” to the lungs. Before we dive deeper into significant locales in the body for the lymphatic system let’s briefly touch on the flow element of the lymphatic system by first looking at the nature of how water flows.
Photo: A water fall near Ambergris Caye in southern Belize
What are characteristics of water flow?
In nature we see water flows down due to gravity, as we witness with rain, rivers, waterfalls, and streams etc.
Water can be moved in various directions when we apply a force to act on the water. For example, forces like wind on the surface of the ocean, or how the water level rises when we get into the bath tub.
Water naturally moves from high pressure to low pressure. Imagine a dam, the higher level of water on one side of the dam has built up pressure. If we release a dam door water instinctively flows to the area of low pressure.
In any environment we observe that stagnant water becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, parasites, and fungi etc.
We can remove silt and sand out of water by pouring it though a filter.
The waters of our body.
We want the “waters” (blood, lymph etc.) of our body to flow. We want to avoid stagnation and we want to filter out the waste. The lymphatic system is like a delicate plumbing system. Lymph fluid carries waste from tissues all over our body via lymph vessels (the plumbing pipes) to the lymph nodes (the plumbing filters) where waste is broken down and eliminated. The filters are akin to drains in a plumbing network.
Much like if you were to clean a bathtub, you’d first make sure the drain is not blocked. Otherwise, all the scrubbing of the tub means nothing if dirty water is just backing up because the drain is full of hair (I have long hair trust me I know what I am talking about)! The human body is far more complex than a bathtub and single drain. Luckily the lymphatic system is designed to help us in all our complexity. There are major collection sites of our lymph nodes (filters). Think of clusters of little bean shaped filters in certain areas of our body, like arm pits and groin. If we clear the clusters in a specific order, we establish an unobstructed path for the flow of lymph.
Why is there particular order of clearing the clusters of nodes?
We want to clear the filters (the drains) in the system from the lowest pressure area first and make our way to the highest-pressure area. That way when the lymph fluid gets flowing it will not get stopped in its path by a clogged-up drain.
For example, if I have swelling in my hand rather than clearing the drain at the elbow and hoping for the best, I strategically clear the drains from lowest pressure area to highest pressure area, then from my hand. The collar bone area is the lowest pressure site for the whole body, as you recall that is closest to where the lymph rejoins the blood. Here is the order we want to clear the clusters of nodes (the drains).
Collar bones area (above and below)
Behind the ears down the side and back of head and neck.
Where the chest muscles meet up with the armpits
Thick middle section of the body. The abdomen. Area of your diaphragm
Groin, where your legs join your torso.
The back of the knees.
How do we clear the drains?
Good news! There are many ways, and you can do this yourself. Here are just three examples that don’t require any equipment
You can move the muscles in the drain site area.
You can employ diaphragmatic breathing.
You can gently massage and use your hands/finger pads to softly pulse a drain site.
Wondering how we can do this with movement? Please be my guest for an online ELDER Chair Yoga & Lymph Flow class, email me and we’ll go from there.
Ok, the drains are clear. Now what?
Keep it moving!
Lymph vessels contain one-way valves that ensure the fluid is moving in the correct direction. When we move, the contraction of our muscles becomes the pump that helps our lymph fluid flow around the body.
Stay hydrated!
Our lymphatic system interrelates to our circulatory (blood), digestive, and immune systems and it requires adequate water to breakdown toxins and transport them along the channels of elimination. Lymph fluid moves in vessels with one-way valves this prevents back flow which is good news for us. There has to be enough water in the vessels to create enough pressure to open and close the valves.
I’m sharing all of this with you because what excites and delights me the most about being human is we can do so much with our own body-mind-emotions-spirit to maintain our own healthy happy body-mind-emotions-spirit. The invitation is to breathe, to move, drink water and let the “waters” within you flow. I’ve been sipping water as I type this newsletter. Join me, take a sip of water, cheers to your healthy lymphatic system!
April 2024
Photo: Waves roll onto shore at Cape Point, South Africa