How The Breath Helps Detoxify Us Through The Lymphatic System
The ancient Greeks called the lymph the white blood. Lymph is a clear-to-white fluid made of white blood cells, especially lymphocytes, the cells that attack bacteria in the blood and body tissues. The lymphatic system - a network of organs, vessels and tissues - allows the circulation of this fluid through the body in a similar way to how blood is transported through the blood vessels.
The lymphatic system is our so called sewerage system. It makes sure we are cleansed from toxins, it deals with cancer cells, viruses, bacteria, left over products from our cells and maintains fluid levels.
Lymphatic vessels are found everywhere in our body. Generally, more active areas have more of them. Many things could be written about the lymphatic system due to its complexity and yet, sadly, it hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves in Western medicine. I’ve heard doctors claim that they hardly touch on this part of our body in their education. Like the trendy fascia though, there are more talk about the lymphatic system as of late which is good news.
If our lymphatic system isn’t working or moving as it should, we are unable to detox ourselves from toxins and tumor cells.
In short, if it isn’t working properly we’re in trouble.
Common issues that are connected to a faulty lymphatic system:
Infections
Cancer
Blockage
Chronic inflammation
So then, what is the connection between the way we breathe and our lymphatic system?
Well, we produce about 2-4 liters of lymph every day, and it’s much thicker than blood. On top of that, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like the blood does (the heart). It’s dependent on external forces to pump the fluid around. The two major factors for its flow is:
1. Movement
2. Breathing
Deep breathing and the lymphatic System work in unity since long and slow breathing effectively promotes lymph flow. Deep breathing also especially assists those with lipedema and lymphedema. It helps eliminate toxins, improve metabolism, assist the intestinal lymph nodes to absorb fat, and also boosts the body’s immune system.
Deep breathing also promotes health and healing because it helps to reduce lymphatic stasis.
Since most of the lymph is located in our belly area, it makes sense that belly breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing where the belly area is massaged, improves the flow of the lymph.
Tip from the coach: Practice deep breathing by focusing on your exhalation. Make the exhalation slow and full, but relaxed. A full exhalation is about allowing a complete relaxation rather than adding force to it. Our goal here is to establish a calm, deep breath and reprogram our body to breathe like this throughout the day as much as possible. The key to this is to breathe light, deep and slow.
Good luck.
Emil
Follow me on instagram: @emil.justbreathe