Brush Your Bod: A Foodless Tip

You brush your hair. You brush your teeth. You brush ya’ shouldas off.

But have you ever brushed your whole body?

 

Allow me to introduce you to your new favorite thing: dry skin brushing. Behold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SOt_xxe7W4

(I have nothing to do with the makers of this video, I just think it does a good job showing what skin brushing looks like.)

Doesn’t that look fantastically relaxing? As amazing as it would be to have someone brush your skin for you in a spa, the good news is you can do it yourself, with one of these handy things:

Although, the gratifying practice of dry brushing isn’t only for the skin-scratchy, good-feely-ness of it. In addition to the obvious exfoliation that occurs when brushing away your dry, dead skin cells that were dulling up all the pretty ones underneath, the practice of dry brushing has some great potential benefits to both your health and your body’s appearance. After all, your skin is your body’s largest organ. It serves an important function as a medium for detoxification, and dry brushing can give your skin a great extra boost to get the job done.

From the DryBrushing.net site:

Benefits:

• Skin that is healthier and smoother: removing dead skin cells and opening pores to allow them to “breathe” and absorb nutrients.
• Stimulated lymphatic and circulatory systems: boosting your immune system and increasing circulation to help detoxify.
• Stress relief: increasing your blood flow reduces stressed areas of the body and stimulates nerve endings in your skin which in turn rejuvenates your nervous system.
• Reduced cellulite: increasing blood circulation to the skin helps break down and releases toxins that cause cellulite in legs and hips.

Pretty interesting! So, how does one go about this dry brushing business then?

Dry Brushing Basics

• First, make sure to brush before you bathe. The theory is that toxins released will need to be cleansed away from your skin, but aside from that, you’re gonna look really ashy and gross with all that dead skin sloughed off. You’ll want to wash yourself clean and start fresh.
• Taking your dry, somewhat stiff, natural bristle brush, start at your toes and softly work your way up, in slow, circular (or just long and steady) strokes, always moving toward your heart.
• Follow with your arms, back, and chest — starting at the tippy-top, and moving down to the heart. But please skip your face! It’s too delicate for your stiff brush.
• Do this process a couple times a week, more if you’d like.

 

All the Cool Hippies are Doing It.

So, have you ever tried this Hack before? Are you feeling hip enough to try it out? Be sure to let us know how it goes for you! Or if you have any additional tips for dry brushing, please share!