Facial Massage
Massage is beneficial for more than stress relief. While lowering your stress is important, a greater benefit of massage is improved health. Your lymphatic system helps maintain your immune system and nourishes your cells, but it doesn't have a pump system like your circulatory system, therefore its movement is up to you. The lymphatic massage is a perfect way to relax and get your lymph system pumping at the same time.
Instructions
Stage 1: Face
1. Cover your face with facial moisturizer.
2. With the sides of your index fingers, massage your forehead in an up-and-down motion. After the forehead massage, rub your temples and work your way down to the bottom front of your ears.
3. Massage your cheek bones from the outside of your nose to the outside of your cheeks below your outer eye. Continue using the sides of your index fingers but use a vibrating touch.
4. When you reach the outside of your cheekbones, lower your jaw and open your mouth. Place three fingers in the hollow below your outer cheekbone and massage with circular motions. While doing this, place your thumbs below your ears and behind your jaw and vibrate. Move your fingers toward the center of your cheekbones, and vibrate your thumbs down your jawline until they meet together at your chin.
5. Relax your neck muscles on your right side by tilting your head to the right. Take your left hand and stroke your fingertips down the right side of your neck and then across the shoulder. Do this eight times on the right side, then repeat the steps with your left side.
Upper Body Lymphatic Massage
6. Rub your arms and upper body with massage oil. Holding your left arm in front of you, take your right hand and using your fingertips, lightly stroke the inside of your arm from your wrist to the inside of your elbow. At your inner elbow, massage in a circular motion for about 60 seconds, then continue up your arm to the armpit. When you reach your armpit, do the circular motions once again and then pinch and squeeze your skin. This forces the lymph fluid out into circulation.
7. Use light strokes to move from the armpit, across your breast to to the center of your chest. Repeat this entire process with your right arm.
8. At the center of your breast bone, massage in a circular motion.
9. From the center of your abdomen, use strokes that go across your rib cage and out towards your armpit.
Lower Body Lymphatic Massage
10. Rub massage oil over your legs. Use your left hand and massage your toes with circular motions. Be sure to get in between toes as well. Using light strokes with your fingertips, move up to your ankle where you will use circular motions around the entire ankle. Continue upward from ankle to the calf. Be sure to get the front and back of the calf.
11. Massage from the calf to the knee, and at the knee use circular motions. Use the palms of your hands and stroke from your knee to your upper thigh. When you reach the top of your thigh and you are below the buttocks, use firm circular motions.
12. On the front of your thigh stroke upward and across the groin area. Try to do both sides at the same time. Move the palms of your hands upward, across the groin area, until they come together at your abdomen. Go over your groin area several times as many lymph nodes are in this area.
13. When both hands meet at your abdomen, stroke downward to your groin area once more.
Tags: circular motions, center your, groin area, your left, below your, massage your