Jade Rolling and Gua Sha: Good for the Lymphatic System
Jade rolling has been in my routine for almost four years now, thanks to a friend of mine, and it is has been all the rage lately. What is the deal with jade rolling and the lesser known gua sha techniques? Well, doing both of these on your face can increase the flow of your lymphatic system, provide anti-aging benefits, depuff your face and support your nervous system. Prime this set by Nature's Secret HERE.
The Gist:
The lymphatic system moves lymph (fluid filtered out of blood cells) through our bodies and back into our blood stream.
Our body creates about three liters of lymph per day and this can include lipids, proteins, white blood cells and fluid.
There is a lot to the lymphatic system and the structure of lymph is different from place to place in your body. For example, around your small intestine it is made up of fats and around your liver it is full of proteins that needs to get into the blood.
One of the most important roles of the lymphatic system is to support the immune system.
There are specific cells that attack specific bacteria that live in our lymph nodes. Bacteria and toxins go into our lymph vessels and are taken to the lymph node to be filtered by these cells. Then the clean lymph fluid is taken back to our blood vessels.
If we didn't have lymph nodes, bacteria and toxins would be put directly back into the blood stream. Needless to say, the lyphatic system is so important for detoxifying the body and supporting our immune system.
We have lymph nodes and vessels all through out our bodies. This is why dry brushing is another great way to naturally detox the body and support the immune system. Read more about dry brushing HERE.
Benefits of Jade Rolling and Gua Sha:
Since the lymphatic system is directly below the skin using tools like gua sha or a jade roller are extremely beneficial for increasing the flow of fluid out of your face and into your lymph nodes. This helps your body carry away toxins.
The jade roller is excellent for decreasing puffiness, detoxifying, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging benefits.
Gua Sha is a heart shaped jade stone that also supports your bodies circulation to detoxify and supports the nervous system along with the benefits above.
Both should be used by rolling or gliding the stone outwardly on the face. It helps to put a face oil on first so that they glide smoothly.
The natural pressure of the gua sha stone is enough and you don't need to force it any harder.
After a few minutes you will notice that your face is depuffed and glowing from healthy circulation.
My favorite time to use the jade roller is in the morning if I am feeling puffy or tired. The cool stone immediately wakes my eyes up and moves all that puffiness out of my face.
Gua sha is also great in the morning or at night since it is super calming toy our nervous system.
This kit by Nature's Secret, featured above, is a great way to get both tools and it comes with a helpful app full of information and techniques.
If you want to start with just one I would start with a Jade Roller. Prime a Jade on HERE or a Rose Quartz one HERE.
Get my favorite safe, high performing facial oils HERE. You can't go wrong with the No. 1 Brightening Oil that is full of vitamin C. No. 2 Plumping Oil has jasmine and peony to support hydration and No. 3 Balancing Oil has chamomile to soothe the skin and meadowfoam seed oil to balance the skin.
