Guest guest Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Hi Caron, When we live in Nature, we continually brush up against things, we are constantly in physical contact with plants, rocks, etc. Living in civilization, we managed to insulate ourselves pretty well from much contact with anything. So skin brushing is intended to replicate that contact we have " lost " due to our present lifestyle. There are various claims about the benefits of skin brushing and the ways in which these benefits occur. To my knowledge, none of these SPECIFIC claims has been well verified. However, there is also nothing, to my knowledge, depleting or otherwise limiting about skin brushing, either. So if it feels good and you love it, by all means, brush!!! And if not, that's just fine, too. One point of note: various proponents of skin brushing offer specific rituals, brush here first in this direction, then there second in that direction, and so forth. I honestly do think this is all bunk, just do what you enjoy!!! Hope this helps! Best, Elchanan _____ rawfood [rawfood ] On Behalf Of Caron Wednesday, July 11, 2007 6:45 PM rawfood [Raw Food] skin and sun On another note, skin brushing has also been recommended, for the stated reason that it " reduces the load on the kidneys, by encouraging the skin to eliminate waste " , and for another stated reason that it " gets the lymph circulating " . Last I checked, the kidneys are the body's prefered method of elimination, but it will use skin if it needs to. Also, lymph circulates when the muscles surrounding the lymph system are contracted, just the same as the heart muscle contractions circulate blood. In the case of the heart, it is a pump, which runs the whole system; in the case of lymph, it's more like squeezing a tube of toothpaste to get it moving out of the tube. (not saying that lymph is viscous as toothpaste, but the mechanism is similar) Walking, and other simple, every-day body movements, are sufficient to move lymph around the body. So, is skin brushing beneficial, and if so, what are the true reasons for it? Ever-enquiringly, Caron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 - Elchanan >When we live in Nature, we continually brush up against things, we are constantly in physical contact with plants, rocks, etc. Living in civilization, we managed to insulate ourselves pretty well from much contact with anything. So skin brushing is intended to replicate that contact we have " lost " due to our present lifestyle. and our horror of all things naked? >There are various claims about the benefits of skin brushing and the ways >in which these benefits occur. To my knowledge, none of these SPECIFIC claims has been well verified. However, there is also nothing, to my knowledge, depleting or otherwise limiting about skin brushing, either. >So if it feels good and you love it, by all means, brush!!! And if not, that's just fine, too. It's not something I currently do, though I have a " puff " that I use in the shower - it's a fluffy ball of the mesh we use to bag oranges, supposed to be abrasive and exfoliating. I don't make a ritual of it, it's just a way of getting clean! Thanks for clarifying this for me ) Caron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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