Dry Body Brushing
A simple ritual to connect you back with your body without tipping you over the edge with another drawn-out self-care task.
Mummas who are feeling the burnout…
If you’re feeling puffy, inflamed and on edge
This is a simple little ritual to reconnect you to your body, physically and energetically. In less than five minutes before your shower, it won’t just have you glowing…
It will have you back in flow.
What is Dry Body Brushing?
Dry body brushing is the practice of using a firm natural-bristle brush on dry skin, brushing in long strokes toward the heart before showering.
In traditional systems like Ayurveda (where it’s known as garshana), it wasn’t about beauty. It was about circulation, purification and stimulating the body’s natural clearing systems.
I find it to be a really grounding intentional practice, the rhythmic strokes in sacred contact to my body, that guides my body back to calm at the end of the day.
Why Do We Need It?
It's all about your lymphatic system.
The lymphatic system clears toxins from your interstitial fluid — the fluid that sits between your cells.
Not in your blood.
Not neatly contained in vessels.
Between.
Unlike your cardiovascular system:
It doesn’t have a pump like the heart.
It doesn’t have structured “roads” like arteries and veins to keep it tightly moving in one direction.
It smooshes and flows in the gaps in between.
It relies on:
Movement
Breath
Muscle contraction
Hydration
External stimulation
If you are exhausted, sedentary, chronically stressed or inflamed - that flow slows down.
Signs Your Lymph Might Be Sluggish
Puffiness in face, hands or under eyes
Fluid retention before your period
Heavy, tender breasts
Recurrent swollen glands
Brain fog
Skin congestion
Frequent low-grade infections
Feeling heavy in your body
Energetically?
Irritable
Stuck
Overstimulated but flat
If you’re losing your shit faster than you used to, inflammation and stagnation are not separate from that story.
What Dry Brushing Helps With
Dry brushing can:
Stimulate superficial lymphatic movement
Support immune clearance
Reduce fluid retention
Improve circulation
Increase body awareness
Support detox pathways (when the rest of the system is supported)
But the part I love most about it?
It’s easy, simple and it slows down the mind of the burnt out mum who is stuck in her head.
It brings her back into her body.
How Often Do You Need To Do It?
This depends on your constitution and your stage of healing.
Some women:
Move regularly
Hydrate well
Have strong elimination
Rarely feel puffy
They may only need it once a week or cyclically.
Some women are simply more prone to fluid retention and congestion by constitution.
In Ayurvedic language, this often mirrors a Kapha-dominant constitution — slower metabolism, softer tissue quality, tendency toward swelling, mucus, heaviness and stagnation when stressed or depleted.
There isn't something wrong with you if you are like this - it’s actually my own constitution.
We just hold water more easily.
And when life piles on — burnout, stress, poor sleep — that water can turn into congestion.
In my clinical work, I also see this reflected in iridology. When studying the patterns and colouring of the iris, certain constitutions show a stronger lymphatic predisposition — often seen in blue or lighter irises — along with other structural signs that draw my attention to stagnation and immune load.
The colour and patterning can tell us a lot about how the body moves (or doesn’t move) fluid.
Those with this predisposition often benefit from more regular lymphatic stimulation — around 3–5 times per week during active healing — before tapering back once flow improves.
Then we reassess.
Because it's never about staying with one practice forever - we need to listen and adjust to what the body actually needs.
The Moon & The Water
Your body is mostly water.
Your lymph is water.
Water responds to rhythm.
It’s no coincidence that our major lymph nodes sit near energetic centres — when the water of the body slows, the current of our energy does as well.
Many women like to incorporate dry brushing:
Before menstruation to reduce congestion
During a full moon as a release ritual
After illness
During seasonal transitions
This is the sacred connection you get to build whilst taking care of your body.
How to Do It.
Start at your feet.
Brush in long, gentle strokes toward the heart.
Use light-to-moderate pressure (stimulating, not scratching).
On the abdomen, use clockwise circular motions.
Always brush toward major drainage areas (groin, armpits, collarbones).
Shower after.
It should take 3–5 minutes.
If it feels like another task on your already overloaded list — scale it back.
Make it a moon ritual or a sunday night refresh at first.
Other Ways To Support Your Lymphatics
Dry brushing works best when the foundations are in place.
Broad treatment aims may include:
Mineral-rich hydration
Supporting liver and bile flow
Optimising gut elimination
Gentle movement or rebounding
Breathwork
Nervous system regulation
Reducing inflammatory load
Assessing iron, thyroid and immune markers
Individualised herbal lymphatic support
Because if your body is struggling in the foundations, brushing alone will not stem the underlying rage and fatigue.
Ready To Go Deeper?
If you’re reading this thinking,
“Okay… I’ve tried the hacks. I’ve dry brushed. I’ve cut dairy. I’ve done the things. And I still feel heavy, puffy and one noise away from losing it.”
That’s your cue.
This is where we stop guessing.
Inside an Initial Consultation, we actually look at what’s going on — your inflammation, your hormones, your immune load, your nervous system capacity.
Not just “try this and see.”
Dry brushing might be part of your plan.
Or it might not.
Because I don’t throw rituals at symptoms.
I assess your body properly and build a plan that fits you.
If you’re ready to stop white-knuckling motherhood and start feeling steady again —
Book your Initial Consultation.
Let’s get you back in flow.
