Synergy Manual Therapy, Karen Custance

20/06/2025

🌬️ “Breathe for Your Lymph: How Deep Breathing Unlocks Detox and Immunity”
You’re just a breath away from better lymph flow.

We often think of breathing as just… well, automatic. Something we do without thinking. But what if we told you that the way you breathe could either help or hinder your lymphatic system?

The truth is: your breath is your pump.
And your lymph depends on it.

🫁 Why Breath Matters for the Lymphatic System
Unlike your circulatory system, which has a heart, the lymphatic system has no central pump. It relies on:

Muscle contractions
Posture and movement
And most powerfully: your diaphragm.
When you take a deep belly breath, your diaphragm drops, creating a negative pressure that literally pulls lymph through the vessels — especially the largest one, the thoracic duct, which sits just beneath your ribs.

💡 Did You Know?
🌀 Up to 60% of lymph drainage is driven by breathing alone!
📉 Shallow breathing (chest breathing) = sluggish lymph
📈 Deep abdominal breathing = accelerated drainage, detox, and immune circulation

🔄 What Happens When You Don’t Breathe Properly?
Shallow breathing can cause:

Stagnant lymph fluid
Increased inflammation
Higher toxin load
Poor immune cell transportation
Brain fog and fatigue
Especially in our modern lives — with stress, screens, slouching, and anxiety — we often forget to breathe deeply.

🧘‍♀️ 3 Easy Lymph-Activating Breath Exercises
1️⃣ Box Breathing
Inhale 4 counts → Hold 4 → Exhale 4 → Hold 4
Repeat x5 rounds

2️⃣ Belly Press
Lie down, place a book on your belly. Try to lift it with every breath. That’s diaphragmatic breathing!

3️⃣ Thoracic Drainage Breath
Place your hands under your ribs and inhale deeply into your hands. Feel the stretch and drop. Hold, then exhale slowly.

🩵 Breath is Medicine. Breath is Flow.
Your lymph system needs movement, and your breath is the gentlest, most powerful form of internal movement you have.

So next time you feel sluggish, bloated, or overwhelmed —
Don’t just power through.
Pause. Breathe. Let the lymph move.

📌 This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your health regimen.

©️

04/06/2025

💡DRU TIP: 👣 Rock Your Feet, Centre Your Day 👣

This week’s tip is as simple as it is powerful: Foot Rocking & Circling from the Dru Energy Block Release Sequence 1.

✨ Just a few minutes of this grounding movement can:
🔸 Rebalance your energy
🔸 Calm a racing mind
🔸 Centre your emotions
🔸 And leave you feeling recharged and connected

Why does it work so well? Because your feet are a map of the whole body.
According to reflexology, every major energy pathway has points in your feet—so stimulating them reaches deep into your system.

🧘‍♀️ Try it now:
Stand in Mountain Pose
Gently rock forward and back on your feet
Add the breath: in-breath as you rock back, out-breath as you move forward
Begin circling your weight around each foot—first one way, then the other
When you finish, come to stillness and rest in your centre

🌿 Practise this daily, and you’ll have a calm, centring ritual ready for even the most chaotic of days.

We’d love to hear how this movement lands for you—drop us a comment or DM!
And if you’d like to learn more, check out our book Stillness in Motion,

03/06/2025

📣 Opioids or Manual Therapies? You Have a Choice.

In a time when opioid addiction is claiming lives and affecting families across the country, finding safe, effective, and non-addictive options for pain relief has never been more critical.

✅ According to the CDC, non-opioid approaches like manual therapy are recommended for the long-term treatment of most chronic pain. These therapies don’t just mask the pain — they address its root causes.

✨ Manual therapies such as:
CranioSacral Therapy
SomatoEmotional Release
Visceral Manipulation
Neural Manipulation
New Manual Articular Approach
..offer lasting relief without the long list of side effects that come with opioids (think dizziness, addiction, nausea, depression, and more).

🟣 No side effects. No dependency. Just real, therapeutic care for your body and mind.

🔗 Learn more or share this resource: http://bit.ly/2TPqW9i
📚 Or search our article database at upledger.com-resources tab

02/06/2025

🌀 A Day in the Life of a Lymph Node

— Your Tiny, Mighty Bodyguard!

Hey there! 👋
I’m Leo the Lymph Node — nice to meet you! I might be small (only the size of a baked bean), but trust me, I’ve got one of the most important jobs in your whole body. Want to know what I do all day? Let me give you a peek into my lymph-tastic life!

☀️ 07:00 — The Day Begins with Drainage

Just as you’re stretching and sipping your morning lemon water, I’m already hard at work. Your lymphatic vessels are flowing like tiny highways, delivering lymph fluid straight to me. That fluid? It’s packed with:
• Cellular waste 🧫
• Toxins 🧪
• Bacteria 🦠
• Bits of proteins, fats, and immune messengers 💬

My job? Filter it all. I’m like airport security for your immune system. If anything shady shows up, I flag it immediately!

🧠 Did you know? You have between 500–700 lymph nodes in your body, mostly in your neck, underarms, chest, abdomen, and groin.
[Ref: Moore & Dalley. Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 7th ed.]

⚔️ 10:30 — Intruder Alert!

Uh oh… here comes a nasty bacterium trying to sneak by in the lymph fluid. Not on my watch! 🚨 I alert the B-cells and T-cells (the body’s immune defenders) living inside me.
We trap the intruder and start an immune response – activating white blood cells, producing antibodies, and sending up the red flags to nearby nodes. 🧬

💡 Scientific backup: Lymph nodes act as immune surveillance hubs, rapidly expanding during infection to mount a local defense.
[Ref: Randolph et al., Nature Reviews Immunology, 2005]

🪄 13:00 — Clean, Sort, Send

By now, I’ve filtered tons of lymph fluid. What’s clean and safe gets sent onward through the lymphatic chain — toward larger nodes and ducts, and eventually back into your bloodstream via the thoracic duct.

Everything your blood didn’t clean up, I just did! 💁‍♂️

💆‍♀️ 17:00 — Drainage Helpers Arrive!

You go for a walk, do some dry brushing, or have a lymphatic drainage session… YESSS! That helps so much! Movement and manual therapy give me a massive boost to get lymph moving — so I don’t get overwhelmed or sluggish.

🌙 21:00 — Night Watch

As you wind down, I stay on guard. Even in your sleep, I’m still checking every drop of lymph coming through. Sometimes during sickness, I swell up — not because I’m broken, but because I’m working overtime to fight infection. 💪

✨ Fun fact: Swollen lymph nodes are often a sign your immune system is active, not failing!
[Ref: MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine]

🧼 A Little Help from You, Please!

I love my job, but I do need a few things from you:
• Stay hydrated 💧
• Eat anti-inflammatory foods 🍃
• Move that beautiful body 🕺
• Get good sleep 😴
• Reduce toxin exposure 🚫

When you do, I stay healthy — and so do you! 🩷

📚 References:
• Moore, K.L., Dalley, A.F., & Agur, A.M.R. (Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 7th ed.)
• Randolph GJ, Angeli V, Swartz MA. “Role of lymphatic vessels in immunity: new insights into function and structure.” Nature Reviews Immunology, 2005.
• U.S. National Library of Medicine. “Swollen Lymph Nodes.” MedlinePlus.gov

⚠️ Disclaimer:

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.

©️

19/05/2025

We often see dysfunction in the mesentery causing a whole host of pain, gut and systemic related issues. Counterstrain is a gentle yet powerful manual therapy that can restore function in this tissue. 😊

Meet the Mesentery: Your Gut’s Superhero Cape 👌🏻

You’ve heard of the heart, the liver, even the pancreas… but have you ever stopped to appreciate the mesentery?

No? Well buckle up, Lymphie, because the mesentery is the unsung hero of your gut — quietly holding things together, keeping your intestines in line (literally), and even helping your lymphatic system stay squeaky clean.

So… What Is the Mesentery?

The mesentery is a double fold of peritoneum (a fancy word for a silky membrane in your abdomen) that looks like a curtain or web. It holds your small intestine, parts of your large intestine, and even your stomach in place — kind of like a very organized spiderweb for your digestive system. 🕸️🫃

For centuries, scientists thought the mesentery was just a leftover scrap of tissue. But in 2016, it got a major glow-up — reclassified as a full-blown organ. Yep! An organ with its own structure, function, and importance in immune health, inflammation, and lymphatic drainage.

Mesentery: The Multi-Tasking Marvel

Your mesentery isn’t just a passive hammock for your guts. It’s a superhighway of action — here’s what it does:
• Anchors your intestines so they don’t twist or wander 🚧
• Carries blood vessels from your heart to your gut 🩸
• Transports lymph from your digestive system to your thoracic duct 💧
• Supports immune response through GALT (gut-associated lymphoid tissue) 🛡️
• Transmits nerves that help with digestion and movement 🧠
• Regulates inflammation and plays a role in conditions like Crohn’s disease 🔥

Basically, if your intestines were a city, the mesentery would be the electrical grid, plumbing, roads, and waste system all in one.

How Does the Mesentery Help Your Lymphatic System?

Here’s where things get juicy for us lymph lovers: the mesentery is loaded with lymphatic vessels.

As your digestive system breaks down fats and nutrients, the lymphatics in the mesentery absorb those fats and toxins and send them to the cisterna chyli — a large lymph collecting vessel just below the diaphragm.

From there, lymph is pumped up through the thoracic duct, helping clear waste, fight infection, and keep your internal waters clean. Think of it as your gut’s detox conveyor belt. ♻️🛒

Medical Fun Facts About the Mesentery
• The small intestine is over 6 meters long, and the mesentery keeps it neatly folded like a ribbon inside your belly 🎀
• Over 70% of your immune system lives in your gut — much of it within the mesentery’s GALT 🦠
• It’s being studied for its role in chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and even cancer spread
• Surgeons are now exploring “mesenteric-based” approaches to improve outcomes in IBD and colon surgery 🏥

How Can You Support Your Mesentery?
• Deep diaphragmatic breathing to pump lymph upward 🫁
• Gentle abdominal massage to move lymph and relieve tension 🤲
• Stay hydrated so lymph can flow freely 💧
• Eat anti-inflammatory foods to support gut immunity 🥦
• Do lymphatic drainage therapy to encourage detox flow and organ support 🌿

The Mesentery Deserves a Standing Ovation

It might not get the attention of the heart or brain, but the mesentery is crucial for circulation, immunity, detox, and digestion. It’s like the backstage crew at a big production — you may not see it, but nothing works without it.

So next time your belly gurgles or you’re focusing on your gut health, give a little thanks to this marvelous, multitasking membrane.

Because behind every healthy gut… is a mesentery doing the most.

Written by:
Bianca Botha, CLT, RLD & MLDT
Lymphatica – Lymphatic Therapy & Body Detox Facility

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.

©️

18/04/2025

Is trapped inflammation in your fascia causing your chronic pain. Do you suffer from ongoing back pain, migraines and other pain related conditions, that are not responding to conventional manual therapy. Counterstrain may help ease your pain, draining trapped inflammation that is irritating the nerve receptors (nociceptors) within the fascia resulting in pain. For more information, visit www.synergymanualtherapy.com and sign up for our latest newsletter. Read our newsletter https://mailchi.mp/73850632ff17/latest-clinic-hours-chronic-pain-inflammation-fascia-link

16/03/2025

01/03/2025

When your body is under constant stress or lacking quality sleep, it produces higher levels of cortisol, which over time can lead to chronic inflammation—a root cause of many health issues, including fatigue, weight gain, and mood disturbances.

✨ Tip: Prioritise a calming bedtime routine, limit screen time before bed, and practice stress-reducing activities like meditation or gentle movement. Small changes can make a big difference!

Functional medicine looks deeper at the root causes of stress, sleep disturbances, and inflammation to create a personalised plan that supports long-term health.

Ready to feel better? Book an appointment online and let’s work together to restore balance.👉 https://bit.ly/3Y2Nm5H

28/02/2025

✨ Manual Therapy & the Autonomic Nervous System ✨

Did you know that manual cranial therapy doesn’t just relax the body—it enhances heart rate variability (HRV), a key indicator of autonomic balance and self-regulation? 💆‍♂️💙

A research study found that manual cranial therapy (MC-t) produced long-lasting parasympathetic effects, supporting vagal tone and self-regulation for up to three weeks! This suggests that cranial work can be a powerful tool for modulating autonomic function, which may be beneficial for individuals with mental health challenges and stress-related conditions. 🌿🔬READ HERE: http://bit.ly/37mZm79 or Upledger.com article database.

For manual therapists, this is exciting news! Your hands have the power to influence deep neurophysiological responses. Let’s keep exploring the vast potential of CranioSacral Therapy and its impact on overall health. 🌟

👉 Have you noticed lasting changes in your clients' well-being after CranioSacral Therapy? Share your experiences below! ⬇️

22/02/2025

🚀 Promising Breakthrough in Fascia Research! 🧬✨

A research team in Virginia, USA has developed a revolutionary microscopic imaging technique that unveils the stunning architecture of the extracellular matrix of fascia like never before! 🔬👀

I can’t help but think that legendary matrix pioneers Alfred Pischinger and Hartmut Heine would have been just as thrilled as I am! 🤩 Can’t wait to see what groundbreaking insights this cutting-edge tool will reveal in the coming years—how the ECM adapts to mechanical forces, biochemical shifts, and other biological influences.

Stay tuned! 🔍🔗 More here: Nature Article