KNEAD A LITTLE HEAVEN!

08/28/2025

08/06/2025

Laurie Bis

08/01/2025

TGIF & I am on holidays until August 10th.
Time to rest & play & visit & recharge!!

07/26/2025

Tapping is amazing
EFT
Emotional freedom tapping technique

07/06/2025

07/04/2025

💧 SELF LYMPH DRAINAGE AT HOME: A Step-by-Step Guide

Support your body’s natural detox system with gentle, rhythmic touch.

🛑 Note: This is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for clinical therapy. If you have any medical condition, consult your practitioner first.

🌿 What Is Self Lymph Drainage?

Self Lymph Drainage (SLD) is a gentle, rhythmic technique that supports lymphatic flow, reduces puffiness, improves circulation, and encourages detoxification. Unlike deep massage, it uses light pressure and specific directional strokes to move lymph toward drainage points.

🧘‍♀️ Before You Begin
• Wash your hands.
• Sit comfortably or lie down with your back supported.
• Breathe deeply a few times to relax the nervous system.
• Keep pressure light and soft – imagine moving a feather on the skin.

🔄 The Basic Rule: Always move fluid toward lymph nodes and drainage clusters.

🧭 STEP-BY-STEP SELF LYMPH DRAINAGE FLOW

1️⃣ Stimulate the Terminus (Neck Drainage)

🕊 This opens the main lymphatic ducts to receive fluid.
• Place your fingertips just above your collarbones, in the soft dip near the sides of your neck.
• Gently stretch the skin inward and downward toward the heart.
• Do this 10–15 times, breathing deeply.

2️⃣ Open Up Behind the Ears & Base of Skull

🌙 These drain the scalp, face, and brain.
• Use flat fingers behind your ears and lightly stretch downward toward your neck.
• Then, place fingers at the base of your skull and stroke downward along the neck.
• Repeat 5–10 strokes on each side.

3️⃣ Face & Jaw Flow (Optional but Calming)

🌸 Helpful for puffiness, sinus pressure, or facial congestion.
• Use soft strokes from the center of your face outward toward your ears.
• Then from your ears, stroke down your neck to your collarbones.

4️⃣ Axillary Lymph Nodes (Underarms)

🌼 These filter fluid from the arms and upper chest.
• Gently place your hand flat under your armpit.
• Use soft, circular strokes for 10 seconds each side.
• Then, stroke down from your shoulders toward the underarm area.

5️⃣ Abdominal Drainage (Gut & Liver Support)

🌿 Supports digestion and detox pathways.
• Place both hands on your belly.
• Gently stroke in small clockwise circles (following the direction of your colon).
• Then move hands upward toward the ribs and then diagonally toward your groin.

6️⃣ Inguinal Nodes (Groin)

🌷 Clears fluid from the legs, pelvis, and lower abdomen.
• Place fingers in the crease of your upper thigh.
• Press gently and sweep upward toward the center of your body (toward belly button).
• Repeat on both sides for 10–15 strokes.

7️⃣ Legs and Ankles (Optional for swelling)

💧 Helps with water retention and tired legs.
• Start at your ankles and use upward strokes toward your knees.
• From the knees, continue up toward the groin.
• Keep strokes light and slow.

🌬️ Finish With Deep Breathing

Place hands over your chest and take 5 deep, slow breaths.
This resets the nervous system and encourages continued lymph movement.

📅 How Often?

2–3 times per week is supportive.
Daily during detox, after illness, or during inflammation flares.

✅ Important Tips:
• Stay hydrated! 💧 Lymph needs water to flow.
• Rest afterward – healing happens in the calm.

📌 If you would like to follow a visual with slightly different steps https://youtu.be/vcTDbunqT4I?si=OYppNmlNE11U512K

06/20/2025

💙 such an important system in our body…

🌿 10 Fascinating & Little-Known Facts About the Lymphatic System

Because what you don’t know about your lymph can change everything.

The lymphatic system is often the forgotten sibling of the circulatory and immune systems. It’s silent, invisible, and yet absolutely vital to life. It moves three liters of lymph daily, clears cellular waste, helps regulate immunity, and even plays a role in emotions and cognition. But beyond the basics, the lymphatic system holds some remarkable secrets.

Here are 10 lesser-known, research-backed facts about this incredible system:

1️⃣ You Have Two Circulatory Systems—Not One

The blood vascular system and the lymphatic system are both networks of vessels, but while the heart pumps blood, lymph has no central pump. It relies on:
• Muscle movement
• Breath
• Gravity
• Pulsation from arteries

🧠 Without this flow, toxins, waste, and immune cells accumulate—leading to fatigue, swelling, and systemic inflammation.

2️⃣ The Brain Has a Lymphatic System (Glymphatic)

Until 2015, scientists believed the brain had no lymphatic drainage. We now know that the glymphatic system (glial + lymphatic) is a cerebral waste clearance pathway that:
• Cleans toxins like beta-amyloid (linked to Alzheimer’s)
• Operates best during deep sleep
• Uses cerebrospinal fluid to “wash” the brain

🧬 Nedergaard et al., 2015 – Glymphatic flow increases 60% during non-REM sleep.
Reference: Science Translational Medicine

3️⃣ Lymph Is Part of Your Fat Absorption System

The lacteals (tiny lymphatic vessels in your small intestine) absorb fats from your food and transport them into your bloodstream. Without a healthy lymphatic system, fat metabolism and nutrient transport are impaired.

🍳 This is why gut healing and lymphatic drainage often go hand-in-hand.

4️⃣ 80% of Your Immune System Lives in Lymph

Your lymph nodes, tonsils, spleen, Peyer’s patches, and gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) are rich with immune cells. This is where:
• T cells mature
• B cells activate
• Pathogens are captured

Your lymphatic system is not just drainage—it’s defense.

5️⃣ Emotions Can Stagnate Your Lymph

Chronic stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, which constricts lymph vessels. Trauma, fear, and unresolved emotional patterns may:
• Restrict diaphragmatic breathing
• Freeze fascia and fluid mobility
• Reduce parasympathetic (rest/digest) activity

🌀 Fascial therapists and trauma-informed bodyworkers frequently observe emotional releases during lymphatic stimulation.

6️⃣ Lymphatic Flow Affects Skin Health

Stagnant lymph can manifest as:
• Puffy face and eyes
• Acne or skin congestion
• Slow wound healing
• Dull or uneven skin tone

When the lymph flows freely, it clears waste and inflammatory molecules—leaving your skin radiant.

7️⃣ The Thoracic Duct Handles 75% of Lymph Drainage

Your entire left side, both legs, and abdominal lymph all drain through one duct—the thoracic duct—into the left subclavian vein. Blockage or stagnation here causes:
• Bloating
• Left-sided swelling
• Hormonal imbalance
• Toxic backup

8️⃣ The Lymph System Talks to Hormones

Lymph nodes and vessels are sensitive to hormonal changes, especially:
• Estrogen
• Cortisol
• Thyroid hormones

This is why premenstrual fluid retention, cortisol belly, or post-thyroidectomy swelling may all have a lymphatic component.

9️⃣ The Lymph System Has Its Own Microbiome

Recent research has identified that lymphatic tissues house microbial colonies that may influence:
• Immune function
• Inflammation
• Autoimmune risk

🦠 Lymphatic microbiome studies are in early stages, but could reshape our understanding of chronic immune dysregulation.
Source: Frontiers in Immunology, 2022

🔟 Lymph Stimulation Can Improve Mental Health

Supporting lymph flow with MLD, dry brushing, or movement has been shown to:
• Reduce brain fog
• Alleviate anxiety
• Improve sleep
• Enhance clarity

This is partly due to the glymphatic system, but also the impact of detox and reduced inflammation on neurotransmitter balance.

🌟 Final Thoughts: The Silent River of Life

The lymphatic system may be silent, but it’s never still. It’s the body’s internal purification river, its immune messenger highway, and its emotional drainage canal.

The more we understand it, the more we see that many health struggles—chronic illness, fatigue, hormone imbalance, even trauma—are rooted in lymphatic stagnation.

When the lymph flows, you glow. 🌿

📚 Selected References:
• Nedergaard M. et al. (2015). Glymphatic System and the Brain. Science Translational Medicine.
• Aspelund A. et al. (2015). A dural lymphatic vascular system in the brain. Nature.
• Oliver G. et al. (2021). Lymphatic Vasculature in Health and Disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation.
• Wang Y. et al. (2022). Lymphatic Microbiome and Immunomodulation. Frontiers in Immunology.

🩺 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 health regimen.

©️

06/18/2025

This…

💥 Trauma & Lymphatic Congestion: The Hidden Link Between Emotional Wounds and Physical Stagnation

Trauma is often seen as invisible — something carried in the nervous system, the subconscious, or the soul. But what if trauma also leaves its imprint in the body’s physical landscape — in the lymphatic system, the body’s silent river of detoxification and immunity?

Modern research is uncovering a profound mind-body connection, showing how unresolved trauma may contribute to lymphatic dysfunction, systemic inflammation, and chronic illness. Understanding this link could transform how we approach both healing and lymphatic care.

🧠 Trauma Is a Physiological Experience — Not Just Psychological

Trauma isn’t just “in your head.” According to Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, trauma literally reshapes both brain and body. It can leave the nervous system in a chronic state of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, activating the sympathetic nervous system long after the danger has passed.

This dysregulation:
• Elevates cortisol and adrenaline
• Disrupts the vagus nerve (which modulates inflammation and lymphatic flow)
• Impairs immune regulation
• Affects fluid metabolism and neuroimmune communication

🌀 How Trauma May Contribute to Lymphatic Congestion

The lymphatic system is a low-pressure drainage network that relies on movement, breath, hydration, and nervous system balance to function optimally. When trauma disrupts these elements, it may lead to chronic lymph stagnation.

Here’s how trauma affects lymphatic flow:

1. Chronic Sympathetic Activation

Trauma can place the body in a sustained state of sympathetic overdrive, which:
• Constricts lymphatic vessels (they’re surrounded by smooth muscle and innervated by autonomic nerves)
• Reduces peristalsis of lymph
• Inhibits detoxification of cellular waste and inflammatory proteins

🔬 A 2021 study published in Nature Immunology confirmed that neuroinflammation can inhibit lymphatic drainage from the brain via the glymphatic system, impairing both detoxification and cognition.
Reference: Da Mesquita et al., Nature Immunology, 2021

2. Vagal Tone and Lymphatic Coordination

The vagus nerve plays a key role in immune modulation and anti-inflammatory signaling. Trauma lowers vagal tone, impairing:
• Lymphangiogenesis (formation of new lymph vessels)
• Lymphatic pumping via diaphragmatic movement
• Gut-lymph communication (critical in trauma survivors with gut issues)

🧠 Reduced vagal activity is linked to impaired lymphatic clearance in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s.
Reference: Benveniste et al., Science Translational Medicine, 2017

3. Myofascial Freezing and Lymphatic Blockage

Trauma often lives in the fascia — the connective tissue that houses many lymphatic vessels. When fascia becomes restricted (through protective bracing, dissociation, or fear-based posturing), lymphatic vessels may become compressed, reducing drainage.

⚠️ Studies using manual therapy and somatic release have shown measurable improvements in lymphatic flow following fascial and craniosacral techniques.
Reference: Schleip et al., Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2020

🌿 Healing the Lymphatic System Through Trauma-Informed Approaches

If trauma can congest the lymphatic system, then healing trauma may liberate lymphatic flow — and vice versa.

1. Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD)

Gentle and rhythmic, MLD stimulates superficial lymph vessels, and has been shown to:
• Reduce sympathetic dominance
• Soothe the vagus nerve
• Calm the limbic system
• Alleviate emotional overwhelm

2. Somatic Experiencing & Polyvagal Therapy

Therapies that gently restore nervous system regulation support lymphatic flow by:
• Improving breath depth and diaphragm movement
• Restoring fluidity to fascia and interstitial spaces
• Encouraging parasympathetic (rest/digest) dominance

3. Trauma-Sensitive Detox Protocols

Flooding the body with detoxification can be too much for a frozen system. Trauma-aware protocols prioritize:
• Slow drainage support
• Liver and gut pacing
• Emotional safety
• Electrolyte and nervous system support

🧩 The Mind-Lymph Connection: A New Frontier

The overlap between trauma and lymphatic congestion highlights a truth that’s long been whispered in holistic healing: The body remembers. The lymphatic system may be the bridge between unprocessed emotional pain and chronic physical illness.

Healing is never one-dimensional. When we support the lymph, we support the release of physical toxins — but often, we also invite the release of stored trauma, emotional patterns, and old pain.

📚 Key Research References:
• van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Penguin.
• Da Mesquita, S. et al. (2021). Neuroimmune responses regulate meningeal lymphatic drainage. Nature Immunology.
• Benveniste, H. et al. (2017). Glymphatic function in humans measured with MRI. Science Translational Medicine.
• Schleip, R. et al. (2020). Fascial tissue research in sports medicine. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.

🩺 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 health regimen, particularly when dealing with trauma or chronic illness.

©️

06/05/2025

🧠🫀 The Overlooked Alliance: How Your Nervous and Lymphatic Systems Are Deeply Connected

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.

Introduction

The nervous system and lymphatic system are traditionally studied as separate entities—one governing electrical impulses and sensory perception, the other managing immune surveillance and fluid balance. But recent medical breakthroughs reveal a fascinating and vital crosstalk between these two systems, opening new doors in our understanding of neuroimmune regulation, detoxification, and inflammation management.

1. The Lymphatic System: Silent River of Detox

The lymphatic system is composed of:
• Lymph vessels: thin-walled structures that parallel veins
• Lymph nodes: immunological hubs that filter pathogens and debris
• Lymph: the interstitial fluid collected from tissues
• Associated organs: spleen, thymus, and tonsils

Its main functions include:
• Interstitial fluid balance
• Immune cell trafficking
• Removal of metabolic waste
• Absorption of fats from the intestines

2. The Nervous System: The Command Center

The nervous system is divided into:
• Central Nervous System (CNS): brain and spinal cord
• Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): motor and sensory nerves
• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): controls involuntary processes like heart rate, digestion, and lymphatic flow

3. The Discovery of the Brain’s Lymphatic System

In 2015, researchers from the University of Virginia and University of Helsinki made a landmark discovery: functional lymphatic vessels exist in the dura mater (the outermost layer of the meninges surrounding the brain).

These meningeal lymphatic vessels:
• Drain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and interstitial fluid from the brain
• Connect to deep cervical lymph nodes
• Support clearance of amyloid-beta and other neurotoxic proteins

🧠 Source: Louveau et al., Nature (2015):
“Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels”
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14432

4. Neuro-Lymphatic Cross-Talk: How the Systems Interact

A. Autonomic Regulation of Lymphatic Flow

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) plays a key role in modulating lymphatic contractility and flow. Lymphatic vessels contain smooth muscle cells that respond to sympathetic stimulation, which influences:
• Lymphangion contractions
• Lymph propulsion
• Immune cell transport

🩺 Research Insight: Gashev & Zawieja, Lymphatic Research and Biology (2001) show that norepinephrine and other catecholamines affect lymphatic tone and contraction.

B. Neuroinflammation and Lymphatic Clearance

Chronic activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in response to stress can lead to:
• Altered immune signaling
• Reduced lymphatic drainage
• Increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB)

This creates a loop of neuroinflammation, where poor clearance of inflammatory cytokines aggravates neural function.

🧠 Study: Plog & Nedergaard, Trends in Neurosciences (2018):
“The Glymphatic System in Central Nervous System Health and Disease”
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2018.01.003

C. Vagus Nerve & Immune Modulation

The vagus nerve, a key component of the parasympathetic system, exerts anti-inflammatory effects via the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. It indirectly supports lymphatic drainage by:
• Lowering sympathetic overdrive
• Stimulating smooth muscle activity in lymph vessels
• Promoting gut-immune-brain communication

🌿 Clinical Relevance: Vagal stimulation is currently being explored in treatments for IBS, autoimmune disease, PTSD, and depression—conditions closely linked to lymphatic congestion and immune dysfunction.

5. Clinical Implications

Understanding this connection opens avenues for integrative therapies:
• Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) to reduce neuroinflammation
• Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for immune regulation
• Breathing techniques & HRV training to balance autonomic input
• Glymphatic-enhancing sleep hygiene (e.g., sleeping on the side, adequate hydration)

These modalities enhance the lympho-neural interface, optimizing both immune and cognitive function.

6. A New Era of Neuro-Lymphatic Medicine

We are entering a phase where neuroscience, immunology, and lymphology are merging to form neuroimmunolymphatic medicine. This multidisciplinary understanding may be crucial in addressing:
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Long COVID
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Autoimmune disorders

📚 Recommended Read:
Ma, Q., Nature Reviews Immunology (2017):
“Neuroimmune interactions and the lymphatic system”
https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2017.48

Final Thoughts

Your body is a masterpiece of interconnected systems, and the nervous–lymphatic connection is a testament to that design. As science continues to explore this frontier, we can harness this knowledge to not only manage illness but enhance human healing and resilience at its deepest levels.

If you’re navigating chronic inflammation, autoimmune imbalance, or neurological dysfunction, supporting your lymphatic and nervous systems together may offer profound healing potential.

🌿 Stay regulated. Stay flowing. Stay well.

©️