Holistic hands by Lizzie, AOR

28/10/2025

Hip pain ladies after estrogen decline? Take a read of this below ⬇️

Most doctors see normal X-rays and immediately diagnose arthritis or "wear and tear," but you likely have gluteal tendinopathy - the breakdown of tendons in your hips and buttocks. 

24/10/2025

Sometimes it’s beautiful to revisit this truth, “Holding space” so I’m sharing it again today. ❤️

To hold space for someone means being fully present — body, mind, and heart — offering calm support while they move through their feelings, challenges, or moments of wobble on their life path.

Although we often think of holding space within healing or therapy, it’s something we can offer to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

And just as importantly, there are moments when we’re called to hold space for ourselves.

When you hold space for yourself, you gift yourself the time to pause, check in, breathe, and gently return to centre.
It’s a sacred moment of reflection — a soft place to simply be.

✨ Lizzie xx

20/10/2025

🌿 HOW TO GET YOUR LYMPH STARTED IN THE MORNING

Your lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump like the heart — it depends on movement, breath, hydration, and rhythm to flow. When you wake up, your lymph is in a slow, restful state from the night. The goal each morning is to “wake it up” gently, encouraging circulation, detoxification, and vitality.

Let’s walk through a mindful morning flow that helps your lymph system come alive. 🌞

💧 1. Rehydrate the Rivers

Overnight, your body loses fluid through breathing and detox processes. The very first step to get lymph moving is pure hydration.

Try:
• 1 glass of warm water with lemon or a pinch of sea salt + trace minerals.
This rebalances electrolytes and restores the osmotic pressure your lymph vessels need to pull toxins out of tissues.

💡 Think of it as giving your lymph its morning drink before anything else.

🫁 2. Breathe Like You Mean It

Deep diaphragmatic breathing acts like a natural lymphatic pump.
Each inhale creates gentle pressure changes in your chest and abdomen that help lymph drain through the thoracic duct — the main “highway” of your lymphatic system.

Try:
• 10 deep belly breaths
• Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds
• Hold for 2
• Exhale through the mouth for 6
Repeat until you feel warmth or tingling in your chest — that’s your lymph flow awakening. 🌬️

🧘‍♀️ 3. Move Before You Scroll

Movement = Flow.
Even 2–5 minutes of gentle movement jumpstarts circulation, pumps your muscles, and flushes stagnant lymph from the night.

Try:
• Neck rolls and shoulder circles
• Arm swings and calf pumps
• Gentle rebounding or shaking your limbs
• A brisk walk to the kitchen before coffee

💚 The goal is not exercise — it’s movement that feels rhythmic, freeing, and alive.

🪞 4. Dry Brush for Drainage

Before your shower, dry brushing helps stimulate lymph nodes, exfoliate the skin, and improve microcirculation.

Start:
At the ankles and brush upward toward the heart.
Always brush toward your lymph node hubs — groin, underarms, and collarbone area.

✨ Add a few gentle strokes along your abdomen to awaken the gut lymph (Peyer’s patches).

🛁 5. Contrast Showers or Castor Oil Packs

Warm–cold contrast showers or a morning castor oil pack over the liver can increase circulation, support detox pathways, and activate lymph drainage through the abdomen.

🌸 6. Finish With Gratitude

Lymph flow is not just physical — it’s energetic. Stress, fear, and emotional stagnation can all restrict your body’s natural rhythm.
Take 60 seconds to speak gratitude over your body and invite peace into your day.

🕊️ “As my breath flows, my lymph flows. As I release, I heal.”

🌿 Your Morning Lymph Flow Summary

✅ Hydrate before caffeine
✅ Deep breathe with intention
✅ Move gently to awaken flow
✅ Dry brush before shower
✅ Support detox with warmth
✅ Stay grounded in gratitude

💚 Written by: Bianca Botha, CLT, RLD, MLDT & CDS
Founder of 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.

16/10/2025

If anyone would like dry body brushes or Reflexology hands mits, please let me know. 🙌🏻

🔥 The Lymph-Fat Detox Loop: Why Your Fat Holds Onto Toxins — and How to Set It Free 💧🧬

Ever wonder why some people detox quickly, while others stay puffy, foggy, and inflamed no matter what they do?

The answer might lie not in their gut, their liver, or even their diet…
But in their fat cells — and more specifically, their lymphatic system’s ability to empty them.

🧪 Toxins Love Fat: A Survival Strategy

Your body is smart. Too smart.

When it detects a threat (like mercury, pesticides, mold toxins, or synthetic chemicals) that your liver and lymph can’t flush fast enough, it stores them in your adipose (fat) tissue.

Why? Because it’s safer to isolate toxins in fat than to let them roam freely and inflame vital organs.

So instead of releasing the toxins, your body:
• Buffers them in fat
• Reduces metabolism to “hold” them safely
• Protects you — but slows healing

💡 The Lymph-Fat Connection

Here’s the twist:
Fat doesn’t just store toxins… it depends on your lymphatic system to drain them.

💥 Each fat cell is surrounded by lymphatic capillaries
💥 These capillaries collect waste, hormones, and cellular debris
💥 If lymph is stagnant → toxins stay trapped → fat becomes inflamed

This is one of the most overlooked reasons for:
• Puffy arms, belly, and thighs
• Cellulite that doesn’t respond to diet
• Weight loss resistance despite “eating clean”
• Brain fog, fatigue, and hormonal chaos

🌀 Detoxing Fat is a Lymphatic Job First

You can’t safely detox your fat cells without:
• Hydrated, flowing lymph
• Clear drainage pathways (neck, gut, liver, kidneys)
• Binder support to “catch” toxins as they release

Otherwise, detox becomes re-tox — toxins just redistribute, and symptoms worsen.

🌿 How to Open the Lymph-Fat Detox Loop:
1. Daily Dry Brushing – stimulates lymphatic drainage around superficial fat stores.
2. Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) – clears stagnant pockets in hips, thighs, abdomen.
3. Infrared Sauna Therapy – helps fat release toxins through sweat and stimulates lymph.
4. Castor Oil Belly Packs – reduce abdominal congestion where lymph and fat are densest.
5. Lymph-Loving Nutrients – magnesium, omega-3s, bitter greens, and polyphenols.
6. Binder Protocols – charcoal, bentonite clay, or fulvic acid during detox phases.

⚠️ Important Note:

Detoxing stored fat too fast (without lymphatic and binder support) can result in:
• Anxiety
• Headaches
• Hormonal crashes
• Skin flares

It’s not that “detoxing doesn’t work” — it’s that the drains weren’t open first.

💫 Final Thought:

Your fat isn’t your enemy.
It’s your body’s emergency storage unit — waiting to be cleared with grace and wisdom.

And your lymphatic system holds the master key.
When you unlock it, detox becomes safe, sustainable, and truly healing.

📚 References:
• Blagosklonny MV (2021). Cellular senescence and weight loss resistance. Aging.
• Dranoff JA. (2010). The Lymphatic System and Adipose Tissue: Intertwined Health Partners. Physiology.
• Liao S. (2015). Lymphatic Function and Dysfunction in Adipose Tissue. Journal of Clinical Investigation.

©️

08/10/2025

do you know of the power of touch and why Reflexology is so important for all your bodily systems, including lymphatic drainage incorporated with reiki healing ❤️‍🩹

Message me to book in 📱 📞 👣

👣 The Power of Reflexology in Lymphatic Healing

When feet speak, the body listens.

In the quiet language of pressure points and touch, there lies a powerful form of healing that’s often overlooked — reflexology.
But when paired with an understanding of the lymphatic system, this ancient therapy becomes more than just relaxation —
…it becomes a pathway to fluid movement, immune support, and deep tissue detoxification.

🌿 What is Reflexology?

Reflexology is a therapeutic technique that involves applying gentle pressure to specific points on the feet, hands, or ears — each of which corresponds to an organ, gland, or body system.

Think of it as a map of your body, mirrored in your feet.
Stimulating these points helps trigger neural pathways and activate the body’s own healing responses — particularly through the autonomic nervous system and lymphatic circulation.

🌀 How Does It Support the Lymphatic System?

The lymphatic system is a fluid-based network responsible for:
• Removing waste, toxins, and pathogens
• Supporting immune function
• Regulating inflammation
• Maintaining fluid balance in tissues

But unlike the heart, the lymphatic system has no central pump — it relies on muscle movement, breath, and manual stimulation to flow.

That’s where reflexology becomes powerful:

👣 5 Ways Reflexology Boosts Lymphatic Health

1. Stimulates Lymph Flow Without Strain

Gentle foot pressure increases local and systemic circulation, helping lymphatic fluid move through congested vessels and nodes — especially helpful for those with swelling, fatigue, or sedentary lifestyles.

2. Activates Reflex Zones for Key Organs

By working on the liver, kidneys, colon, spleen, and intestinal reflex points, reflexology supports the body’s natural detox and drainage systems — reducing the burden on the lymph.

3. Reduces Stress and Cortisol

High stress = tight fascia + sluggish lymph flow.
Reflexology downregulates the sympathetic nervous system, allowing for parasympathetic healing, reduced inflammation, and better vagal nerve activation (which impacts gut and lymphatic communication).

4. Improves Digestive-Lymph Connection

The gut is home to 70% of your immune system (GALT). Reflex points on the feet related to the intestines and abdominal area help calm inflammation, improve motility, and stimulate visceral lymphatic flow.

5. Breaks Down Fascial Restrictions

Foot reflexology encourages release of fascial tension, which can compress lymphatic vessels and impair drainage. This is especially helpful in cases of chronic swelling, hormonal fluid retention, or post-surgical stagnation.

✨ Clinical Benefits Observed:
• Reduced swelling and puffiness (especially lower legs, ankles, abdomen)
• Improved energy and reduced fatigue
• Less fluid retention during PMS or hormonal shifts
• Clearer skin and improved elimination
• Calmer mood and better sleep
• Enhanced response when combined with Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD)

🔬 Backed by Research:

Recent studies have shown that reflexology:
• Increases peripheral blood circulation
• Modulates immune and inflammatory markers
• Improves quality of life in chronic illness patients
• Activates vagal tone, which regulates both gut and lymph function

A 2022 pilot study on reflexology and lymphedema in breast cancer survivors showed a statistically significant reduction in arm circumference and reported swelling after six weekly treatments.

🌸 Who Can Benefit Most?

Reflexology is especially beneficial for those with:
• Chronic inflammation
• Autoimmune diseases
• Hormonal imbalances (e.g., PCOS, estrogen dominance)
• Lymphedema or lipedema
• Digestive issues
• Stress-related immune dysfunction
• Post-surgical swelling or trauma

🌿 The Healing Power of Touch

Reflexology is gentle.
It’s non-invasive.
And yet — it can reignite movement in places where your body feels stuck.

Whether used alone or as a complement to lymphatic drainage therapy, reflexology helps the body do what it was designed to do:

🌀 Move.
🧬 Balance.
💧 Detox.
💚 Heal.

Final Thought:

If the lymphatic system is your inner river,
then reflexology is the gentle current that guides it home.

06/10/2025

Lymphatic dry brushes for sale, to help you regulate your lymphatic system and help all of your bodily functions 🙌🏻 ❤️ 

🌿✨ The Power of Dry Brushing: A Scientific Look at an Ancient Self-Care Practice

🪥🩷🌿🧠🫀

Dry brushing, also known as cutaneous brushing or skin brushing, is an ancient wellness ritual that uses a firm, natural-bristle brush on dry skin in specific, rhythmic strokes — always directed toward the heart.

Though simple in practice, the physiological benefits are far-reaching. This mindful technique stimulates the lymphatic, circulatory, nervous, and integumentary (skin) systems — supporting detoxification, energy, and renewal from the surface inward.

Let’s explore what science and experience reveal about this beautiful ritual.

1. Stimulating the Lymphatic System

💧🌀💚

At the heart of dry brushing lies its ability to activate lymph flow — the body’s internal “clean-up” network that:
• Drains excess interstitial fluid
• Removes cellular waste and toxins
• Transports immune cells
• Supports detoxification through lymph nodes

Gentle traction on the skin opens the superficial lymphatic capillaries, encouraging stagnant lymph to move and helping to reduce puffiness, congestion, and inflammation.

Fun Fact: The lymphatic system has no pump like the heart — it relies on muscle movement, breathing, and mechanical stimulation (like dry brushing!) to keep fluid flowing.

2. Enhancing Circulation & Skin Vitality

🩸✨🧴

Each stroke of the brush improves microcirculation, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the skin while supporting cellular turnover. Expect:
• Improved blood flow
• Brighter, more even tone
• A natural, youthful glow

Consistent brushing refines texture and helps maintain skin elasticity over time.

3. Supporting Detoxification Pathways

♻️🧽🫧

Your skin is one of your body’s largest detox organs. Through gentle exfoliation, dry brushing:
• Removes dead skin cells
• Unclogs pores
• Activates sweat and sebaceous glands

This process clears the way for your skin to “breathe” and enhances your body’s ability to eliminate waste naturally.

4. Activating the Nervous System

⚡🧠🧘‍♀️

The skin is rich with sensory nerve endings. Brushing stimulates these receptors, which communicate with the brain to:
• Promote mental clarity and alertness
• Encourage endorphin release
• Boost energy and focus

It’s a natural, uplifting start to your morning routine.

5. Strengthening Skin Immunity

🛡️🧬🌸

Regular dry brushing helps reinforce the skin’s barrier and microbiome by supporting:
• A balanced acid mantle (the skin’s protective film)
• Reduced transepidermal water loss
• Lower risk of irritation or infection

Healthy skin equals stronger immunity and resilience.

Organs That Indirectly Benefit from Dry Brushing

🫁 🫀 🧠 🦴 🌿

Because the lymphatic system interacts with nearly every organ, improved lymph flow also benefits:
1. Liver – Reduced toxic load = enhanced detox efficiency
2. Kidneys – Easier filtration and metabolic balance
3. Gut – Supports fat absorption and immune modulation
4. Lungs – Less congestion, freer breathing
5. Skin – Improved tone, texture, and glow

How to Dry Brush Properly

🪥🧴🧖‍♀️

Proper sequence matters — and this is where many get it wrong.
1. Start by clearing main drainage points:
Neck → Clavicles → Underarms → Abdomen → Groin
This “opens the gates” for lymph flow.
2. Then brush the limbs:
Begin at the feet and hands, working upward in long, sweeping motions toward the heart.
3. Use a natural bristle brush (avoid synthetic).
4. Avoid areas that are broken, inflamed, or sensitive.
5. Best done before showering, followed by a hydrating oil or lotion to nourish the skin barrier.

Conclusion

Dry brushing isn’t just a skincare ritual — it’s a cellular stimulant, immune ally, and lymph-moving powerhouse. This mindful act connects body and breath, circulation and serenity, outer glow and inner flow.

So grab your brush, take a deep breath, and give your body the love and movement it deserves. 🌿💫

🩷✨🫶🌿💪🌸💧

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.

© Bianca Botha CLT, RLD, MLDT & CDS
Certified Lymphoedema Therapist | Lymphatica – Lymphatic Therapy & Body Detox Facility

30/09/2025

A spoon a day keeps the colds at bay. 🤧 🙌🏻
Recipe in comments 👇🏻

30/09/2025

Where Do You Put Your Oils? ✨

Where you apply your oils depends on the kind of support you’re looking for.

🌿 Pain or Skin Support → Apply directly to the area of concern (like sore muscles, bug bites, or minor burns).

🌿 Emotional Balance →

Inside elbow creases: Supports emotional well-being, especially with feelings of sadness or grief.

Wrists: Oils here quickly influence the chest area, helpful for calming the heart and lungs.

Inner forearms: Veins are close to the surface, making this a good spot for emotional use.

Over the heart (nipple line): A grounding place when working through heartache or disappointment.

🌿 Immune & Digestive Support →

Belly button: Traditionally thought to support immune function, protection, and boundaries.

Midline of the belly: Can be used with intentions around self-confidence and self-worth.

🌿 Grounding & Calm →

Bottoms of the feet: Oils absorb easily here and are wonderful for grounding, calmness, and overall support.

👉 Apply as often as needed, and remember—location is key for the results you want.