The Unf*ck Your Fitness Podcast

168. Enhance Your Health & Fitness from the Inside Out with Lymphatic Drainage Tips ft. Ida Preston

• Kristy Castillo

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I’m super excited to welcome Ida Preston onto the podcast today!


Ida Preston is a licensed massage therapist, a manual lymphatic drainage therapist, and certified nutritional consultant. Ida and I connected on Instagram, and I’ve absolutely LOVED learning from her there!


In today’s episode, Ida and I chat all about the lymphatic system, and the immense benefits that come from lymphatic drainage. The lymphatic system is an often-overlooked component of your health and well-being, but there is MUCH more to it than just ‘swollen lymph nodes’ when you’re sick! 


We also dive into how ‘blockages’ show up in the body + how lymphatic massage can help, holistic practices that can support you during perimenopause (and beyond), the best lymphatic drainage tools, and more.


Whether you’re dealing with inflammation, autoimmune issues, or just want to incorporate more wellness practices to support your long-term health, this is a fascinating episode PACKED with goodness. 


I know you’ll love learning from Ida, and I can’t wait to hear how this information transforms your health & fitness journey!!



In today’s episode, we cover:

  • Ida’s introduction to lymphatic drainage & massage 
  • What happens when your lymph nodes get ‘stuck’ + how this can show up in your body
  • Using lymphatic massage for both cosmetic + long-term health benefits
  • Being cautious of misleading health & beauty claims online 
  • How lymphatic work can support you during perimenopause
  • Simple + holistic self-care practices to implement into your regular routine
  • Where lymph nodes are located in the body
  • When you should NOT use lymphatic drainage
  • Lymphatic drainage timing tips + tools/devices to help with this
  • How to dry brush your body + the ‘honey vs. water’ analogy for hydration
  • How to tell if you have stagnant lymph in your body



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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Un-Fuck-Your-Fitness Podcast. I am your host, Christy Castillo, and I'm here to give you real talk and cut the BS so you can actually enjoy building a body you love. I'm a personal trainer obsessed with giving you simple action steps to take you from feeling stuck to feeling sexy. Let's go.

Speaker 2:

Hey guys, what's up, welcome to today's episode. I am sharing with you guys today a podcast that I recorded with a amazing lady that I follow on Instagram. Her at is massagesandmacros on Instagram. She is a licensed massage therapist, a manual lymphatic drainage therapist and a certified nutritional consultant. Her name is Ida Preston and we talked in this episode all about lymphatic drainage, your lymphatic system, what it is, what it does, what it's responsible for, how to tell if it's stagnant, how to tell what issues might be going on in your body as far as some inflammation, digestion issues, skin issues, just a lot of different things that I've struggled with in the past and a lot of my clients struggle with when we talk about just holding on to that extra inflammation and getting rid of those things and kind of just what that looks like and what that feels like, and so it's really nice to be able to have someone that I can go to and look at her page and kind of see what's going on and how I can relate this to my own journey and how I can help. So I didn't know much about gua sha or I didn't know much about lymphatic drainage. I knew a little bit about gua sha and about body massage and things like that. But when I came across her page, I started to really pay attention to the things she was saying and the why, and so it was really helpful for me and I really really appreciate your content. She's so down to earth, so sweet, so I reached out to see if she'd be on the podcast, because I really like to bring you guests that are going to help you. So this is a little bit different.

Speaker 2:

Honestly, this, this interview that I had, is you know, it's about. It's not about macros, it's not about workouts. It's about your body, your you know organs, your internal system, your lymphatic system and what it is, and this is really really good information. So again, just all of this is here to unfuck your fitness, because once you learn the basics of being healthy, as as workouts and macros, you know fueling your body and moving your body, which is all also part of moving your lymphatic system, which we will learn about in this episode. But it's nice to know that you're taking those steps in the right direction. And then it's like how can I take it one step further, while you can really really take care of your body by taking care of your lymphatic system? I was alarmed to hear of how many things that your lymphatic system takes care of and is responsible for in your body and kind of annoyed that it's not something that I knew much about. I mean, I'm not just a personal trainer, but I have a lot of certifications and not one of them covered this information, and so it was just really great to be able to chat with her. So I really hope you enjoy our conversation in today's episode. I hope that you have a lot of takeaways and I hope it's very relatable. Also check out the show notes for information. You can go, follow her on Instagram and there will be some links in there for some of the items that we talked about that you can purchase, and we linked them for you so they're very easy to purchase and they will help you along your journey and help with your lymphatic system and help you to feel and be the healthiest version of yourself. So enjoy the episode.

Speaker 2:

All right, ida, thanks for jumping on the podcast today. I'm super excited to have you. Thank you for having me. Yeah, of course. So just for a little reference, I have Ida on my Instagram and follow what she does, and I'm super interested, so contacted you to be on the podcast and I'm really, really thankful that you decided to say yes, because you're very excited about what you do. You're very good at what you do. It's very thorough how it comes across. There's a lot of information, obviously on social media, about this, about everything, and when I find someone that just explains it so well and is also like a normal human doing the things, like you show yourself doing the things and it's just so relatable and understandable, so that's really why I wanted to have you on here and I trust what you have to say, so I'm super excited. So tell us a little bit about what caused you to get into lymphatic drainage massage, like how long you've been doing it, and a little bit about that.

Speaker 3:

So I've been a massage therapist for 15 years. I discovered the lymphatic massage about three years ago, actually through my husband. So he was training for his first bodybuilding show. He had lost a significant amount of weight. There was a small little pooch almost at the lower part of his abdomen that just would not shrink down, would not go away. So he actually bought a gua sha and he started every night scraping his belly with the gua sha and within like a week or two that little pouch completely went away. Wow, so, yeah. So I was like there is something to this. So I started deep diving into what could that be? And then, once I figured out it was the lymphatic system, I was able to reflect and see that all of the ailments that I had as a teenager too, come from a sluggish lymphatic system. So I knew right then I just needed to go all in and figure out everything there was about the lymphatic system.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's awesome. I like that you just kind of gradually got yourself into it.

Speaker 3:

But I think too, like when it happens like that, like you kind of saw it happening, and you're like no, this is real, like this is happening, and then you kind of become obsessed with it in kind of a way. It's kind of like when it, when you can relate it to yourself and when you can heal yourself through these things, and then you realize, oh, I can help other people too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, let's figure it out yeah, it's easy to kind of fall in love with something like that. So you've been doing this specifically, specifically. Do you do any other sort? Do you still do just regular?

Speaker 3:

basic Swedish massage. I do, yeah, yep, gotcha, and a lot of the time the session will start with the Swedish massage, but then I'll be like, oh, you know your sinuses. Do you mind if we do a little bit of lymphatic work and kind of see, and then within a minute, their sinuses open up and it's the coolest moment.

Speaker 2:

Every time they're like, wow, I can breathe again and I'm like, yeah, it's magic. I like I love that, that's so cool. So you've been doing it for three years and what's like I guess like what when you first started? Like what do you find people don't know about it? Or, you know, find the most interesting to like learn about.

Speaker 3:

I think I mean everyone. Just they know about about their lymphatic system, because they get sick, they have strep throat and their lymph nodes are swollen. But there's so much more that happens behind the scenes, like it is constantly working to keep you well, and it's. It basically is your immune system. So if we're not treating it well, it's not doing its job to be able to flush everything out that it needs to. And it also I mean it interacts with your digestive system. It transports hormones, it affects the fluid balance. You know you need your lymphatic system healthy to prevent swelling. So it more than just keeping you healthy, like it keeps you well running.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that it's not something that and I came through lymphatic massage, any like techniques, through gua sha and like facial gua sha, because it was maybe two years ago, maybe three years ago on my social media, anyway, it was like everywhere. It was like the thing to do was, you know, have the little stones and the oil and do the facial massage which I loved. So that was kind of when obviously I know what the lymphatic system is like. We learned that. But also I didn't know. I at the same time I didn't know what it was like, I didn't know what it was responsible for.

Speaker 2:

I'm doing gua sha, hearing like this is good for your lymphatic system, knowing like no correlation, I guess you know, between like any of that. So, yeah, that's kind of how I was interested in it and then somehow came across you and then I kind honestly don't follow any of those other pages anymore. I just follow your page. Thank you, that's so helpful. So I still do some of these techniques that we'll talk about later. But give us a little rundown like what you just kind of said, like what it you know what it does and what it's responsible for. I guess I'm really curious to hear like the correlations between, like the gut and stuff too. I think that's really interesting, how there's something that like can your lymph be stagnant, or like stuck, or there's kind of like a. I always hear that what is?

Speaker 3:

what is that it can. So if you think about your lymphatic system like I, almost think about the lymph nodes as like the filters in your vacuum cleaner, you know when you're vacuuming, sure it's going to suck everything up, but if those filters are clogged it's not going to pick up all the pieces. It'll work a little bit but it's not going to completely work. Once you clear those filters out, you're going to notice it starts sucking up a lot better than it was. That's the same with your lymph nodes. So if those get, you know, if they get a little bit stuck and I want to say dirty, your lymph is not going to be flowing through them like they should. Okay, gotcha. And so that's where you know doing that manual lymphatic drainage with your hand is going to encourage that movement of that lymph and it all works off of suction. There's no pump in your body that moves your lymph. It works with your circulatory system. So you know you have your heart pumping your blood but nothing really pumps your lymph.

Speaker 2:

So you have your heart pumping your blood, but nothing really pumps your lymph, so you have to do that physically, okay, yeah, I feel like this is something we should have been taught.

Speaker 3:

We weren't even taught it needed a massage pool. They hardly even touch on it. That is crazy and it's so important. It affects every other system of your body and nobody's really talking about it and it's kind of having a moment now which I'm glad.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like macros and nutrition in the fitness world, or like even the nutrition like hospitals, dieticians and stuff like. It's like a, it's like that missing piece. It's kind of like this with health. I feel like this is kind of important to know that, like it's something you need to take care of or it's not going to run effectively.

Speaker 3:

Essentially, the fact that you can do it yourself is huge. I mean you should be working your lymphatic system every day in some form, because it needs that stimulation.

Speaker 2:

So if I have gone 43 years without working my lymphatic system, what is going on in my body that I should know about right now? I do not daily, so what's happening?

Speaker 3:

no-transcript, yeah, I mean it can manifest in all kinds of ways. You know some people are obviously. They're swollen, they're puffy. If you have dark circles under your eyes, that can be stagnant lymph. If you're not digesting your food, well that's a huge one. Also, any kind of like migraines, anxiety, brain fog, those kind of head related symptoms a lot of time can be lymph can be limp Interesting.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love this. I've been following totally, totally random sidebar I don't even know what the account is and if I can find it before this episode airs, it's this guy who he posts reels about how, like your brain obviously your brain and then you have your gut, which is like your second brain, and how they all work together. And then I love like reading about that. And then he'll also post like how, if stress is, you know, manifest itself in your body, like what part of your body it'll, you'll kind of feel that in and I feel like this, like that's just interesting to me, like if I'm holding certain kind of emotions, they're going to appear like in my shoulder, and he actually talks about your lymph over here and kind of how that's all tied together and it's the same thing. I mean this is obviously the same situation, we're just explaining it different, but that really kind of set my brain. That's the same thing that he's talking about. It's all connected and with the gut too.

Speaker 3:

If you aren't breathing properly, your lymph's not moving from your gut, where it needs to go to, so that's where stress can play in with your lymphatic system. Your muscles are tight, your lymph's not moving. You're not breathing from your belly, you're breathing from your shoulders, gotcha.

Speaker 2:

And you need that stimulation to get everything moving. Gotcha, okay, so people can do this. We can do this on our own, which we'll get into in a little bit, but so we can do this on our own, like we have our own tools. You obviously provide this and then, like lymphatic drainage massage is like a thing so we can go somewhere else and get it done. We can also kind of do like daily maintenance ourselves on ourselves. Okay, gotcha, yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2:

So for you, let's get into kind of why people usually come to you for lymphatic drainage. What people usually know, like I said, for myself, it's kind of a combination, honestly, of how I'm just like the gua sha and figuring out like the neck, and then they're talking about lymph nodes, so that I'm kind of learning, and then it went into like dry brushing for me, and then I remember my mom having some like neck back issues and she went to the massage and they were saying, like your lymph is clogged, stuck, like I don't remember the verbiage, but I'm thinking, okay, that kind of relates to like my gua sha, like I'm kind of piecing it together. Do you mostly see people come to you for like the cosmetic reasons more so than like the internal reasons. And do you, I guess? Because, like for me, it definitely started as like a cosmetic, not obsession, but like I, wanted to do it because of cosmetic reasons only, because I didn't know the internal reasons. So can we touch on that a little bit?

Speaker 3:

Sure, yeah, I think, honestly, most people start as a cosmetic client. You know, they've seen that it can make your face look snatched or it can make you, you know, lose a little bit of weight. So they do that and, yeah, we're going to slim you down, probably just after one session. And actually that's kind of how I started. I started seeing bodybuilders during peak week and so they'd come to me and it would help shed that extra little water weight right before a show. Okay, then you start doing it and then they realize how good they feel and then their digestion improves and they're sleeping better at night. And now you know the clients I've been seeing for years. They're not getting sick through the winter because they're doing their lymphatic drainage massages every month and their immune system is just rock star because they're doing their lymphatic drainage massages every month and their immune system is just rock star.

Speaker 2:

Okay, interesting. So you kind of like fitness, where you're starting for like personal physical reasons and then you're kind of like, oh, this is really good for me, it's helping me in other areas of my life. How often do you see people just generally Like is it kind of a once a month thing for maintenance?

Speaker 3:

It really just depends. I mean, I've got some people I see every week, every other week, every month that really you know you can't do it too much, you could come see me every single day.

Speaker 2:

So really how often they can fit into their schedule, yeah, Gotcha, we talked a little bit about it helping with cosmetic scarring, um swelling. I guess we can talk about that a little bit and then like cellulite as far as like cosmetic things and then internal things inflammation, autoimmune which I wish I would have known that about 10 years ago perimenopause digestion and sinus issues. So does that kind of touch on some of the cosmetic things versus the internal?

Speaker 3:

It does, yeah. So I see a lot of post-op clients as well. I did an extra certification to pre and post plastic surgery. So right after surgery, I mean within a day or two, you can be getting lymphatic drainage. That's going to help with your bruising, with your swelling, with your pain, and it significantly helps with healing, okay, and so I see that. And then with scars, you know, if you have keloid scars it can help a little bit too, because that's inflammation coming up through the scar. So we can reduce that as well.

Speaker 2:

Interesting. Yeah, I didn't know any of that. As far as the physical stuff, I guess with cellulite, I had kind of seen a couple of things online so that's something that I was kind of familiar with but I didn't know about like the scarring or the swelling post-surgery. But it makes sense if it's just obviously draining all of that.

Speaker 3:

Oh, and I want to point out too, when you're doing the post-op like or any kind of lymphatic drainage, nothing should be coming out of your body. It's all your internal drains. So that's where I've seen people online. You know they're like squeezing these wounds with their lymphatic drainage. That should never happen. Okay, if you see that, don't do that. Don't follow those people.

Speaker 2:

I've seen random question as well. This is kind of bringing all things up in my head and maybe other people have seen this too. So I know, as far as like facial stuff, there's gua sha which is gua sha with a stone and without. Can you do facial gua sha with just like your fingers, hands?

Speaker 3:

no, because it's actual. The stone is the gua sha. Yeah, okay, but you can do the same technique with just your hand okay.

Speaker 2:

So I saw a reel the other day where they said it the other way like gua sha is like the act, and they were doing it with their fingers, which whatever, but the movements were super cool. But he was talking about like literally like kind of scraping like you know, his neck only you can see me doing that but like moving the fluid. Obviously it wasn't moving out of his body, but yeah, people were doing it and saying that, like they could taste like stuff, like moving around in there, you know, like the fluid or whatever, which I don't even know if I believed that or not. Anyways, but the movements that he were doing or that he was doing, I don't know about that.

Speaker 2:

It's one of those things that I see online that I'm like, well, first of all, it's a gua sha stone. So I thought instantly like I don't know if this is correct. And then the things that he was doing. I thought I don't know that you should be doing that on your face. And then so I guess just to say like I saw that and was kind of alarmed, but because there's so much, just like with fitness, there's so many accounts that will say you know, like one session on your face is gonna snatch your jaw. You know, there's just a lot of claims out there. So I wanted people to definitely be careful while you were on the note of nothing should come out of a wound or anything. It's all inside of your body. But also just be careful with who you're watching. That's kind of why I got rid of everybody and just watched you, because, seriously, it's just hard to know who to trust.

Speaker 3:

So it is, and I always ask my new clients where did you hear about lymphatic drainage? And if the answer is social media, I am hesitant because there is a lot of information that's not true. So I will walk them through like this is what the session is going to be like, is this what you're expecting? Okay, at the time they say no, and then I like the science behind what we're doing, and it's not just a fad thing, it's an actual medical thing that we're doing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I feel like it definitely is a fad thing and it's like do you know this? Swipe your cheek 10 times and do your neck 10 times and you'll have a snatched whatever, or your feel you know, it's like they show the before and after and I'm like, oh my God, I've been doing that for three years and my chin doesn't like that. What do you mean? That's crazy, but I can definitely feel better and like I notice things that. But anyways, just a kind of a precaution there. Let's dive into the perimenopause side really quickly, because I'm definitely going through that myself and a lot of my clients a lot of my one-on-one clients are as well, some foot clubbers that I talk to as well. But how does this the lymphatic system, the tools, everything we're going to talk to you about here in a minute how does that help? Perimenopause?

Speaker 3:

Because help us. I love that because that's a majority of my clients. As I've gotten into it. Most of them are in that phase and it's such an underserved population too. There's so much question about what's going on, but the big thing is when you are losing your estrogen, when your estrogen is decreasing. Estrogen is anti-inflammatory. So if you don't have that natural anti-inflammatory in your body, your body is going to hold a little bit more fluid, it's going to be a little bit more swollen and achy, and then, especially with your liver too, as it's having to process all those extra hormones, your lymphatic system is a little bit on the fritz. So really doing lymphatic work can help, you know, just with the discomfort, with the swelling, with the bloating and just regulating the hormones too, because it does play with the hormonal system as well, yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense and thank you for saying it's an underserved community.

Speaker 2:

It is, it is yeah, absolutely yeah, it is. And I think that a lot of this stuff is there's a lot of misinformation out there about everything. I can all agree about that. But as I've gone more into like my perimenopause journey whatever we're going to call it it's, there's a lot out there and I think this is one of the things that I found that makes a lot of sense because, like you just explained, the estrogen, what it does and why it makes sense that if we're losing that, this is happening. So, because a lot of that just isn't.

Speaker 2:

You know, I went to the doctor and kind of told her like last year, like I'm feeling some perimenopause symptoms, I think this is happening, and she's like no, like you're too young for that, Don't worry about it. You know. It just totally brushed me off and I'm like okay, so it's like we do have to kind of honestly do our own research and there's nothing wrong with that because it's our, it's my body. So I don't mind doing the research and and doing the work on that. But also, I don't just want to dive into drugs. I am on some now but I want to research what would be helpful and what I can do at home. So a lot of this stuff like gua shaing my lower stomach, my legs, just because my body has changed and a lot of this stuff can help the dry brushing, the doing the gua sha at night, a lot of that stuff does help. So I know you did a post on that and I think liver, recently that I found very interesting on your page.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, the more I'm learning about it, the more you know the liver has such a huge role in perimenopause. And then I think were you talking about the post where the right shoulder affects the? Liver too, yes, and so that's why I was running into all my perimenopausal women. They all have the same trigger point in their like right lat, and I'm like what is causing that? I can't work it out. So, that rolled into. Like what else could it be? You know, it's not just your muscle.

Speaker 2:

So it's your whole body interacting.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, I did think that was one of the posts You're like you know exactly what I'm talking about. I got so many DMs are like I need that treatment. Yeah, when I read that, I'm like holy shit. And that was another two that I saw on this other guy's page. So I always kind of know, like I trust what you put out. And then there, if somebody's kind of like you know, if somebody posts something to that, I'm like okay, that's confirming what I saw over here. Um cause, because he was saying the exact same thing. So that was interesting. But, yeah, everybody go. Your massages and macro is still on Instagram, right, we should talk about that. Yes, okay, thank you.

Speaker 2:

I know your messaging has kind of changed throughout the time I've been following you, which is great, but yeah, everybody can go check that out because it's very thorough. And yeah, it is like that when you see a post or something that you're like, oh my God, I have that issue like my right shoulder and it really makes sense, and then you follow it up with a way to help. And I think we all have, like I've definitely struggled with inflammation, autoimmune issues, perimetopause, to date digestion, and so once I figured out that like, okay, something's not moving. Like this, it has to be all related. And then, as well as my emotions and you know, different traumas physical, emotional, like all of that tying together.

Speaker 2:

I love that about what you talk about and like your messaging and, honestly, just this practice in itself, because it's so much that we can do at home and it makes sense, like learning to breathe better, learning to eat better, learning to take care of your body, and just kind of taking that responsibility, I think, is important. So I will have to say that too. This is something that I've had to add into my own routine, but it's definitely worth it. So, a lot of times actually and I know you work out a lot too Is there anything that you do kind of before we get into the more practical things? Is there anything you do based for your fitness? Is the stuff you need to be doing?

Speaker 3:

for your lymphatic system. You need to be walking, you need to be lifting weights, because any bit of muscle pumping is going to move your lymph. Drinking your water you know all of the healthy things that we're already doing is definitely encouraging that lymph to move.

Speaker 2:

Good, yeah, awesome. And then I know, like, for me, like habit stacking is huge. So I already have a habit of working out, walking water, all those things that I, you know, drill into your guys' heads every week. But then, like adding on to like habit stacking afterwards, when I am like stretching or something I will do, like you have the vibration plate, like that's something great to kind of do. After, like, I kind of have to lump them together. A lot of my lymphatic stuff I do at night when I'm doing my like my face wash routine. I guess why is everything a routine or a journey, I don't know, but I do kind of link all of like, kind of lump all that together. So I think it's just something that people are gonna. I remember thinking like, oh God, this is something else I'm gonna have to work into my day.

Speaker 3:

One more thing right. You can do little snippets through the day. Even when I'm driving, if I'm at a red light, I am bringing my attention to my breathing. Am I shoulder breathing or am I belly breathing? You have nothing else going on for those 30 seconds. Take a few minutes and breathe. And definitely a big thing that a lot of people are doing wrong, I would say they're not drinking water before coffee. And if I had to tell you to do one thing today, it's drink water before coffee, because your body's doing all of its detoxing at night and so if you just wake up immediately and go dump coffee on it like I don't want to say you undid everything, but you need water in there to kind of get your liver moving and get all that stuff flushing out.

Speaker 2:

Interesting. Yeah, that's a good. That's a good. That's a good takeaway. Also, tongue scraping. Have you heard of tongue scraping? Yes, I have. Do. I do that, yeah, do it it'll change your gut health forever.

Speaker 3:

I have done it, okay. So how? Tell me how? So you have the little stainless tool. You literally just you stick your tongue out and you scrape it and you're just gonna see. I mean it's kind of gross. You're gonna see some white coming off of it. But if you picture like you don't take that off and then you go start drinking your water, because you're gonna do your water before your coffee, you're just drinking all that bacteria right back down into your gut.

Speaker 2:

Okay that's gross. So question I? First of all, I am such a gagger, like I'm such a puker, so the thought of that is like I, um, but let's do, I'll do it. Like, if it's good, if you put it in a way like I need you to just say like yeah, basically you're drinking all that nasty shit on your tongue, like that's the first time you scrape, you're gonna be like I'm never not doing this again.

Speaker 2:

Right, I will be like yep, that's perfect, that's all I needed to hear. I remember when, like, basically, if you swallow, you're swallowing all that spit and all this stuff that was in your retainer and I'm just like, oh my God, that's disgusting. So it's the same thing, like you just told me. I was like you're tired of that. So, yeah, that makes sense. I thank you for that, just like. But they're really simple things. Obviously, tongue scraping you're going to do is whatever as soon as you wake up, and then you're going to drink your water and then you're going to drink your coffee. So, if you're already drinking coffee, you just need to backtrack a couple of steps to start doing something that's already healthy, and I can definitely. I think it'd be helpful to you. In the show notes, I'll list out a couple of things.

Speaker 3:

We'll talk about them. Things too, like don't wear a hair tie on your wrist overnight. You know that's a simple thing, but you think about that's cutting off your lymph and your blood all night long. So that wearing seamless underwear, that's a huge one too, because if you're wearing underwear that's too tight, it's cutting off at your groin, which is where there's a lot of lymph nodes, and right across your belly, where there's a lot of lymph nodes. So, like simple, if your underwear is too tight, all that lymph's not flowing. See.

Speaker 2:

Why do I always see this Like what's happening, God? Okay, so that leads me into a good question when are your lymph nodes? Like you just said, to a good question when are your lymph nodes?

Speaker 3:

Like you just said, like groin stomach where are, like, the places where, like your lymph there's a lot? So where are your lymph nodes? So, basically, anywhere that your body bends or folds, so elbow, armpit, behind the knees, in your groin, there's a lot in your gut, but then, like a third of your lymph nodes are from the neck up. So you've got six to 700 of them in your total body and most of them, you know, are in your head. So you figure, if that stuff's not draining, that's where you're getting the brain fog and the headaches and the migraines and all that. So that's why it really is important to do the face, because it's going to drain all from your head down to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's kind of what I had heard and like, so thank you for confirming. No, that's what I had heard. I do have a lot of like neck issues and just like, yeah, a lot of the stuff that you mentioned I did have. I don't have so much anymore since I'm doing it, or if I start to get certain brain fog or certain things, I'll think, well, when's the last time that you did your gua sha work or did, like you know, your massage work up there? So, yeah, that's definitely helpful, because I think that's just stuff, that it's so basic, but also people just don't know it. So I think this is really good stuff as far as just even knowing that, knowing that about your body, and then having those things at home that you can do on yourself for sure. Which gets into when should we not do? We talked about times to not do lymphatic drainage like people who should not do this. Who is it safe for? Who is it not safe for?

Speaker 3:

So it is pretty safe. The only time you really don't want to do it is if you're sick. If you have any kind of infection, please do not do any lymphatic. It will spread throughout your body. If you have any kind of heart failure, if you have kidney issues, definitely ask your doctor. But illness and cancer are really the two kind of big ones that you want to be careful of.

Speaker 2:

Okay, don't do it when you're sick, and then cancer is another big one, okay. And then are there certain times that it's best, obviously, like tongue scraping you talked about doing in the morning to get. Is there a better time to, like, do other things? Like, am I doing my gua sha at the wrong time of day, at night, on my face, because that's I just do it in the evening, because that's when I want to wind down? But is there a better time to be doing these things?

Speaker 3:

Not really no. So it all kind of comes down to personal preference. I don't like to dry brush at night because that does make me have to pee a lot because all that fluid so that's another thing when you are doing any kind of lymphatic, that fluid is going to come out through urine and sweat for the most part. So you know after a lymphatic drainage session, if you go somewhere and get it done like, you're going to be peeing a lot the rest of the day. So I don't do any kind of dry brushing at night because it will keep me up all night long. So more of the big like systemic stuff maybe do earlier in the day, but your gua sha at night is fine, okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I think it's really relaxing, so that's definitely just kind of what works for me. That's good.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and it's that parasympathetic. You know you want to get yourself to that parasympathetic state, so if that wash does it for you at night, that's great.

Speaker 2:

It does. There are times that I think about doing it in the morning and even just like some full body lymphatic, but just to kind of like start my day with that, because I do feel good after I do it, for sure like peachy red, and then I go to bed. But yeah, I didn't know if there were certain times that were better for that kind of stuff. So let's talk a little bit too about what tools are best. How, I guess, are there certain tools that are better for certain parts of lymphatic drainage? Who is okay to do it at home? Who should kind of search someone out to learn from? You know, who is it best to kind of go in for a massage versus doing something at home?

Speaker 3:

I mean, anyone can really do anything, and that's the beauty of it is, you find the things that you enjoy. So for me, I don't love to gua sha, don't gasp, but I don't love to gua sha, I would rather do. I have a lymphatic brush that I use on my face and I feel like that's easier, just because it doesn't take as long for me. So I don't need to use the oil and all that. Like the vibration plate is great. Love the vibration plate. I have my kids on that quite a bit too, because it helps their nervous systems calm down before bed. So we all kind of line up and do the vibe plate at night. It's fun.

Speaker 2:

Nice, the vibration plate. Let me say that for a second, since you're looking. A lot of people send me I think maybe we talked about this when we talked last time. A lot of people send me links to things and they're like is this good for, is this good, Is this good, Is this good? I send the vibration plate a lot for fat loss, weight loss, because it says it in the, you know, in the Amazon Good for X, Y and.

Speaker 3:

Z.

Speaker 2:

So let's talk about that for a second. Is it going to help you lose weight, is it not? What does it do for you If you're in a calorie deficit yes, if not, probably not.

Speaker 3:

Okay, perfect. It's a good way to get your lymph moving, for sure, but I don't think it's going to help you with fat loss. With cellulite, cellulite is such a tough beast. I mean, maybe yes, if you're super consistent with it and you're dry brushing and everything. But at some point we just have to accept that everyone has cellulite and just be okay with it.

Speaker 2:

Yes, absolutely agree with that. I know sometimes, especially on Amazon, it'll just have like this whole title underneath of what something helps with, you know, and it's like none of it even is true. So it's crazy. But it's like, will this help me lose weight? And I'm thinking, no, not just that. You know, if you don't change anything else and you just buy the vibration plate, I don't think that's actually what it's for. But it is good for other things and I do have clients that really like that, have them and really like them. But so, yeah, I've definitely wanted to get your thoughts on that. Did you have any other tools or anything at home, or do you? Basically, I know so your dry brushing and then your facial I forget what you just called that and then gua sha, and then castor oil.

Speaker 3:

I mean, castor oil is a good one too, and that's a very hands-off thing. You just put the oil over your liver, you put a pack on, and I like to wear it overnight, and that little bit of compression from that pack will actually help move lymph too, and then the castor oil is going to help with inflammation in your body. Okay.

Speaker 3:

So, I'd say that one Often, and the vibration. I also ooh an acupressure mat. Those are great too. They're like they have the. Have you seen those? They have the like spikes on them, yep, and so those are good too. We use those quite a bit.

Speaker 2:

Okay, that helps to stimulate your lymph as well, yep, the lymph and the nervous system.

Speaker 3:

So it's kind of a double whammy. That's a good one to use before bed, because that that will relax your muscles, bring some blood flow Okay, cool. But honestly, you were born with the best tool Using your hand. I mean, it's free and it's there and you have it. And the only thing people tend to go a little bit too heavy-handed when it comes to doing it themselves, and so that's the biggest thing I hear when I do a session on someone. They're like oh, I've been doing it way wrong, I've been pushing way too hard, gotcha, yeah, okay. So your lymph, your lymphatics, are right below your skin, so if you press down too hard, you're going to smash them and you're not going to do what you want to do.

Speaker 2:

Okay, do you need to go in this? Maybe? I know I've heard when you're dry brushing you need to go towards the lymph, so up toward your shoulder or up toward your armpit or, you know, toward your groin. Is there truth to that or does it not really matter? There is, yeah.

Speaker 3:

Order matters a whole bunch. So I actually have a good one for this. So picture you're on an airplane and you're sitting in the back of the plane and you're trying to drain your hand. If your hand is the back of the plane, like, you are not going to go anywhere until the front of the plane is cleared out. So you are going to work your upper arm first, and then in the elbow, and then the forearm and then the hand, and then you're going to bring it all up into the armpit, and so that part's right. Yeah, you definitely want to go towards those lymph nodes of that extremity, but you also want to go in a certain order as well.

Speaker 2:

Okay, gotcha Same thing with your leg then.

Speaker 3:

Yes, you'll do the thighs first, and then the calves, and then the feet, and then you know kind of bring it all back up.

Speaker 2:

Okay, that's a very good thank you for that analogy. I really like analogies. Yes, as I start to do it, then I'm like I don't know if this is even true that I need to go towards. It makes sense, obviously, but that is very helpful. Another analogy that we talked about before was honey versus water.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah. So that one has to do with hydration for sure. So you know, staying hydrated is super important. Picture your lymphatic vessel as a straw. If you're hydrated, your lymph is like water and it's just going to rush through. If you are dehydrated, drinking coffee before you drink your water, it's going to be like honey trying to slide through that and it's not going to go where it needs to. So that's another importance in drinking enough water.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Love that. I like things like that are like okay, don't want my body to have honey I need inside of myself.

Speaker 3:

You can just see it. You know how much more it would be if it's thick, if it's not running like it should.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Some things. Just I like those types of things, so I did. I definitely am like we need to talk on that too. Yes, and then, other than what we just talked about as far as, like, the order of you know, dry brushing or massaging things like that, is there anything that people do wrong? Other, like you also said, like the pressure I think those are two things that I have that have done wrong before Is there anything that, like, you can fuck up when you're doing this, or not necessarily?

Speaker 3:

I mean it just might not be as effective. But one thing I do see quite a bit is if you've had a C-section, you're going to want your lymph to move up towards the armpits. Anytime you have a scar, honestly it can be like a tummy tuck scar. You know, anywhere you have a scar that lymph is going to have to try to figure out how to move around it. So if you do have a C-section and it's horizontally cut, you're going to want your lip to go up instead of where normally it would drain, down, into the groin. So that's where seeing a professional will kind of help, because they can look at your body and tell you you know, certain things need to go certain directions.

Speaker 2:

Okay, good to know. I think that's good. I think even just going to a professional a couple of times is such a good idea, just to probably ask questions and like see how they do it, maybe feel what that amount of pressure feels like. And yeah, I think that's so good. I'm, I, yeah, I like all this.

Speaker 2:

It makes me just want to like take better care of myself, like it's a lot of times we spend so much time obviously on our physical appearance not that this doesn't help with that but and then we neglect things like our mobility, our flexibility, our internal organs, and then, you know, we're kind of wondering, like I'm doing, quote unquote all the things, and I'm still feeling bloated or I still feel, you know, I have all these aches and pains and it's really important to just not neglect the inner part of our body, which I think all of this kind of comes and I know my audience really appreciates this too because, like, we get into fitness because of the physical aspect and then we really learn the basics and then you want to just keep building and I think for me then maybe it was like this, for you Maybe it was the opposite, but for me, like adding on things like I have my workout routine down.

Speaker 2:

You know it's like what else can I do to kind of be healthier? This is one of those things that I that I kind of lean into and like to learn about and just kind of better myself from the inside out. So I think this was really really good information, thank you. Do you have anything else that you want to share that you had on your notes that you think is important, or have we kind of touched on all the basics? We did, I think one of the things.

Speaker 3:

Just how can you tell if your length is stagnant? Can you look at yourself and tell, yeah, you know, because we all to some degree probably have some stagnant length in there. But, like, look in the mirror. If you, there's a space between your trap and your collarbone, if that looks puffy and not kind of concave, you probably have a little bit of a length issue. If you take your pants off at the end of the day and there's lines and marks from your clothes, you probably have a little bit of a length issue. You know, and it's not probably not something severe, but definitely you need to give it a little bit of attention and start working your lymphatics.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah, that's good information. I definitely. It's one of those things that I don't even notice if mine's stagnant. I'm just like, well, I haven't done this in a while, so I'm going to go ahead and do it. But I need to get better about having, or kind of doing this stuff on my own. I think I might do a challenge inside of my fit club or something with this just to kind of get it going, yeah, and that'd be kind of fun. I mean, we do all kinds of other things in there, but I think just kind of coming back to this stuff would be fun and I think it all kind of learn together. Go off of this episode and think of different things, make sure we're doing it right, ask questions Maybe I'll pop you in there to answer.

Speaker 3:

I'm happy to help, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that would be so cool. Well, thank you so much. I really really appreciate it, all of your knowledge. Again, I'll put your Instagram massages and macros link in the show notes because I love it. It's very, very helpful for me. So everybody go check it out. And then, is there anywhere else other than that that people can find you or that you would even recommend for information? I can always drop that in there as well.

Speaker 3:

I mean, that's pretty much where I do most of my social media stuff, so check me out there. Perfect.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, thank you for jumping on and I will talk to you guys in the next episode. Thank you jumping on and I will talk to you guys in the next episode, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to today's show. Go ahead and leave a rating and a review and, of course, follow the podcast so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And I would love it so much if you came to connect with me over on Instagram at Christy Castillo Fit. I will see you next time.