Sandra Archibald, LMT CMLDT

12/22/2025

🌿 How to Start Looking After Your Lymphatic System

(The Simple, Gentle Way)

Your lymphatic system is one of the most important — yet most overlooked — systems in the body.

It plays a key role in:
• Detoxification
• Immune defence
• Fluid balance
• Inflammation control
• Tissue healing

When lymph flow becomes sluggish, many people start to experience symptoms such as puffiness, bloating, heaviness, fatigue, stiffness, frequent infections, or chronic inflammation.

The good news?
Supporting your lymphatic system does not require extremes. It requires gentle, consistent daily care.

Let’s start with the basics 🌿

💧 1. Hydration: Support the Flow

Lymph fluid is largely made up of water. Without proper hydration, lymph becomes thick and slow-moving.

Simple tips:
• Sip water throughout the day (rather than drinking large amounts at once)
• Begin your morning with a glass of water
• Add lemon, cucumber, or a pinch of mineral salt if needed

Think of water as the river that allows lymph to flow.

🌬️ 2. Deep Breathing: Your Natural Lymph Pump

Unlike the cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system does not have a pump. It relies on movement and breathing.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing gently stimulates the thoracic duct, the body’s main lymphatic drainage pathway.

Try this:
• Inhale deeply through the nose, allowing the belly to expand
• Exhale slowly through the mouth
• Repeat for 5–10 breaths, 2–3 times per day

This also helps calm the nervous system — which directly supports lymph flow.

🚶‍♀️ 3. Gentle Movement Over Intensity

Lymph responds best to gentle, rhythmic movement.

Helpful options include:
• Walking
• Light stretching
• Yoga
• Gentle rebounding (if appropriate for your body)
• Arm swings and ankle circles

Consistency matters more than intensity.

🧴 4. Dry Brushing: Gentle Stimulation

Dry brushing stimulates superficial lymph vessels located just beneath the skin.

Important guidelines:
• Use a soft, natural brush
• Apply light pressure
• Brush toward the heart
• 2–5 minutes before showering

Redness or irritation means the pressure is too strong.

🥗 5. Reduce Inflammation Through Food

The lymphatic system transports immune cells, fats, metabolic waste, and toxins. Chronic inflammation slows lymphatic flow.

Focus on:
• Whole, unprocessed foods
• Plenty of vegetables
• Adequate protein
• Healthy fats in moderation
• Reducing refined sugar and ultra-processed foods

Perfection is not required — consistent support is.

😴 6. Rest and Sleep: Essential for Detox

Deep lymphatic and glymphatic (brain lymphatic) detoxification occurs during sleep.

Support this by:
• Prioritising sleep quality
• Creating a calming evening routine
• Reducing screen time before bed

Rest is not optional — it is therapeutic.

🤍 7. Kindness, Safety & Self-Compassion

Stress, rushing, and self-criticism increase nervous system tension and fascial restriction — both of which impair lymph flow.

Your lymphatic system responds best to:
• Safety
• Gentleness
• Consistency

Healing does not happen through force. It happens through care.

🌿 Final Thought

Looking after your lymphatic system is not about doing everything — it’s about doing a few things well, every day.

Think gentle.
Think consistent.
Your lymph will love you.

✍️ Written by

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

Medical 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.

12/22/2025

🌠MASSAGE 🌌
DECEMBER 23RD & 24TH AT NOON IS OPEN 👐🏻

12/18/2025

You are what you eat. Food affects your health and how you feel.
Eat as clean as possible. Here is a choice!

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather and this Saturday should be a nice one. This is the last Saturday before Christmas so stop and see Chris and Connie at the Pulaski County Farmers' Market. We have lots of great meat options for Christmas from prime rib roast to leg of lamb. See you all there!

12/14/2025

🕯️Mmmmm massage😌
massagebook.com/biz/sandra-archibald-lmt-cmldt

🤗🙏🤗

12/14/2025

🧊🫁 The Freeze State: The Nervous System Pattern That Blocks Lymphatic Flow

By Bianca Botha, CLT | RLD | MLDT & CDS – Lymphatica

Most women understand “fight or flight.”
Most have heard of “rest and digest.”
But very few know about the freeze state — a silent, protective nervous system pattern that can completely block lymphatic flow.

And here’s the truth:

So many women are living in freeze without knowing it.
Not because they did anything wrong, but because their nervous system has been overwhelmed for too long.

Let’s gently explore this state, why it happens, and how it affects your lymph, your energy, and your healing.

🧊 1. What Is the Freeze State?

The freeze state (also called dorsal vagal shutdown) is the body’s deepest protective response.

It happens when your system feels:

• overwhelmed
• unsafe
• exhausted
• unsupported
• emotionally flooded
• unable to fight OR run

Your body chooses stillness.
Your energy drops.
Your breath becomes shallow.
Your emotions go quiet.
Your body goes into conservation mode.

Freeze is not laziness.
Freeze is protection.

🌿 2. How Freeze Blocks Lymphatic Flow

Your lymphatic system relies on:

• breath
• movement
• muscle contraction
• warmth
• gentle pressure changes
• vagus nerve activation

But in freeze:

🧊 breath becomes shallow
🧊 movement decreases
🧊 muscles tighten
🧊 fascia becomes rigid
🧊 lymph slows
🧊 circulation drops

It becomes almost impossible for lymph to move — especially through the belly, ribs, neck and pelvis.

This creates:

• swelling
• bloating
• brain fog
• heaviness
• water retention
• chest tightness
• low energy
• morning puffiness

Your body isn’t malfunctioning.
It’s protecting you with everything it has.

🛑 3. Freeze Looks Like Fatigue, But It’s Not Just Tiredness

Freeze can feel like:

• “I have no energy.”
• “I can’t get started.”
• “My body feels heavy.”
• “I want to move but I can’t.”
• “Everything feels overwhelming.”
• “I feel disconnected.”
• “Even small tasks feel huge.”

This is your nervous system going into low-power mode — the way a phone dims its screen to save battery.

🫁 4. Breathing Patterns Change in Freeze

Deep breathing stops.
The diaphragm barely moves.
Chest breathing takes over.

This is one of the biggest lymphatic blockages women experience.

Shallow breath → tight ribs → stuck diaphragm → slow lymph → swelling + bloating.

Freeze is a full-body experience.

💔 5. Emotional Symptoms That Feel Physical

In freeze, emotions become “muted,” but the body carries the weight.

You may feel:

• numbness
• emotional flatness
• difficulty crying
• inability to make decisions
• sense of detachment from yourself
• confusion
• feeling “shut down”

The lymph mirrors this emotional stillness through physical stagnation.

🌙 6. Why Women Enter Freeze More Than Men

Because women’s bodies are wired for:

• connection
• safety
• intuition
• emotional processing
• hormonal cycles

When those systems are overwhelmed, freeze becomes a common survival state.

Add caregiving, responsibility, overstimulation, emotional labour, and trauma…
and the freeze response becomes almost inevitable.

🌿 7. How to Gently Thaw the Freeze State

Freeze cannot be forced open.
It melts with gentleness.

Try:

• soft belly breathing
• warm foods + warm drinks
• slow walking
• gentle stretching
• opening the ribcage
• warm showers
• vagus nerve stimulation
• humming or singing
• placing a hand on your chest
• talking to someone safe
• slow-paced mornings
• avoiding cold foods during this time

Your body doesn’t need intensity — it needs safety.

When safety increases, freeze dissolves.
When freeze dissolves, lymph moves.
When lymph moves, life force returns.

💛 A Final Loving Truth

If you feel stuck, swollen, shut down or exhausted —
you are not broken.

You are not lazy.
You are not failing.
Your lymph is not weak.
Your nervous system is not “wrong.”

You are surviving something your body didn’t have capacity to process.

And your lymphatic system is simply reflecting that truth.

Healing begins the moment you stop fighting your body
and start listening to the stories your symptoms are telling.

Your freeze state is not the end —
it is a pause,
a protection,
a whisper for gentleness,
a call back to yourself. 🌿💛

Your thaw will come.
And your lymph will flow again.

Medical 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, lifestyle or health regimen.

12/14/2025

LADIES! 🙌🏻 TOMORROW 1-5pm, MON 15th @ 5, TUES 16th noon to 5pm. Text me: 512.627.8112 and/or get more information and book online: massagebook.com/biz/sandra-archibald-lmt-cmldt

12/07/2025

Your massage therapist has a lot of work AFTER the hands on portion.
😄