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Your Guide To Supporting Drainage
Drainage Defined
Drainage// The body's way of removing waste, toxins and pathogens through a series of pathways. This is the unique system that allows our bodies to naturally detoxify on their own.
But what about detox? Isn't it the same? Well- kind of but technically speaking no. Here's a comparison....
Drainage – The pathway through which unwanted substances leave the body.
Detox – Removing toxins and offending agents out on a cellular level.
It’s imperative that we support the body’s natural detox pathways. We live in a world inundated by toxins. From the phthalates in our products, the glyphosate that is heavily sprayed onto our food, and the exhaust from cars we breathe regularly we are constantly bombarded with chemicals. Our bodies each have a built in “bucket” in which our body naturally drains through drainage and detoxification. The problem doesn’t lie in our body’s ability but more so with the sheer amount of toxins we bathe in, breathe in, and are exposed to all the time. Once our “bucket” fills up it begins to spill over and the effects will manifest through disease, cancer, lowered immunity and more.
Drainage and detox are two different things. Our drainage pathways are how our body eliminates unwanted substances whereas detox is pulling toxins out of the body. There is intentional detoxing with any protocol, but all efforts will be stifled and in fact make you worse off if you don't first open and optimize your drainage pathways. These basic of foundational health are often overlooked by many and leave individuals often spinning their wheels not making any forward progress in healing.
These drainage pathways include
Skin (sweating)
Kidneys (urination)
Colon (bowel movements)
Lymph (movement)
Liver & Gallbladder
Lungs
The Drainage Funnel
Ask These Questions Of Yourself:
Are you having 2-3 bowel movements per day?
When you urinate is it mostly clear (ideal)?
Is your digestion calm (no bloating, gas, nausea, or undigested food in bowels?)
Are you moving your body and working up a sweat (ideally every day)?
Are you sleeping 7-9 hours and waking feeling well rested?
Is your energy stabilized throughout the day without crashing and feeling tired or wired but tired at night?
Feeling calm with minimal stress or anxiety and balanced emotionally?
If you answered “No” to the questions above, you need to actively work on opening your drainage pathways with foundational approaches to health before parasite cleansing ( a follow up I always recommend. You can learn more about parasites and the need to cleanse them here.
PS. More about this in my Foundations Of Health Guide when you sign up for my emails on my website.
Nutrition To Support Drainage Pathways
Consume fiber and antioxidant rich foods – Enjoy a wide variety of colorful, plant-based whole foods. Increasing these in your diet will ensure microbiome diversity, prevents constipation, and provide the essential nutrients to prepare the body for detoxification
Drink plenty of purified water – Consume half your body weight (in ounces, a day). Add lemon, mint, or cucumber slices for variety. Add a pinch of Pink Himalayan sea salt or a few drops of minerals for mineral support and electrolytes.
Swap your regular coffee (acidic, spikes cortisol, & contaminated with mold), for reishi coffee (mold-free, pH balanced, modulates caffeine response in the body, improves immunity, detoxes the body & improves healing).
Please remember that you cannot supplement yourself to good health. Supplements are just that....to supplement what you are not getting from your diet. I want your diet to be one of your top priorities in your healing protocol as it’s foundational to opening your drainage pathways. There is only so much healing you can do without a good nutrient dense diet.
Tools For Supporting Drainage Pathways
Movement- Practice daily movement to move your lymph & sweat: Lifting weights, swimming, yoga, walking, stretching, rebounding & jumping rope
Castor oil packs – Improves digestion, cleanses the liver, reduces inflammation & pain Hot Epsom Salt Baths –Add in magnesium flakes, ginger slices or powdered ginger and drink a ginger tea in the bath (promotes sweating)
Reduce Stress- Meditate daily (Insight Timer app), listen to 528 Hz healing frequencies (Spotify playlist), deep breathing, journal & practice gratitude
Dry brushing – Use a brush with stiff bristles to brush your body in long strokes, upwards & towards your heart
Improve circadian rhythms – Maintain a consistent bedtime & wake time.
Get sunlight first thing in the morning & reduce screen time (ideally an hour before bed)
Lymphatic Massage, Gua sha & facial cupping – Promotes lymph drainage in the face & helps with facial tension + puffiness
Infrared Sauna –A far-infrared sauna warms and moves your lymphatic fluid causing it to flow more freely. Start with just a few minutes and build up your time slowly.
Drainage Pathways: Key Takeaways You Need To Know!
Each pathway is interconnected and relies on one other to properly drain and detox. Failure to support all the pathways can impede the body's ability to detoxify.
Stagnation breeds sickness! When toxins are unable to exit the body, they recirculate and be reabsorbed into the blood stream, liver, fat cells and tissues. This leads to stagnation! Overtime stagnation leads to chronic disease and symptoms of dysfunction.
Don't detox before addressing drainage! Ensure proper drainage pathways are open and functioning optimally before beginning to detox the body. Not supporting drainage can lead to very uncomfortable and avoidable detox reactions.
Use tools to support drainage pathways. With proper support for our drainage pathways we will prep the body to begin to detox as well.
Stefanie is a Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach, Bioenergetic Practitioner & Holistic Nutritionist who specializes in whole body detoxification, improving digestion, fatigue, autoimmunity, overcoming chronic illness, functional nutrition, Lyme Disease & mold illness and more.
She is available for one-on-one appointments to support you throughout your entire healing journey.
If you are interested in working with Stefanie reach out to learn more about how partnering with me can help you along your healing journey.
Want to learn more about my services and how I can help you? You can browse my website to learn more!
Together we thrive!