IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK
DRY BRUSHING: FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR MAINTENANCE
What a great way to begin the day!
Dry-brushing is really exciting. Not only does it raise the heart rate through vigorous repeated movements, you may actually see its effects right away: dry skin floating in the air, blood rising to the surface of pinking freshly brushed skin, perhaps a bead of sweat of two from your purposeful efforts.
And the feeling? Well, in a word, invigorating!
Clearly, we don’t want to break the skin by overdoing it or using a brush with bristles that are too stiff and hard, but we are after the tingle. That connected feeling from touching all skin areas sending energy to our brains might be as stimulating as a morning coffee.
Invigorating
Embracing Self Care
Honestly, there are several dry-brushing directional techniques and I am confident you will find one that works best for you. I actually follow the Gharsana (read on) technique by combining long movements with circular movements at the joints and around my abdomen as it feels more intuitive to me. Either way, a good start is to follow a general directional approach by brushing in the direction of the arrows. Don’t forget your neck and the tops and bottoms of your feet and hands. There are so many important nerve endings there and we tend not to touch these areas this way. If you get lost, keep brushing toward the heart, even though the diagrams indicate brushing toward your navel around the waist.
If you get a brush with a handle, it will help to reach those difficult areas along your back. The sensations you may experience with this activity may actually feel quite foreign. Some areas of our bodies are not used to feeling the sensation of brush bristles on them, but keep at it and I hope you will realize changes that are positive and you’ll continue the practice.
Although there is no clear medical evidence that the practice boosts your immune system, reduces cellulite, or detoxifies the lymphatic system, when you see skin cells flying through the air, it’s safe to say that dry-brushing definitely exfoliates!
Try for a daily dry-brush before your morning shower or bath. It’s probably not a good idea to brush if you’ve been out in the sun for a bit or have any kind of rash and definitely not after shaving.
Brushing too hard isn’t the point.
Loving yourself is.
THE ART OF EXFOLIATION
Native Americans were known to use dried corncobs, Europeans preferred bristles, Ayurvedics donned raw silk gloves, and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners used a dried fruit sponge. But how did dry-brushing become a practice?
Every heard of a strigil? Well, take a look.
Photographer Unknown
Strigil, about A.D. 100, Bronze
21x11 cm (8 1/4x 4 5/16 in.), 56.AC.8
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California
This metal device was used by ancient Greeks and Romans to remove dirt, sweat, and oil before they bathed, and perhaps in some cases in lieu of bathing ... a kind of mini-scythe passing over body hair as if it were harvest wheat.
Pre-the-invention-of-soap, a strigil was used to clean the body taking a plunge. The process began by rubbing the body with oil, followed by exercise, and finishing with a good strigil scrape to scoop away the residue before a bath.
Yuck.
Public Domain
Vatican Apoxyomenos by Lysippus (copy by Carlo Freter), Hearst Castle
WHAT’S IN YOUR GYM BAG?
Bring your own strigils and oil.
Image from University of Washington, Honors Program in Rome
WRESTLER WORKOUTS
Although used by both men and women, male Greek and Roman athletes in particular kept a strigil in their ancient gym bags along with a flask or vase of olive oil and a sponge. The “gym” must have provided the powder? Read on.
Back then, Greek athletes exercised without clothing and to ward off the elements like cold weather and excessive sun exposure, they first coated themselves with oil, followed by a light dusting of powder. Of course, this latter adornment may have been to serve an aesthetic or some other act of social choice, but choosing powder seemed to lessen dirt and sand getting into and clogging one’s pores, surmising that ancient athletes— wrestlers, warriors, etc. had their fair share of rolling around on the ground. And get this, they sparred to rhythmic flute music in the background!
Beauty is as beauty does.
After the workout, the sweat-soaked and often blood-soaked oil and powder layer was scraped off with the strigil and the sponge was used to bathe.
Hey, Hippocrates was a fan.
If it was good enough for the Father of Medicine ...
ROMAN HEALTH CLUBS
Romans were known for their early afternoon social bathing practice. Resembling early health-spa-country clubs, Roman baths treated visitors to rooms of marbled, mirrored, and mosaic patterned walls with floors that were often warm to hot to the touch. Visitors would first apply their oil, them move from changing rooms to exercise areas where they’d walk, run, lift weights — women would roll a hoop, swim — accepted forms of light exercise.
After exercise, the strigil was used on the skin to remove the oil and any dust or dirt collected on top, then visitors would move freely from bathing rooms with varying temperatures, alternating in any order from the hot, warm, and cold rooms.
And not unlike our present day spas and health clubs, some Roman bath houses had fineries such as solariums, dry sauna-like sweat baths, and/or moist heat sweat baths, gardens, libraries, lecture halls, snack rooms, reading rooms, massage rooms, and finally rooms for anointing oil and perfume, the last step before returning home to a extended meal at dinnertime.
FROM METAL TO FIBER
Gharsana: Sanskrit: friction by rubbing
India’s Ayurveda calls dry massage, Gharsana, and many believe this is where the practice began only to have the French adapt the process as part of a spa-ritual. Gharsana can be performed by using natural fiber cloth, silk gloves, a soft sponge, or a dry-brush in a technique of its own. Circular strokes are used on the stomach, buttocks, and joints of appendages, the ankles and feet, hips, then using long strokes over the long bones. Stroking movement all lead upward toward the heart. Optionally, choose to repeat several cycles of alternating shower temperatures between hot and cold to stimulate blood circulation, but do shower after body-brushing.
Note: Do not perform Gharsana over the heart or breasts.
Image from mapi.com
Finland’s use of exfoliating brushing evolved from using sand, sticks, and rocks to the dry-brushing methods we see in use today.
Ancient Egyptians, who were self-maintenance motivated, used sour milk and wine with their dry-brushing activities.
The Chinese created their own brushes or loofahs from dried internal fibers of silk squash, often incorporating the ritual into the practice of their traditional medicine.
The Japanese, with their attention to bathing, have long incorporated dry brushing into their bathing and skin care rituals using loofahs and rough cloths. In a culture that honors cleansing the body before bathing, body-brushing preceded entering hot baths.
I’ve read that some Japanese prefer a palm fiber tawashi, which means a bundle, a small dark brown scrubber often used for wet rubbing and washing or cleaning vegetables and fruit. It’s a stiff brush and may not be right for everyone. Traditional Japanese brush makers are still at work today, handcrafting exquisite walnut handle brushes made with natural squirrel, goat, boar, or badger hair bristles that harken to the Edo period (1603-1867).
Tawashi from the late Edo period
Russians, Turks, and Scandinavians have all used dry-brushing in the art of exfoliation for centuries.
During the Medieval period, attention to self-maintenance was deemed sinful and the art of body-brushing was put away for a time.
Native American tribes used corncobs!
A corncob I collected from an Ojai corn maze. No, I don’t use this as a dry-brush.
Some contend that skin brushing made a comeback in North American in 1896, when a book, entitled, “The Possibility of Living 200 Years” made a splash after claiming three centenarians brushed their skin every day.
Whatever tool or technique you choose to exfoliate and stimulate your skin, rest assured there are some absolute truths:
CLEAN YOUR DRY BODY-BRUSH - GET OUT THAT TEA TREE OIL:
DO NOT SOAK THE BRUSH. Fan the bristles with your fingers or use a cloth to break free any skin residue. Wash the brush bristles periodically: for example, clean weekly if you use it daily. Tea Tree oil is a great antibacterial. You can spray the bristles with a tea tree oil and water solution, then dry the bristles facing down, or add a few drops to a Castile liquid soap, concentrating on dipping and washing the bristles in the solution, again, refrain from soaking the brush. Turn the brush over, bristles down to completely dry before its next use.
CAVEATS:
The liver is the largest detoxifier and waste eliminator in the body. Claims of skin-brushing reducing cellulite or lymphatic draining may be subjective.
Body brushing could put your skin at risk for inflammation or rashes.
Err on the side of practicing less is more rather than daily to find your comfort level and gauge your personal results from your dry-brushing practice.
WHAT’S TRUE:
Note the similarity and differences in brushing techniques from circular or straight strokes or a combination of both. You will find your way.
Always stroke toward the heart.
Use firm, but not extreme pressure.
Avoid the face, unless using a special face brush and limit to 1-2 very light and easy pressure face brushes per week. Do not brush face in combination with a peel or other facial treatment or procedures.
Avoid any cuts, broken skin, rashes, or open blemishes, or dry-brushing after shaving.
Stop if you experience any pain.
Use a natural bristle brush.
Keep the brush clean, sanitized, and dry. Use on dry skin only and not in the shower. (SEE CLEANING YOUR DRY BODY-BRUSH) There are other brushes that are sold for use in the shower. You may find a combination dry/wet brush, but trust me, pick your usage and keep it that way - either wet or dry. One word: bacteria.
Skin brushing will exfoliate.
WISHING YOU WELLNESS AND MORE
I am doing a personal approach to coaching via private online sessions, touching all aspects of a plan for each person for their well-being and physical health. Please visit my Functional Body Training page and if you’re interested in working together, please send me an email or use the contact form.
I will also do special online workouts for small groups of friends who enjoy exercising together.
I hope you enjoy your brushing experience!
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