In this episode, we take a look at the underrated lymphatic system and why you should take these simple steps to stimulate your lymph nodes for overall wellness!
Happy New Year uterinekind! We have a lot of catching up to do. With what? Your body! People, especially those with uteruses, do not know enough about their bodies and it’s time we changed that. Think of this like taking care of plants: the more you know, the better you can take care of it and see it thrive! Today we look into one of our most underrated systems and the incredibly simple ways you can start supporting your own body in mere seconds!
Our lymphatic system is one we don’t hear much about. Since we live in the dark about this important part of ourselves, many of us are already facing the consequences of not taking care of our lymphatic system. With what is a secret hero to our bodies, our lymph nodes do so much and we need to support it right back! We’re going to go over why the lymphatic system is so vital for our well-being and the many tricks you can do to keep your lymphatic system in order!
Lastly, we end on a high note. A great reminder to never give up on your dreams!
Thanks for listening, learning, and being you. And join us back here every Tuesday for all things uterus, in service to you, uterinekind.
Carol: You're around at 24 7. You can't do anything without it yet. It's largely unknown. I'm Carol Johnson and this is Hello Uterus.
I am talking about your body, of course. And if your body is female, we've got a lot of catching up to do on understanding the body via research. In last week's episode, we heard Dr. Jennifer Garrison describe the current understanding of the female system as primitive a chilling assessment. Because of that, it's on us to prioritize understanding our systems and doing what we can to help them, especially if you're living with a chronic condition.
So to kick off the year, happy 2023. Everyone. We're going to dive into a system that most people don't know much about yet. It is arguably the most important system in our bodies, the lymph system. But first, Uterus in the news,
one of the two drugs used for medication. Abortion is now available in retail pharmacies for the first time. We're getting control back bit by bit, clawing. Thank you to everyone who is calling their congresspersons, their senators, organizing, supporting these efforts. We all know after having spent nearly a year with Roe v.
Wade repealed, how important this is. This is definitely a step forward. The challenge is equal access is still an issue as one will need a prescription from a doctor and the ability to access a certified retail pharmacy. Still each step like this is a. The Justice Department ruled that the US Postal Service can continue to deliver prescription abortion medication despite the repeal of.
Below the belt screening alert, get your tickets, $25. This is a special virtual screening and panel discussion with executive producer Rosario Dawson, director Shannon Cone and health experts from Cedar Cini Hospital in Los Angeles. Below the belt is the latest documentary from Shannon Cone, focused on endometriosis, the viewing window.
Will be for 72 hours from Saturday, January 21st to Monday, January 23rd, and the panel discussion will take place live on Monday, January 23rd at 8:00 PM Pacific time. You'll be sent a secure private screening link 24 to 48 hours before the screening date via email. Head to endo what.com. To register to get your screening ticket, Shannon Cohen was to be on Hello Uterus today.
So for those of you waiting to hear from her, it's been rescheduled for January 18th, and we'll get that episode live as soon as possible. In the meantime, support below the belt. Make sure you see it. This film is going to save lives in other news. . Remember that video that went around that was super polished and edited and flashy and had like a score and showed this arena with incubators for fetuses and it wasn't real.
We were all so relieved, right? , but apparently, , it's gonna be real. And it has all the hallmarks of a dude not thinking things through. It's like Uber, you know? No one at the initial table thought about the predator angle. It's so important. Diversity at the table is so important to build things proper.
Well, that's not happening at Acto Life. Design your bespoke, blast a site and check back in on a webcam as it grows in a pod hung on the wall, genetically engineer that muffin to perfection and nothing at all will go wrong. Right? Yeah, because it never goes wrong, right? Humans never do anything that goes wrong.
We never think this is a great idea, and it turns out to be like the worst idea. And I'm over here just wondering if we can get like 20 bucks for fibroid research and this dude is probably gonna get several hundred million to start his human farm. It's mind boggling how screwed up our priorities are.
like the idea of eliminating genetically inherited diseases is fabulous and I love the the measured approach that research and science is taking on developing tools that allow us to better understand the body. Remember the female system primitive understanding. We need to give science the opportunity to catch up before we start picking hair color and height, which is creepy and gross.
I. . I cannot give space for people to do that. I like. I try to give people space to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt other people. But please don't do this. We have to move beyond our external physical appearance and get real about what's on the inside. You know that saying, it's what's on the inside that counts.
Like if you are nice and kind and loving, that's what matters most. Well, it's definitely what matters. But most, I don't know. I think it's more like the systems that are on the inside of the body are what count and what matters most. So let's turn inward, we'll be right back with a super important lesson on all things lymph.
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Skin, body, sun, and hair care. Take a look at their selection. 15% on your first purchase from their beauty store or on your first subscription with the code Uterine Kind checkout visit beauty heroes.com. That's beauty a dash h e r o e s.com. Thank you. Now let's get back to the show.
Carol: I have a theory. If we understand how our bodies', various systems work, it becomes easier to care for them in a way that best supports them like plants.
If you understand the right conditions for a plant, you can help it thrive. If you don't, you may expose it to too much light or water too infrequently, and the plant doesn't thrive. I first learned about the lymph system while getting a thermal breast. . This is not a replacement for mammograms, but I wanted to see what it was about and I'm super glad I did.
The appointment took about an hour, but the scan was just a few minutes. The balance of the time was spent educating me on the lymph system, and it had a major impact on the way I relate to my body. I found the more I understood about my body, the more I felt like a partner to a system that keeps me here on the.
The education motivated me to be a better partner. I'm hoping the same for you. So let's dive in. The lymph system is your body's vacuum cleaner and defense network fluid in our bodies contain lots of stuff discarded by cells and, and this is filtered by the lymph system, a full body network that connects lymph nodes or small kidney bean shaped organ.
Cells that help fight infections, make up your lymph nodes along with lymph tissue, and there are hundreds of these lymph nodes throughout your body. The most well-known places where you'll find lymph nodes are in your armpits neck and in the groin area, but with around 600 lymph nodes, they're, they're literally everywhere.
Lymph nodes, filter, lymph fluids also just simply called. Lymph is 96% water and also contains proteins, minerals, fats, nutrients, white blood cells, a, a special kind of white blood cell called a lymphocyte, which fights infection. It also contains damaged cells and cancer cells and bacteria and other viruses that that invade our system.
So obviously this is a really important system in the human. All hormones, nutrients, and waste products going to and from the cells must pass through the lymph system. And if the lymph system cannot remove the toxins properly, no hormone is going to work optimally and waste products will reenter the tissues and that's not good
Like you don't even have to really understand the lymph system to just know that that's not good when the lymph system is s lugg. Congestion or blockages in these pathways can cause swelling, cellulite, brain fog, weight gain, bloating, and generally put greater strain on the body's ability to detox and support healthy, balanced hormones.
And we know how important achieving a balanced state with regard to hormone. Is for optimal function of your body, but also to combat the chronic conditions that we talk about on this show all the time. Conditions like P C O S and fibroids and endometriosis and abnormal uterine bleeding. These conditions that are.
Hormonally dependent. They are exacerbated when the hormone system is out of balance. And the lymph system is one of the key sort of, well, as I said, like the, the, the vacuum cleaner for your body. So it, it helps clear out all of the noise, so to speak, and allow. Smooth circulation body wide of the various nutrients and hormones that we need in order to operate optimally.
Now it's interesting because while the heart is a pump that moves blood throughout the body, and, and we know how crucial this is, right? When the heart stops, the organs are in immediate danger, but with the lymph system, it doesn't have a pump. And, and that was a, a shocking revelation to me. You know, one, learning that this lymph system is so important in my body and it, it helps, you know, clean everything out, kind of like a pool filter.
but also that, that there is no pump, which means that it's not gonna operate on its own like the heart. I have to help it operate. and, and it seems weird, right? Our body is designed exquisitely, it, it all, the parts matter. They all communicate. It's this, it's this wild system that compared to any computer in the world, the human body, just in terms of its capabilities, dwarfs that of some smart computer or.
This body is wild. And so you would think like, well, that seems like a, a fail, right? Why wouldn't you have a pump for a system that is so important and there is no answer for that. But my thinking is that maybe it's because the body is designed to be in motion and movement requires breathing, and both breathing and movement.
are what? Pump the lymph system. So it is really important to understand that, that this system does not move on its own. So what, what are the ways in which we can help support our lymph system? One is to be aware of it, right? Big aha moment for me to learn that the lymph system exists first and foremost, and that it does not have a pump.
So I. , I need to be a proactive supporter of my limb system. So just awareness is amazing. Right? And then another great thing that you can do is, is called dry brushing, which is something that you can do every day. You can take a a brush, like a shower brush. , not a hairbrush. Um, nothing that's, you know, harsh on the skin and you just take the brush and, and lightly flick your skin.
Especially in the areas where these lymph node clusters are like your armpits and around your shoulders, and it, it's not like a random kind of thing. You wanna think about the lymph system as a system that drains into sort of a central. Area and you want to be able to perform this drive. Brushing along that system line, let's kind of like, think of it maybe like train tracks.
You wanna, you wanna go down the train tracks and work in, in a compatible way with the Lim limb system rather than working in the opposite way. So in order to do dry brushing, you need to find a reliable resource. and, and look at some tutorials about dry brushing, a reliable resource. Um, a tutorial on YouTube from a reliable resource would be somebody who's a nurse or a doctor that's talking about the way in which you can dry brush on a daily basis, and you'll get, you'll find plenty of support on YouTube and other places to.
It's also really crucial to drink water. We hear this all the time to hydrate, and I, I wonder why it doesn't stick, and I've had conversations with lots of different people about this and some of the things that they say like, it's really inconvenient, or I don't like having to go to the bathroom all the time.
And the reasons that they give highlight a really interesting disconnect. between the need to hydrate and what it does for the body, right? So the person who says, I hate the inconvenience of having to go to the bathroom all the time is like going to the bathroom. Urinating is a really healthy thing that we do that allows us to pass toxins out of our system.
So we have to change the way we look at. Things like going to the bathroom from an interruption in my day. It's a pain in the neck. I don't know where the bathroom is, can't find one. What have you Change the way that, that we're looking at that and instead look at it as, oh, my system's working. , right? And so water, when we ingest it and remember the, the lymph is 96% water.
It helps keep that fluid, fluid so that the lymph system doesn't become congested. And when it becomes congested, we might feel, um, swelling and tenderness in these areas where the lymph nodes. and one of the ways that you can help support your body to avoid that congestion is to make sure that you drink a lot of water.
So how much is a lot? It's recommended that you drink a half ounce of water per pound of body weight. Seriously, a half ounce of water per pound of body weight. That's just for normal daily activity. If you're working out and you're doing a lot of sweating, which is really good for your limb system, then you need to replenish the, the water that you're sweating out of your body, and you may need to drink more.
You don't wanna go crazy on water, you don't wanna overload your body, but you need to find that sweet spot that is, um, an amount of water that. In relationship to your body weight, which is another clue, right? Like when you hear that it's not just, you know, drink this amount of water, but drink the amount of water that is supportive for your body weight, that paints the picture of, okay, I'm gonna need a certain amount of water to filter through the size of my body.
And what works for one person isn't gonna work for another person if they have more body that needs to have fluid flushing. So a sluggish limb system needs fluid to keep it thinned and moving and water is the way to make that happen. Here's something that's fun. Bounce on your toes. I'm not kidding. I remember I went to a day long seminar on body movement and the first thing that we had to do was stand up and.
And wiggle our body. And I just, those things inside of a room with like a hundred people, you don't know. I just always feel so ridiculous doing it. I, well, I should say, I used to feel ridiculous doing it. I, I don't feel ridiculous doing that anymore. It actually makes you feel so. Refreshed and so alive.
It's not jumping up and down. You just gently bounce on your toes and while you're doing it, breathe deeply into your diaphragm. So use your abdomen. Let your gut hang out. My mom used to always tell me, hold in your stomach. Hold in your stomach. And I, as a result, I became like a shoulder breather where I would breathe like in my upper chest.
Only not good. We're gonna talk about breathing next. Bounce and while you're bouncing, breathe into your belly. So good for you. It's gonna make you feel so good and, and it, it's an instant pump for your lymph system. So now breathing, why is breathing important? Why is proper breathing important? When we breathe into our diaphragm, we expand our diaphragm and that presses on the organs that are in the abdominal cavity and the pelvic cav.
and that's how those organs get kind of massaged, you know, to, it stimulates them. And that that's that deep diaphragm breathing, which feels so good. And once you make it, once you, once you're aware if you are a shoulder or upper chest breather. So when you breathe in your shoulders raise. . Once you're aware of that, it becomes so much easier to not do it , so you recognize, oh, it's not just proper breathing is breathing into the diaphragm, but proper breathing enables the diaphragm to expand and massage and stimulate the organs and the systems that are in and around the diaphragm, and it serves as one of the main.
That you get your lymph system moving, so that's breathing. Now walking, just basic walking. You don't have to be jogging, you don't have to be running, just walking. Each time your foot hits the ground, it stimulates the lymph system. Another thing that's really cool is to go swimming, and you don't have to be a lap swimmer, like one of those graceful people that you know can, can just swim lap after lap after lap.
You can just get into the. and bounce around in it, the weight of the water on your body. Helps activate the limb system so you can get in the deep end and you can just do cross-country ski moves or you can, if you don't wanna be in the deep end, you can just get into a regular pool and with your feet on the bottom just bounce up and down.
So it's, it's non-impact, but it's the perfect impact for your limb system. Your lymph system doesn't need giant impact. . So you'll find that when they, when you, um, look up resources to learn about dry brushing, and I'm gonna tell you about a, a massage that you can do at home, you'll see that people are repetitive when they say, this is a gentle thing.
This is not, doesn't have to be aggressive. You're not manhandling yourself, you are just. Gently stimulating this very delicate system. So one of the things that I learned when I had a, a thermal scan of my breast tissue was that I, I can do this gentle massage. It's like kind of pumping the lymph nodes on a daily basis.
And I do it every time I'm in the. , I take the time to gently pump the lymph nodes in my armpits, and I follow a process like I indicated before, it's a, it's a step-by-step process where you follow the system itself so that you're working with it and not against it. So I go through this process every day.
Sometimes if I'm super sedentary and I'm, you know, at my desk all day, I'll, I'll do it more than once a day, or if my water intake is down. Decent bouncing, and while I'm bouncing, I'll do a little massage there. And every time I do it, I feel, and I mean like just this takes like 60 seconds and every time I feel like I'm being a good partner to my body, like it's a really feel good experience.
Now the thing with the massage that I mentioned as with the dry brushing, it's really important that you follow. The guidance of someone who is a, uh, let's say a physiologist or someone, a massage therapist who specializes in lymphatic drainage or follow a video from a respected resource online. And the reason why I keep harping on that is because, Again, you need to be able to visualize how the lymph system is working in your body so that when you are massaging it or doing your dry brushing, you're moving the fluids to a point.
Like think of it like a distribution center. You're moving it to a. Distribution center point of the lymph system so that the lymph system can take it and filter it and carry on with its duties. So that's the key, that it's not the, it's this, you know, specific way of massaging your body That's, Difficult to understand.
It's just seeing visually how the lymph system works and drains so that you can work with it and not against it. Super important, you know, like knowledge in general. is, is they say knowledge is power. I feel like knowledge about the systems that make up your body is powerful for maintaining health.
Every time you learn something new about your body. , it will change how you treat your body and how you engage with the systems in your body. When we understand how our bodies function, when it's not this big mystery, the steps we need to take to keep it functioning optimally are are way easier to put into practice.
The dots connect and it all makes sense. and then it becomes, it becomes effortless, like, truly effortless after a period of time when you think like, oh, I need to drink water, not because my mouth is dry, which is a sign of dehydration. And so yes, that is a sign that you should drink water, but I need to drink water on a regular basis because that's how my lymph system keeps viruses and diseases at bay.
And it's how it keeps my hormones in balance and it supports all the other SY systems in my body that, that's, that information inspires you to grab a bottle of water. You know, it's, it's being in tune with your body. That, that I believe really leads to giant leaps forward. in terms of health benefits and being deeply connected to it, deeply connected to your body, how it feels, how to move it, what is supportive to it.
And then really prioritizing over all else a partnership with the physical system that carries you through life. That to me is, is probably the most profound step that we can take as humans to keep ourselves healthy. Truly just getting in tune with your body and prioritizing learning how it works. Much like you would prioritize learning how.
something that you acquired works, you get a new smart home system. It's not effective if you don't know how to use it, right? So we take the time to learn how to use it so that it can be effective and it can do the job that we purchased it for. Same thing with our bodies and we just, you know, especially those who are female, we, we.
It's not that we take for granted our bodies, although I think to some degree we do just take for granted the fact that we have this human body, but we've also been conditioned to, to minimize our bodies and to view them. Perhaps from a lens that objectifies them or from a lens that diminishes their importance.
You know, there's a myriad of of ways. Our view of ourself is impacted by society and societal standards and the environment that we grow up in. and that's, that really has a, an impact on someone's ability to really take excellent care of themselves, right? Very hard to take care of something if you don't understand how it works.
And then once you understand how it works, it becomes so much easier to take care of. It becomes like second nature. So as we are inundated with new year messages on diet and exercise and high intensity training and CrossFit and all of this intense stuff, perhaps like me, you'll find that knowledge of the body's systems is all I need to be motivated to make really good lifestyle choices.
It makes those choices. , some of which I'm, I may not be really excited to make. It makes them make sense so it's not lose weight, it's move the body to pump the lymph system. It's not drink water to lose weight, it's drink water to keep the lymph fluid well, fluid and to avoid lymph congestion. So when you understand this system eliminates toxins that can build up and cause chronic or acute diseases, it gets.
Easier to drink enough water, you know, and to move, even if it's just bouncing on your toes for a few minutes. That in and of itself can get the system pumping and keep you healthy. It becomes really easy to bounce on your toes for a few minutes. . So in this new year, 2023, make a pact with your lymph system that you'll do what is needed to support its optimal function.
It is. It is something that you can start right now by working with the lymph system every day, doing these easy, easy things you're working with, with, let's call it a root system, like a system that is at the root of your health and your ultimate longevity. This is so different in my mind from saying like, you need to lose.
it's, it's getting beneath that. Yeah. Okay. That can be one way of looking at it, but what is the root issue here? Systems are out of balance and so what might those systems be? Lymph system. Endocrine system. Those are the two biggies. So what steps can I take to kind of keep 'em in balance? And again, awareness is the first step, right?
Which is almost effortless. Like just a little bit of learning, and that partnership is gonna deliver benefits to you immediately. It's not like you have to wait six weeks to look in the mirror or to feel like if your pants are looser or something. You will realize immediate physical benefits by getting that lymph system pumping efficiently because every second that it is working optimally.
It is removing toxins from your system, including endocrine disrupting chemicals that throw our system out of balance and that lead. Lots and lots of issues. So I hope that this information has been helpful and I look forward to talking about the limb system more and having people on the show to discuss, discuss it in more detail.
Cuz I think it's fascinating too. Like we talk at Uterine Kind a lot about becoming citizen scientists of our body and there is this thing that happens where you become sort of insatiably curious and you just wanna know more. The more you learn, the more you wanna. So we will definitely be focusing on this.
It's something that I've wanted to talk about for a long time and, and so we, we got a chance to sneak it in today. After a quick break, we are gonna come back with ending on a high note.
It's never too late. Literally, Stan Lee, the father of Marvel comics, didn't create his first superhero until he was nearly 40 years. When he published the Fantastic. Vera Wang. She didn't design her first dress until she was 40. And French artist Paul Saison was in his fifties when his work received recognition.
And now a 95 year old woman, Angela Alvarez, is the oldest person to be nominated and to win in the category of best new artist at the Latin Grammys 95 95. Like, I'm sitting here at 56 and thinking, oh God, what? Like where am I gonna live in retirement and what am I gonna do? And like, things are just gonna slow down.
And it's like, no, not at all. She's 95. She wrote a song, she won a Grammy for Best New Artist . It's just so fantastic. It's so amazing. It really, it makes me think that. is lifelong. Life is not, you know, from the age of 16 to 65 or from the age of, you know, one to 15 or life ends at 40, or life ends at menopause.
None of that is true. Life is lifelong. We get all the days. So like, Angela, follow your passions. and, and pursue your dreams, and, and I know that this can be so hard to do when you're dealing with excruciating pain and debilitating diseases, and you're feeling sort of shaky because you don't have the answers.
You need to feel better. . All I can say is that there are people that are working their tails off to make sure that we get more funding for research, and that more doctors are trained up in endometriosis and fibroids, and that that access to top notch physicians who are trained in minimally invasive surgical techniques is expanded and.
Lots of people working tirelessly to make that happen. So I don't wanna dismiss that because that, that is, that's why we're here, right? These conditions can knock us all on our tails. It's not always easy to hear, like, focus on your passion. You're like, my passion, my passion is for ripping out my uterus right now.
Right. , that's, you know, I get, I totally get that. Please don't rip out your uterus by the. So I guess the message is that life is lifelong, right? So no matter where you are at right now, no matter what decade of life you are in, You have more decades to go and there will be more research and we will get more answers, and we will demand gold standard treatments and diagnostics so that diseases can be diagnosed faster and, and be treated more quickly so that complications do not arise and that you get your life back and that you, your quality of life.
Is prioritized and it's also your quality of life is equal to the quality of life of every other human being, right? Your right to a good, healthy quality of life is equal. So all of that said, do find your passion. Do recognize it, even if you can't actually act on it right now. You deserve to have conversations with yourself about what it is that inspires you and motivates you and makes you feel good, and what you wanna spend your time here doing.
and then follow that. And just remember that, you know, like Angela Alvarez, you know, the, the, the thrill of succeeding at something, it can happen at any stage in life, doesn't matter the age. So if you're in your twenties and you're stressing because chronic conditions have you falling behind the goals that you set for yourself.
I know that that is depressing, but when I read stories about people like Angela, I see that it, it's the sort of the mindset that we have around, you know, what's supposed to happen when in life and how it's supposed to happen. And, and yeah, we do need to let go some dreams sometimes that really hurt. , but other dreams take their place.
And discovering passions can be one of the things that that really helps to lift people out of despair and depression. So as you begin this year, I hope that you find your passions and I hope you bounce on your toes and that you connect with your limb system. And maybe you too, at the age of 95, will do something thoroughly kick ass, like become the best new artist at the Latin Grammys.
I am just so happy for her. So I wanna thank Angel and Maryelle for producing the podcast and, uh, for being flexible as we did some shifting around this week to, to, um, take care of some schedule changes. It's looking like the launch date is January 10th for you by Uterine Kind. The team is working practically around the clock, making sure that it is ready for primetime.
It may move a day or two, but we're crossing the finish line and we're thrilled to introduce a tool designed for you that will help you become a citizen scientist of your own body and help improve your experience with chronic conditions and get you on the path to wellness without. Tune in next week for a discussion on hysterectomies with Dr.
Nisa Clark, an OB G Y N with a master's degree in public health. She's an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She's gonna come on and myth bust hysterectomies. And I will ask some burning questions about the long-term impact of removing an organ we don't fully understand. I have a feeling this is gonna be a wild podcast.
Dr. Clark is a delightful person, obviously ludicrously intelligent, and we are grateful that we get to have 45 minutes-ish of her time. and, uh, consider it like a free consultation. Every one of these podcasts where we have expert guests on, they're sharing their knowledge with us all, um, selflessly. And, and I'm grateful for it and I hope that the information that we bring to you each week is really positively impacting you.
Please follow us at Uterine Kind on Instagram. Definitely connect there. You can send any questions that you wanna have answered to Hello at hello uterus dot. And we'll get those answered for you. Thank you for spending time with us today and listening to Hello Uterus. Until next week, be well. Be cool, be kind.
Angel: The Hello Uterus podcast is for informational use only. The content here is not used to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please ask your physician about your health and call 9 1 1 if it's an emergency. And thank you uterine kind for listening.