Friday Favorite: Dry Brushing

Why do we start good habits and let them slide? There’s no truth in the 21 days/31 days/3 months to make a habit bunk. I think we can all recall a diet, morning workout routine, plan to make our bed, or drink lots of water that went by the wayside. For me, it was dry brushing. And if you read this post about dry brushing from 2014, it went by the wayside for me TWICE!

Well I’m back, baby, and I wonder why I ever fell off the dry brushing bandwagon. I’ve been dry brushing almost every morning since February and the change is DRAMATIC. Yes, I am using dramatic words like DRAMATIC in all caps, it’s that uber of a change.

Such a DRAMATIC change that I just pet my arm while typing this and it’s all silky smooth and this morning I was running mega late and didn’t put on moisturizer after my shower AND I used some crappy drugstore shower gel full of drying chemicals because I’m out of my good stuff and trying to clear out the linen closet.

So DRAMATIC that I have been able to cut down my caffeine intake in the morning thanks to it and Hanah One. I now have half a cup of coffee, and some mornings go without any at all!

So DRAMATIC that all the icky little tiny bumps on my triceps that look like zits or bug bites are GONE.

See? Isn’t that some DRAMATIC shizz that deserves a DRAMATIC WORD IN ALL CAPS?

The best part? It doesn’t cost a zillion dollars, it isn’t found only in New York City, and it’s gluten free, vegan, soy free, and calorie free!

You can read my post here for the deets. I haven’t re-read the book that I mentioned in that post, I remember most of it. I am still using the same brush, though it’s getting soft from use and washing and I think it’s time for a replacement. But I have a habit of how I brush:

• I start with my right arm (it still gets babied more than my left even though it’s completely healed and happy), and brush the top of my hand and then strokes all over my forearm up to my elbow
• Scrub the heck out of the elbow, then strokes all over my upper arm even into my armpit and up my shoulder to neck
  Then the left arm
• Then I stroke from nape and ears and chin down my neck to collarbone
• Then I do swirls from the center of my chest across the top of my breasts towards each armpit
• Then I lift up the breasts (because gravity y’all) and swipe the bottom of them down to mid-torso
• Then I lift up the tummy (because babies and gravity y’all) and swipe up
• Then I brush my abdomen counter-clockwise
• Then I do my left leg, same concept as my arms. Top of feet and up to knees, scrub the knees
• Then the thigh, and a good scrubbing of the butt cheeks
• Then I use the long handle to swipe up from hips to armpits, and try to get as much of my back and shoulders as possible.

Some people brush the bottoms of their feet and hands, some do the face (which I have done before but now just do with my Clarisonic, there’s a lot of different methods but the main goal is to brush towards your heart. It helps with circulation, it exfoliates, makes the skin glow, gives you a bit of a pick-me-up (hence the reduced coffee) and only takes a couple minutes. Some say it helps reduce cellulite… I haven't really noticed this myself but I'm also not really looking (even supermodels have cellulite).  It may tickle or hurt at first if you use a brush like mine, it’s okay when you start to be extremely gentle, you’ll get comfortable with it and may end up like me where you look forward to scrubbing the heck out of your elbows. Karl’s doing it too, and has seen a benefit in how his skin looks and feels. We’re reminding one another, and hopefully we’ll keep this habit up. Third time’s a charm?