Detox Foot Baths & Skin Brushing

If you are feeling unwell, fatigued, headachy or unfocused, try these home remedies.   

 

If you’re working outside the home, as many of us do, try these remedies but be mindful that these formulas are potent.  Reduce the frequency & the amount of ingredients until you've found what works best for you.

 

Give yourself a series of detox foot baths & brush your body twice a day with a natural loofah brush.  This method is called skin brushing. 

 

The aim of these remedies is to stimulate your body’s lymphatic system to push toxins through & out of your body. 

 

When doing these foot baths & skin brushing, be mindful that when toxins are circulated in your bodies, before their release of your body, you may feel even worse than before you started.  To avoid feeling poorly, DO NOT be overly aggressive with, particularly, the foot baths. 

"The rule of thumb" is that the sicker you are, the more toxins are in your body and awaiting release.  Therefore, be gentle.  Try a lighter version of the foot baths to start and increase the ingredients as the days & weeks continue.

For the foot bath, these are ingredients you can use, although you won’t need each of them in each bath:  hot water, Epsom salts, sea salts, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda.  You can also use bentonite clay, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar and raw ginger. 

Here’s how to start:

Skin Brushing

Before you shower, skin brush your entire body.  Do twice a day, morning & before bed.

 

Start at your feet and move upwards toward your heart. 

 

Include your back, arms, legs.  Do not skin brush your face. 

 

You should feel tingly as you’ve stimulated your lymphatic system and have increased your body’s circulation.  The lymphatic system’s role is to remove unwanted substances, toxins from the body. 

 

When we age, our muscle tone typically decreases.  It is the muscles that push the lymph (the fluid within the lymphatic system) through the body. 

 

As we age our ability to move lymph through our body, decreases.  Result is that toxins, unwanted substances remain unmoved from the body.  They stay in the body and cluster.  After a time they create blockages & ultimately illness. 

 

Skin brush in the morning & then once again before bedtime to stimulate your lymphatic system. 

 

Over time you should notice a difference in your body’s skin.  Cellulite may begin to disappear.  Your skin appears more vibrant, smoother.  You’re also removing dead skin cells allowing for new skin to appear providing a more youthful appearance to your skin.

 

Detox Foot Bath

If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, speak to your physician before giving yourself these baths.  You want to avoid over stimulating your heart.

In the evening, before bed and after skin brushing, try giving yourself a detox foot bath. 

 

Again, if you’re feeling particularly unwell, be gentle with the amount of ingredients you use.  I recommend using 1 cup of Epsom salts for every 60 lbs of weight.  So if you are 120 lbs, use 2 cups.  However, if you’re very ill, or worn out, try only ½ cup or 1 cup of Epsom salts.  

 

The weaker you are, the more toxins are likely in your body.  When they begin to circulate from doing skin brushing & these baths, you'll feel very ill and may give up before you've had benefit. 

This is a formula I recommend:

Basin of hot water (no more than 98 degrees).

About 2 cups of Epsom salts (for a person 120 pounds).  If you feel very healthy and want to aggressively clean out your lymphatic system, double this amount.  So instead of 2 cups, try 3-4 cups of Epsom salts. 

About 2 cups of hydrogen peroxide.  When wanting a thorough cleanse, add an additional 2 cups.  Try to use the therapeutic grade found in natural health stores.   Hydrogen peroxide stimulates oxygen in the blood providing you a greater sense of ‘aliveness’ & calming to your nervous system.

About 1 cup of baking soda.  As with hydrogen peroxide, natural health stores carry a grade that is without any additives that are not supportive of good health. 

 

Baking soda in the foot bath relieves itching & skin irritation.  This is critical for you if you’ve been experiencing allergic reactions due to food intolerances or toxin buildup in the body.

As an addition, you can also add some raw, grated ginger, about a tablespoon.  It stimulates the body to increase blood flow. 

Many detox foot baths also call for addition of essential oils.  As they are highly potent, you may wish to experiment first which ones trigger release of toxins and give you a greater sense of calm.  I’ll talk at length about essential oils at a later date.

Best time to give yourself a detox foot bath is before bed. 

 

Give yourself a skin brush treatment, first, then soak in the foot bath for about 20 minutes. 

 

The truth though is that by 20 minutes, the bath will no longer be hot.  I prefer to soak in the steaming bath for several minutes and then let my feet relax even further in the warm water for another 10-15 minutes.  I read a book, listen to music.  Sometimes, I sit at my laptop and blog while I soak my feet.  Whatever works for you.

You’ll find your body heating up during the foot bath. 

 

For great health, you should be drinking upwards of 8 glasses of purified, non-chlorinated water everyday.  When you do a foot bath, add an additional 1 to 2 glasses of water daily, depending on your height and weight.  The taller you are, the heavier you, the more water you will need.

After the foot bath, do not rub your feet aggressively dry.  Instead pat them dry.  Your feet pores are open and are now actively releasing toxins.  Allow them to release so patting dry will least interfere with your pores.

 

At this point, you may also wish to stimulate your internal organs by pressing specific reflexology trigger points.  As with essential oils, I'll be discussing reflexology at length at a later date. 

 

In the meantime, if you're eager to try reflexology, google the topic as there is an ocean of knowledge available online to get you started.

 

If you feel nauseous or headachy after your foot bath, place your feet in cool water.  This slows down the detoxification from your body.  I'd also suggest going to bed as you may not feel up to doing anything else.

Give yourself a foot bath every night or at least twice a week until your energy has increased, your focus has improved and your overall health is better.  Consider this a therapy to heal yourself of poor health.   A period of three to six weeks should clear up a number of health issues.

 

However, I also advise that you try giving yourself detox foot baths at least once or twice a week on an ongoing basis to maintain good health.

 

Skin brushing can be done everyday twice a day on an ongoing, non stop basis. 

While your detoxing, eat fruits, vegetables, lots of purified water, organic chicken and fish.  Eat whole foods.  

Supplement your diet with vitamin & minerals & good fats.  When you exercise, do so gently as your body needs it’s strength to detoxify. 

Other than increasing your energy & focus, you will likely begin to see other ailments reduce or eliminate such as yeast infections, inflammation in joints, headaches, weary eyes. 

 

During the heaviest part of the detoxification process, your tongue will likely have a thick white coat or even a coat with a yellowish tinge.  Scrape off this coat as it’s simply unwanted substances coming out of your body.

When you go for walks when you detoxify, you may find yourself sweating more than normal and your sweat may take on different odours.  Again, allow what’s been built up in your body to leave.

 

Detox foot baths & skin brushing is inexpensive, simple & quick to do & non invasive to your body.  Moreover, the benefits, as I've pointed out, are critical to your overall health & well being.