The Messenger
by Barbara Dodd
Question: Can Massaging the Lymphatics Increase Vitality and Give You A Better Quality Of Life?
Answer: You Bet It Can!
Movement is the Key. Many times I’ve called a friend to walk
with me or to go to the gym and exercise and the answer is almost always the same,
“I’m too tired”. Too tired doing what? More money is being spent on the
outer appearance to make us look good and feel good about ourselves and all the while
we’re weighing more and have more health problems than ever and almost all of us feel
worst than we ever did. Headaches are an accepted way of life. Will the day come when
diseases like cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy and AIDS become the
accepted or expected way of life? Movie goers, cable TV watchers, computer romances,
couch potatoes are what we’ve become. The less movement, the more congested our
lymphatic system becomes and the more toxic we get.
The movement of lymph throughout the body is caused by movement of muscles. Exercise and
exertion helps push the fluid from the body tissues throughout the lymphatic system.
Aside from not exercising, many of us don’t eat right nor do we have proper
elimination. Which brings me to the type of elimination that is more important than just
going to the bathroom once a day. It’s the elimination of toxins from the lymphatics.
Lymphatic congestion is the cause of many of our illnesses and most of us don’t know
what the lymphatics are or what they play in the over-all health of the body.
The Thymus And The Lymphatic System
You may be wondering what the thymus gland has to do with the health and maintenance of
the lymphatics. To understand the importance of the thymus gland to the body, we must
understand the system within which it functions. The lymphatic system is a vast network of
capillaries, thin vessels, lymph nodes and specialized organs. The function of the lymph
nodes is to cleanse and filter lymph as it travels from your tissues to your blood stream.
Cells inside the lymph nodes cleanse the lymph and destroy harmful bacteria, before
it re-enters your bloodstream.
The system contains a yellow, transparent fluid flowing within lymphatic vessels, several
structures and organs that contain lymphatic tissue, and bone marrow, the site of
lymphocyte (white blood cells) production. The system helps to protect and maintain the
fluid environment of the body by producing, filtering and transporting lymph and by
producing various blood cells.
Lymphatic Drainage
In 1970 I had the opportunity to meet a very special “messenger”, who came to me
with a very important message that would change the course of my life. She was a
massage therapist working with children who had degenerative
health problems, such as downs syndrome, mental retardation, rheumatoid
arthritis, cancer; problems that were serious and debilitating, problems that most people
think could not be helped with alternative methods. Her approach was lymphatic drainage
and nutrition. My family and I were already experiencing the benefits of good nutrition,
chiropractic and some bodywork therapies, but lymphatic drainage was something new to me.
This new approach to health care and the results that she claimed to be getting intrigued
me. We spent several days together with her teaching me all she had learned of
the lymphatic system and her method. Because I was already trained in
different types of bodywork, I was able to catch on fairly quickly to her lymphatic
drainage technique. After I mastered the technique, I set out to learn the workings of the
Circulatory system and the role the lymphatics play in the body. I’m going to try to
relate to you how the lymphatic system and lymphatic drainage play a key part in the
health of the body.
Circulatory System
First, the lymphatic system is related to four other body systems. It is closely
connected to the circulatory system by channels of capillaries.
1. The circulatory system is made up of two divisions: the cardiovascular system and the
lymphatic system. The circulatory system is responsible for the continuous and rapid
movement of materials to and from the cells. Your body contains a closed circulatory
system with several different parts: a fluid with cells, a pathway for the fluid, and a
pumping structure to move the fluid. The fluid medium is blood, the pathway is blood
vessels, and the pumping structure is your heart. The heart is the major organ in the
cardiovascular system and although it is under the control of the central nervous system,
its beat originates independently inside the heart. For its size (about 3/4 of a pound)
this little pump turns out an astonishing amount of work.
2. The lymphatic system absorbs fat from both the small and large intestines in the
digestive system. Digested foods are picked up from the digestive tract and carried
to tissues for storage or use.
3. The lymph is able to move due to the contractions of skeletal muscles. The lymphatic
system unlike the circulatory system which has the heart pumping to circulate fluid,
depends on movement (exercise or massage) to return the fluid to the venous system.
4. It interacts with the endocrine system for they both share an organ, the thymus gland.
Hormones are carried around the body to regulate and coordinate activities.
T Cells And The Immune System
One of the functions of the lymphatic system is to act as an immune system. The lymphatic
system is vital in the aid of the body’s defense system. The primary lymphatic organs
of the body are the thymus gland and bone marrow, as they are the sites of T (thymus) cell
and B (bone marrow) cell production. The thymus gland, spleen, lymph nodes, and tonsils
are all referred to as lymphatic tissue, that is the thymus produce antibodies,
lymphocytes (a certain type of white blood cell), and monocytes to fight off the bacteria
or infection. In addition to being a member of the lymphatic system, the thymus is also
considered the “power seat” of the immune system.
The thymus is a bi-lobed organ located behind the sternum and between the lungs. The
thymus gland is large in infants and slowly decreases in size with age until it is
replaced by fatty tissue, but continues to function maturing T cells throughout a
person’s life.
As the lymph is returned to the veins, it passes through a series of filters called lymph
nodes. Made of specialized tissues, the nodes remove and to some extent destroy impurities
such as carbon particles, cancer cells, dead blood cells and pathogenic organisms. Here
certain undesirable particles are taken out of circulation.
These undesirable particles were responsible for many of my earlier illnesses. In 1970, I
was diagnosed with a stage four cancer of the uterus. My doctor advised me to admit myself
to the hospital for surgical removal of the uterus. He suspected that the cancer had
spread to the breast and suggested that I have a biopsy.
I was a young mother of four children and desperately wanted to live to see them
graduate, dance at their wedding and play with my future grandchildren. I made the
decision that this abnormal situation that was taking place in my body was not going to
prevent me from living a healthy life present or future.
My mother says that God never sends you more than you can handle, well this time I
wasn’t too sure about that. She also says that, he (God) sends people into your life
with messages that will help you in your time of need. I tend to think she is right!
Thanks to the messenger who brought me the lymphatic drainage technique, fasting, proper
nutrition, and lots of prayer, I have been restored completely.
I would like to believe that today, I am the messenger, by teaching those in need
through my workshops in
lymphatic drainage, nutrition and full body reflexology. And as the students learn, they
in turn become the messengers. Its been twenty eight years since my encounter with
my messenger who taught me lymphatic drainage and my experience with my enemy the big
“C” (cancer), neither one of them have I ever seen again. Needless to say, I did
not return to have the surgery, chemotherapy or radiation and am still here to write about
it. My thoughts are that disease is man made by man, stemming from greed, only to
destroy man. I would like to start teaching children as well as adults about the
importance of alternative health care. Just take a walk down the isles of any drugstore
and notice the multitudes of chemicals given to children today. No wonder their little
bodies are so toxic and their lymphatics are so congested. Not only is it the medications,
their eating habits contribute also.
For the past twenty somewhat years, I’ve owned and operated alternative
wellness centers in Louisiana and California. The message to teach people the answer to a
healthy immune system lives on every day of my life. The technique that my messenger
taught me has proven to be an invaluable one, even to the depth of saving my life. In
return I have dedicated my life to sharing my gifted technique of lymphatic drainage
to all who would be willing to learn.
Hopefully, I as the messenger who gives this message will help you broaden your horizon as
it did mine so many years ago. I challenge you to take charge of your own wellness and the
wellness of your family. I will be teaching seminars in the Houston area from time to
time, please come by and introduce yourself to me. Who knows, you may be the next
messenger.
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