IT STARTS WITHIN
The Nervous System-Lymphatic System Link No One Explains
Girlllll, its 2026! How are we there?
Where did 2025 go?
When you look back at 2025 what growth do you see?
Did you shine as bright as you wanted to?
Did you hit the business goals you set for yourself?
Did you focus on being more present and stick with it?
Did you see growth in ways you never expected?
Did you take the time to actually see and find the growth?
Take this time to look back on your pictures in every month, get rid of pics you don’t need and look back on the goodness you had.
The new year always brings us to new challenges we want to present to ourselves but it also leads us to seeing more online and only getting little bits of info that really seem awesome but because of how reels are making them NEED to be shorter, (because it has been shown that attention spans have decreased) because shorter means more people will watch more likely, but shorter also means vital info could be missed.
I don’t want you to miss that.
Lets make 2026 the year of learning.
The year to celebrate the body and giving it more.
Lets face it, if you can feed a pet, you can feed yourself better than you are. (Physically, spiritually and mentally)
I wanted this blog entry to be more like a beginner tool to more. The foundation to more. And that is the in depth guide to the nervous system and lymphatic system.
NERVOUS SYSTEM – THE BOSS MESSENGER – tells your body when to move to rest to be safe or not.
When the body feels “I’m safe, calm” it relaxes- If your body feels “watch out” or “RUN” it literally forces a running feeling no matter if you’re running or not.
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM – THE CLEAN UP CREW – PICKS UP THE TRASH (germs, waste, extra fluid) Helps keep it away so the body stays clean. This will help … Think of it as your own personal GARBAGE TRUCK … DRIVING AROUND YOUR BODY- doing all the dirty work.
SOOOOO… when one of these aren’t working right, the other one becomes affected. If one of them are affected how does it shut down your body?
They absolutely go hand in hand, and not in a vague “wellness” way, but in a very real physiological loop. The nervous system controls the rhythm that moves lymph. The lymphatic system has no pump and relies on, breathing patterns, muscle contraction and vessel tone.
The lymphatic system has no pump. It relies on:
• Breathing patterns
• Muscle contraction
• Vessel tone
All are regulated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
Parasympathetic (rest & digest) → lymph flows smoothly and the sympathetic (fight or flight) → lymph stagnates
If your nervous system is stuck in stress, your lymph literally slows down.
Lymph congestion feeds back into nervous system stress. When lymph isn’t moving well Inflammatory waste builds up, immune signaling increase, and toxins back up in the body since the body can’t regulate and restore like it needs to (that garbage truck just isn’t working right). Your brain reads this as internal danger, keeping the nervous system on high alert.
Stuck lymph = stuck stress = sympathetic system lights on
NOW THE VAGUS NERVE ENTERS THE CHAT
The vagus nerve is a shared highway. It regulates alongside the major lymphatic vessels, regulates immune response and influences the gut lymph. Stimulating the vagus nerve (slow breathing, gurgling, humming, gentle neck work) improves lymph movement and vice versa.
People with chronic stress, trauma history and well….Perfectionism get stuck here. They often have, tight neck, jaw, shoulders, heavy brow, shallow breathing and… you guessed it, SLUGGISH LYMPH DRAINAGE. This is the body bracing. Lymph and nerves both respond by slowing or constricting.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE START THE MORNING LOW AND SLOW AND NOT TOO HOT TOO FAST. If you’re trying to rid your body of that inflammation, get the “garbage truck” moving right- we need to start specifically and this is the part I feel that social media does NOT bring enough attention to. People are trying to sell the look, the esthetics of the vibration plates or the special drinks and they are skipping this.
IF your body is overworked right now with anything like listed above. IF you go in too fast or massage too aggressively hot out the gates, then hard pressure, intense workouts, extreme cold (like cold plunges) can spike the nervous system which can temporarily worsen lymph congestion.
That’s why gentle, rhythmic, soothing things (i.e rocking, breath, vibration, light massage) works best — it calms nerves and moves lymph.
*You can’t fully support lymph flow without regulating the nervous system first. And you can’t calm the nervous system if inflammation and lymph congestion are unresolved. They are a two-way conversation, not separate systems.
First things first, lets focus on the lymphatic system AND have it impact the Nervous System at the same time, how are we going to do that?
When you’re trying to wake up the lymphatic system what should be the first thing you do?
Start here (most important step):
Deep diaphragmatic breathing
• 5–10 slow breaths ( inhale 4 second- hold 2- exhale 6-8 seconds – repeat)
• Inhale through your nose, letting your belly expand
• Exhale fully through your mouth
This works because the lymphatic system has no pump like the heart — breathing is its
primary driver.
Then immediately add:
Light movement
• Gentle walking
• Rebounding (even just bouncing on your feet)
• Arm swings or shoulder rolls (this is what you see me do online)
Think soft and rhythmic, not intense. Turn on slow moving music, piano, zen, think slow.
After that, things like dry brushing, gua sha, lymphatic massage, vibration plates, or cold exposure work much better.
We are seeing so much online, I wanted something that can help tie it all in together for you, to make it make sense, but also make sure you’re protecting your body first and foremost.
Social media is great but we’ve got to get it to a place that makes the most sense, without cutting out the details.
If your morning is feeling stagnant, your body is feeling off, try these things to wake the body up first thing- remember its as simple as 2-5 minutes to just put your body first. No timely
event needed to see the body change for the good.
Xoxo – Joce
