Lymphatic System Wisdom: The Key to Optimal Health with Chelsey Jean

Sarah McLachlan: 0:03

Hey there, I'm Sarah McLachlan. Thanks for joining me on the Chaos to Calm podcast, a podcast designed for women over 40 who think that changing hormones might be messing with their mood, metabolism and energy and want to change that in a healthy, sustainable and permanent way. Each episode will explore topics related to health and wellness for women in their 40s, like what the heck is happening to your hormones, what to do about it with nutrition, lifestyle and stress management, and inspiring conversations with guests sharing their insights and tips on how to live your best life in your 40s and beyond. So if you're feeling like you're in the midst of a hormonal storm and don't want perimenopause to be horrific, then join me on Chaos to Calm, as I share with you how to make it to menopause without it wrecking your relationships and life.

Sarah McLachlan: 1:00

Welcome to this episode of Chaos to Calm podcast, where we're zeroing in on the lymphatic system, a total powerhouse that's underutilized, under-known about and just not mentioned enough, I don't think. I t's all about removing waste and fighting disease. I think that understanding your lymphatic system is absolutely key to optimizing your overall health and immunity. When you support and nourish and nurture its function to its best, it'll bring so many benefits, like weight loss, less hormonal problems, breast tenderness, cellulite and joint pain. Joining me today is Chelsey Jean, a naturopath and sports therapist and absolutely madly passionate lymphatic system expert. Welcome, Chelsey, to the Chaos to Calm podcast. Could you kick things off by sharing with us how you became so passionate about the lymphatic system?

Chelsey Jean: 1:54

Hi Sarah. Yeah, so happy to be here. The lymphatic system to me I didn't know hardly anything about it. Coming through my all of my age, you know, as a sporting captain in all different events and then learning all of everything that we did as a naturopath, I still didn't know much about it at all until I had my own business, seen my clients and then figuring it out that, hey, the reason that my clients are getting such a really good return on investment or success is because I was actually massaging them in a way as certain sequence that was unblocking this big, massive, you know, 15 litres of lymph that we all have. And just moving that fluid around. Was mind blowing to me that nobody else did it.

Chelsey Jean: 2:46

And I'm always one who's up for a challenge and I always find myself a little bit ahead of what everybody else is doing and it's like, okay, so I'm going to grab this and I'm going to learn everything that I can about it. And when I did jump into it, what I was learning, all of the traditional teachings wasn't the path that led me to that same situation. So the things that I was doing to get my results wasn't what other institutions were recommending to do, and I'm happy to take a challenge and I'm happy to. I think, as naturopaths, we want to get to the bottom of why and you know all the everything that's underlying. So, yeah, I just became wanting to know more and then seeing the results, seeing my clients change. Not doing too much like everything that I do with the lymphatic system is easy, everybody can do it, and I honestly thought well, it's. This is like the person who invented the sticky note, like this is it seems so obvious to you right.

Chelsey Jean: 3:55

Yeah.

Sarah McLachlan: 3:56

Yes.

Chelsey Jean: 3:57

I think that was the passion behind it was one finding something that was working. So all my clients getting great results to realizing. Oh my God, it's easy. But three, why don't we know about this?

Sarah McLachlan: 4:10

Yeah, and so when you studied naturopathy, massage was part of that. Is that right? Yeah, so you were doing massage therapy as well when I studied naturopathy. Massage is no longer part of it. So I feel like kind of miss that modality or miss the realizations like you've made there.

Chelsey Jean: 4:28

But I was a massage therapist three years before I started naturopathy.

Sarah McLachlan: 4:34

Okay, yeah, so you were ahead of the game there as well. So I know that well with my clients. Many of them don't know the lymphatic system when I start talking to them about it. So perhaps if you could just explain to the listeners, like a a, I'm going to have a brief overview, if that's possible, of the lymphatic system, what it is, what it does for us.

Chelsey Jean: 4:58

So unfortunately, most people have only heard about lymph when it comes to cancer or lymph nodes. It's the only place that the doctor will touch you is in that neck area to see if there's any swelling in your lymph nodes.

Chelsey Jean: 5:10

If your body's having this immune response, right, we don't realize that this massive system in our body and I like it how you say, from chaos to calm, because if you think of a chaotic train system that's running all through your body where it has to pick up and then deliver, pick up and deliver from all different parts throughout your body, the lymphatic system is, you know, three times the amount of blood that we have and it doesn't have a pump is this clear liquid that is all of ourselves are soaking in and what it does? It picks up different parasites and pathogens and viruses on one side of things, but on the other side of things it also moves your fat around. It's responsible for where you need to have fluid and where you don't need to have fluid in your body. So fluid control, moving around all of your different nutrients and then also immune, keeping us healthy. So when that system becomes chaotic and when that system becomes blocked so think of blocking it up like wearing a bra stops the flow, wearing tight undies stops the flow.

Chelsey Jean: 6:35

Having any abdominal surgery or any surgery at all where we're cutting into the skin through the body, is going to stop the flow of this lymph coming through. Now our body is so cool, it can send messages and fix things on the run. Fix things, fix things as it needs to do. But that lymphatic system is there to transport the new cells to where they need to be and also to get rid. So if you fall over and hurt your knee and cause a graze, the lymphatic system goes to that site, pulls away all the bruised and all the unwanted and damaged cells and then it brings all of the nutrition and all the repair to that site. So then we can heal and we can feel better.

Chelsey Jean: 7:23

So this lymphatic system just blows my mind on all of the different things that it does. The why we haven't heard about it is because there is not a pill that they can prescribe us to fix it, and cutting is what damages it. It's up to us to take control and unblock this system, encourage it to move better and be more efficient around our body so we can digest foods, we can move hormones, we can have more energy, we can recover after surgery better, we can recover after sports better, we can think clearer, because our brain has a lymphatic system that has to detox and get rid of all the junk. So if there's any of these blockages that stop in the lymphatic system, it's making your body be like a garbage disposal, a big garbage pit that the junk can't get out.

Sarah McLachlan: 8:27

Wow, it's such a big, does so much for us. Yeah.

Sarah McLachlan: 8:33

Yeah, that we don't really think about it at all. You know, even I remember when I studied I didn't learn that much about it. I didn't see the importance of it that I do now and clients that I work with. So we have the lymph nodes. You know that people most commonly know they're part of our lymphatic system, but we have lots of lymph nodes all around the body too, don't we? We might have heard about them in breast cancers or there as well, but there's some other lesser known heroes or parts of your lymphatic system too.

Chelsey Jean: 9:05

We have 300 lymph nodes in our gut.

Sarah McLachlan: 9:07

That's amazing, so amazing.

Chelsey Jean: 9:10

Yeah, and so those lymph nodes are there as the security points.

Chelsey Jean: 9:14

So in there is our T cells and our B cells that when the lymph fluid comes in, our immune system can go, yes, I can deal with that. And then if the T cells can't deal with it, then the B cells come in and say, yes, I can make something to deal with that and to get rid of that out of the body. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for our body to be able to respond, and that's people don't like that. People don't want to put their feet up on the couch for two to three days and let our body heal itself. It all has to be fast, fast motion. You know if we need to be supporting this system so much because it is so much under attack. Sarah, you would probably talk about a lot on your podcast all of the poisons and the toxins in the air and then in the water and in the food, our thoughts, the fears we're under. Our body has never been under attack by so many chemicals and it makes it really hard for us to get those chemicals out.

Sarah McLachlan: 10:30

Yeah, and so the lymphatic system is all part of that and it brings it up, or I should backtrack that you said it didn't have a pump, so it relies on us moving our body to pump it around yeah. Yeah, I love that. When we breathe, we're, like you know, doing stuff for our body in that way, and deep breathing is so good for that there too, but it's being pumped back up to our heart, yeah to our heart, and so, and from there it's going to the liver.

Chelsey Jean: 11:03

Yeah, liver, kidneys, it gets all moved around. We have to make sure that our five areas of detoxification are actually working the way that the toxins get out. So our bowels, you know, are working. People need to poo at least twice a day. We need to make sure that we sweat that, sweating our urine, our breath, because our breath is how we get rid of fat. This is the main way to get rid of fat out of our bodies through our breath. Am I missing one?

Sarah McLachlan: 11:39

Kidneys and kidneys. Yes, yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 11:41

Yes, yeah. So we have to make sure that all of those pathways are supported and working. So, when it comes to working on your lymphatic system, my easy two minute a day sequence is just like brushing your teeth. You do this every day. After day three you are going to notice a change and if you have bowels that are blocked up, if you don't drink water, if you are just laying on the couch and not moving your body you know through as much you might have some detoxification effects and you might get a headache, you might feel sinacy, you might I have people throw up, like after coming in and having a session, because we're shaking their body up, turning this, turning the switch and allowing these toxins to come out of their body in a way that we've never been shown how to do it before.

Sarah McLachlan: 12:44

And so I think that's really you know. So we're using the lymphatic system, or its design, to help us remove toxins from our body, but we've still, at the same time, got a larger amount than our bodies evolved or used to dealing with coming in there as well. I think a lot of people's minds might have just blown when you said that they need to use their bowels twice a day, because I know for many people, even once a day is a stretch. So that's really important as well. And, yeah, I always think it's like that's fundamental to get things moving, because otherwise, if we've got that blockage, everything backs up and that's why people might vomit or feel really unwell or get a headache. Especially, people do detoxes or cleanse or juice.

Sarah McLachlan: 13:32

It's spring when we're recording this. It's naturally that season. People are thinking about it, but they can feel really bad and then stop what you're suggesting we're doing. And I wanted to say as well, we'll put the link for your two minute sequence on the podcast show notes, because it's fantastic. I always refer all my clients to go look at Chelsea's sequence because she explains it so well and it does really make a difference, especially around your hormones and weight loss and things like that as well. Now I've totally forgotten my question. That's so caught up in that there and making sure that everyone knows that they can go and find that there as well. So what I was going to say was how would we know, though, if our lymphatic system is blocked up, what would be going on for someone?

Chelsey Jean: 14:22

Great question. So what we can see is headaches. We might see weight gain or holding fluid. Cellulite is a big one where you see toxins bloating in the belly, energy levels dropping quite a lot and not being able to do what you want to do in a day. Sick. Often A big one is sore boobs.

Chelsey Jean: 14:54

Sore boobs is when you feel your boobs and if there's lumps and bumps around your chest and in that area, that means that that tissue is blocking the flow of lymph getting through. So we always start at the boobs. We wear shirts that say start at the boobs. You have to massage your boobs first and it's just that area. It's like Tarzan beats his chest before he goes and saves Jane. It's unblocking that lymphatic point. If you don't start at the boobs, it's like having a massage, like massaging a tube of toothpaste with the lid still on. We have to take the lid off and then treat your body like it is a bottle of champagne.

Chelsey Jean: 15:43

So sore boobs is really a sign. I can tell if people wear the same undies each day, because there is a line and then I can see that their legs go up, up, up at their knees and they get to the inner thigh. Then there is this pouch that sits, because they wear the same like that bikini or that same undie like all of the time and that's blocking the lymphatic system from moving up and moving through. If so, soreness, pain, so people might have pain in their knees or swollen like inflammation throughout their knees because they're all stuck in their hips. So we move their hips around, we allow that flow to generate up and around and through their body. So there is nothing that cannot be related to the lymphatic system, nothing.

Sarah McLachlan: 16:41

I was thinking there because you're talking about sore boobs and a lot of women in early perimenopause will often have sore breasts. It's like one of the really early symptoms or signs that can come up there as well. So if you've got and other women, younger women, might have it more cyclically, like just before their period and there as well. So do you find with those clients like that, if they, once they start implementing the lymphatic brushing or your sequence that you teach, that goes away, or 100%, 100%, even using the, because my lymphatic cream has got a lot of castor oil in it and you know we're all.

Chelsey Jean: 17:24

everyone's talking about how amazing castor oil.

Sarah McLachlan: 17:27

I know it's all on the Instagram at the moment.

Chelsey Jean: 17:30

It's Barb o'neil and castor oil. But before I spoke to Barb I did have castor oil in. I've got castor oil in my lymphatic cream and massaging that into the breast tissue really does help relieve. When I teach this, Sarah, so I teach other practitioners to do what I do and we can have a client on the table and I can feel some lumps and bumps throughout their breast. By the third or the fourth person to feel it, those lumps and bumps have moved on and then the fifth person can't even feel those lumps and bumps there.

Sarah McLachlan: 18:06

So it responds quickly is what you're saying. So fast yeah. We all want good feedback from our bodies, like yesterday, don't we, when we do something that's really good. Now you mentioned we touched a little bit on how lymphatic system supports your immune work, and you were saying that someone would get sick a lot if they were a bit clogged up there as well. So is that that's because that the T cells, your B cells, like your soldiers for your immune system, are not being moved around to where they need to be? That?

Chelsey Jean: 18:42

Well, there's a backlog of if you've got all this lymph waiting to get into these lymph nodes and if those lymph nodes if they need to be supported by nutrients as well. So if those nutrients aren't getting into the nodes to be able to support the T cells and the B cells. So that's one thing, because the way that we move fat around and it's not just fat as in bum fat, cellulite fat, tummy fat, those things, it's all of our essential fatty acids and hormonally, we know how important vitamin D is. We've got coenzyme Q10. So all of these fat amazing nutrients need to be moved around via the lymphatic system. And if it is clogged and backed up, well then we're going to not be able to one heal our body anywhere near as fast because those nutrients can't get to where they need to be. Yeah, yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 19:47

And it's just saddens me that we're not taught this in school and we're not taught with we go oh yes, those lymph nodes are swollen. Okay, that's, it's identified. But what do we do now? How do we assist them a little bit more, and you know, it doesn't have to be too hard, even if your mobility, if you are bedridden, you can still beat your chest. Yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 20:12

Take a couple of nice deep breaths. You know, even if you use just one of those wobbly machines while you're laying down there, you can put your feet on them and they can wiggle and jiggle you while you're laying down in bed.

Sarah McLachlan: 20:28

Right.

Chelsey Jean: 20:29

Using the gloves on your body every day and we talk about from chaos to calm. Just feeling the spikes on the one side is enough to calm so many people down. It's just that brushing on your skin is really a calming effect and then rolling over with the magnetic balls is just something that you can do. Some self care, yeah, and some self, you know, looking after you and knowing that by supporting your lymphatic system, yes, the first couple of days, the first week, you may feel crappy, you, and probably will, and but then after that it's a just a really good parasympathetic system. You know calm down. You know treatment, that you can do, that Anybody can do. Babies, like for constipation in babies, just massaging through, doing their chest first, doing their belly, doing the belly with the gloves. We've got so many moms who say, oh, my God, thank you so much. My kids just love, my baby Just loves the gloves, and now they're pooing regularly. You know.

Sarah McLachlan: 21:46

Yeah, so part of the sequence that you teach is that you're massaging your tummy in the right direction to help with the movement of waste through your intestines and out there as well. I love the way when I do the brushing, the tingle or like that. I think you call it the fizz. Yep, I love how that feels as well. It is I don't know if it does, but it feels kind of like you get a bit of an endorphin or that feel good yes.

Sarah McLachlan: 22:13

So we've got the daily sequence, and also that it only takes a couple of minutes. It's super quick. You can fit it in no worries. Do you have any other? A couple of other simple, actionable tips that people can do to look after their lymphatic system.

Chelsey Jean: 22:30

Yeah, of course, the like, the one that everybody says we have to drink water. Yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 22:35

Right, we, everybody has to drink filtered water. I'm not a lover of tap water, any type of tap water. So, yeah, drinking filtered water, dance around, skip, move, flow, like. Let your body relax and move, because when you are stressed, your shoulders come up, everything gets tight, the muscles, you know there is no flow happening through your body. So, even if it is just like that breath every now and again, a couple of nice deep breaths, and just allow that beautiful flow to go through your body, there's that beating your chest, moving your neck, sleeping on your left hand side is really good to do because, with the how our body is broken up, for some reason and there's a couple of there's nothing being absolute with this, but there's a couple of reasons Our lymphatic system, the right hand side, from your ribs up and your right arm, drains to the right.

Chelsey Jean: 23:41

Both legs and your left arm drain to the left. So it's not a line down the middle where the left goes to the left and the right goes to the right. That's not how it works. So that's why most women will get breast cancer on the left hand side, because we've got that build up of toxins throughout the body struggling and making its way up to the left hand side. So when you're sleeping your glimphatic system has to drain to the left as well. So sleeping is going to all this basics.

Sarah McLachlan: 24:17

I was going to say all the basics, all the basics, but then it's so underrated.

Chelsey Jean: 24:22

Yeah, you need to sleep and you sleep on your left hand side. I think people like to get complicated because then when they fail, it can be oh well, I didn't hold one leg up in the air and one hand like this and balance it. I got a glass and I didn't have an eighth of an orange that matched my whatever apple. Yeah, no more excuses, people. I'm sorry, there is no excuses anymore.

Sarah McLachlan: 24:46

Yeah, and I think the thing, or often what happens, is because we are in such a fast paced 24 seven life, like society and lifestyle, that we think we don't have time or we can't do these things. But I'm always telling my clients, and you're probably similar to it there's all these small little daily habits that add up to looking after ourselves and caring for our bodies and then, unfortunately, the things that we've lost that connection with and or don't prioritize anymore. But it's not about grand gestures or big days out or going to retreat all lovely things to do and do like to do them myself but these daily actions are incredibly important and even if you just try them for three weeks, four weeks, to really consolidate that habit, one thing at a time, I think that's where people complicate it. I will try and change everything all at once, but if you just add that one habit in, do you brushing or you?

Chelsey Jean: 25:50

definitely routine.

Sarah McLachlan: 25:52

drink some more water, some filtered water, for sure.

Chelsey Jean: 25:55

Yeah, take your gloves with you. Just have a glove with you.

Sarah McLachlan: 26:00

Yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 26:04

And then you can just roll over like I can sit in the car. I've got a toothbrush in my car and that's how I brush. I do my glim fattighow when I brush my face, oh on your face. Yeah.

Sarah McLachlan: 26:15

Oh, I like that because I've been doing your so. Chelsea has on her website a video to show you, with your face, self massage.

Chelsey Jean: 26:22

So it's drying your brain, yeah.

Sarah McLachlan: 26:24

And it's really lovely, and every day when I wash my face, that's the order that I do it on, when I put my cream on, and I use the sponge that you have as well. So it's really lovely to do it. But a toothbrush would be so nice, just a soft, bristled one.

Chelsey Jean: 26:42

Yeah, it's a soft bristled brush and you just brush down your neck and then from your chin across to your ear on both sides, and then up to your eyes and then down, so you just sit with a toothbrush.

Sarah McLachlan: 26:55

Well, that sounds nice.

Chelsey Jean: 26:56

Yeah, I'll put that in my car. Yeah, so just take them on the plane with you, like if you're on flights. I even take mine to the pub, because if I'm going to have a couple of drinks, I want to move it through my limbs as much as I can. So I take my gloves with me everywhere.

Sarah McLachlan: 27:15

That's excellent. I'd love to see other people's faces when you pull out your glove in the pub. I know.

Chelsey Jean: 27:21

I know, but it's getting to the stage now, Sarah, where people are coming up and saying are you Chelsea?

Sarah McLachlan: 27:27

Yes.

Chelsey Jean: 27:28

And they're like oh, this is what happened to me, and then my sister's done this and my mum's done that, and now, like the success stories and the community that we're building is beautiful.

Sarah McLachlan: 27:40

Like.

Chelsey Jean: 27:40

I love it so much and that's bringing talking about the passion and the why is it's because of that.

Sarah McLachlan: 27:48

Yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 27:49

It's been able to make such a big difference with something so easy and having fun doing it.

Sarah McLachlan: 27:57

Talking about boobs and getting it, making it fun and easy and implementable. Yeah, it's even a word. I don't even know if that is, but anyway.

Chelsey Jean: 28:07

I love that word.

Sarah McLachlan: 28:08

Implementable. I would just make it a word now. So do you think that there's any myths or misconceptions around the lymphatic system that we need to debunk while we're here?

Chelsey Jean: 28:20

Yeah, that you can't have a lymphatic massage if you have cancer, that is, that there's going to spread cancer around your body and all of that. No, no, definitely not true. So even you can find that on the Cancer Council, australian Cancer Council website as well. You need to be able to help you build your immune system Like we've over the last three years. We've been, you know, attacked with so many things about our immune system and what's wrong with building it naturally. So let's unblock it from all of the toxins and grow it, give it our best arsenal straight to our lymphatic system and building our natural immunity. So because then when things viruses and things do turn up, when that virus comes up to the node and the body can say, hey, yeah, you know what, I can handle this because I've got backup.

Chelsey Jean: 29:21

Unfortunately, we are running on empty and you know, and a lot of fear, and we don't have that backup anymore. And that's something that I love to instill with my people is making sure, hey, you do have something in reserve for yourself, and that everything is in flows, is ups and downs. So some days and some weeks you are at it 24 seven. You have got shit to do, like you. There is no such thing as balance. Like you are at it, at it, at it, as long as that's followed by filling your cup back up again.

Sarah McLachlan: 30:02

Yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 30:03

Get it. Yep, that's okay, because you are never going to be able to work hard and play hard on the same, even like on the day. You can't be the perfect mum, the perfect cooker, the perfect exerciser, the perfect worker. Like go to church you can do all or it does not exist. It doesn't exist. Take note and accountability. If you find yourself slipping under that quarter of a tank, stop right there Now, grab it, do something about it there. Hmm.

Chelsey Jean: 30:39

Touch yourself before you hit the bottom is one of the biggest things that I want everybody to know that they can do.

Sarah McLachlan: 30:45

Yeah, I think that is really important because often we get, you know, so busy or carried away and with people forget to check in with themselves or do that body check, self check, what do I need right now? And then you know it's like if it was our phone battery to be flashing and be like less than 10%, maybe less, or just dead before we actually go Gosh. Yeah, I've let that happen again. So, yeah, I think it's so great to encourage people to have that self awareness and think about that check in and what do you need? What can I do right now to support myself, just like they would a friend, I think if we take responsibility for that yourself yourself.

Chelsey Jean: 31:33

But if you're not good at that, there is nothing wrong with asking a friend and say, hey, I've got a big month, a big week, a big day like or something, coming up. I'm not good at checking in on myself, you are. Can you just put these things into place prior and just check in, or just let me know if you think that I'm slipping? You know, bring me a glass of water. Yeah, you know some something.

Sarah McLachlan: 32:00

Yes.

Chelsey Jean: 32:02

Ask for help.

Sarah McLachlan: 32:03

Yeah, it's really important that. Yeah, and realizing the way that you work, like some people will work in that sort of ebb and flow, intense for a period of time and then rest and rebuild. I know that's me and I I I schedule a week off from clients every five or six weeks so that I can get some other stuff done, but just focus on that one thing and rebuild my batteries a bit. It's usually around the same week. I might have my monthly facial and massage and do the other bits and pieces that you know I do then, and I go hard at other times as well, yes, but still always doing my daily self care habits eating foods that work well for me, drinking my water, getting some safe sun exposure, doing my brushing and and massage, and yet going outside barefoot on the grass is something I'm loving at the moment as well. It's just really nice, so, yeah.

Sarah McLachlan: 33:02

So all that so important as well, I think, as, as we age, it's even more important because, you know, your immune system can start to fade as we get older. So let's support that with our by by our lymphatic system there as well. Our hormones can get chaotic in perimenopause, and so let's support, you know, proper metabolism and elimination of lymphatic system can help us with that as well. And you know, even for your skin you can get, you know just a bit saggy, congested.

Sarah McLachlan: 33:38

So many women come to me with acne or lots of blemishes Perimenopause there as well. So lymphatic system and that self massage with your toothbrush that you were talking about before Also really great there as well, I think. Is there anything that a lymphatic system wouldn't help with? I can't think of anything.

Chelsey Jean: 34:02

No, no. But honestly, even if it's just, you know, de-stressing, it's just beautiful to rub the gloves over your body. If we're helping move fluid, we're getting exfoliating skin. You know, with the spiky side as well, you can get into the muscles and give them a good rub too. Changing the fiber, changing the structure of the tissue underneath the skin. No, there is no harm that you can do to yourself when it comes to lymphatic health. And how exciting is that I know.

Sarah McLachlan: 34:43

it's just like there's just nothing to lose and everything to gain. Yeah, how good is that? So? Better energy, because you've got more, better oxygenation and more nutrients around your body so your cells can make more energy cells, your hormones, better movement there, yeah.

Chelsey Jean: 35:00

And if you're fat, we've had people report better hearing, better eyesight.

Sarah McLachlan: 35:05

Wow.

Chelsey Jean: 35:06

It blows like I've been doing this for a long time now and it still blows my mind with some of the things that clients say oh no, this is working or this is different and I'm like oh my God, wow, Like every day.

Sarah McLachlan: 35:20

And I think as well often too, because when we're getting to a point of ill health, it kind of creeps up on you slowly, it's like insidious over time, and then when you start to unravel that or, you know, undo it, you're like, wow, there was a whole lot going on that I wasn't really in tune with and you see all those things that are falling away and are working better and you're feeling better there as well.

Chelsey Jean: 35:46

If you picture your house like, you picture a house and that house has got a lot of areas where it can collect waste. You've got the leaves that can come in the gutters and in the trees from the trees, but you're not even, you're not even realizing that you know it hasn't rained in a while, so like you don't even see that You've got the pipes that could be getting rusty or clogged up and like or the fat from the sink.

Chelsey Jean: 36:15

Yeah, that you don't really see, and the buildup behind, like in the, in the laundry and different things, and then you could just go oh, you know what, I'm so busy, I'm just going to put that underneath the bed.

Sarah McLachlan: 36:25

Put that underneath the bed for for a while, shut it in the cupboard and deal with it later.

Chelsey Jean: 36:30

Yeah, Too busy to take out the bins, oh, it doesn't matter.

Chelsey Jean: 36:33

Like, the bin man will come next week and that's okay.

Chelsey Jean: 36:36

And before you know it, you'll have a look around and there's piles of mess and different things accumulating in the house. And then it's like, okay, well, I can do something about this now. Or it's going to be oh, you know what, you know, it's like it doesn't matter, but then it'll start smelling and then, you know, then a friend will come over, or you might be in too embarrassed embarrassed to let a friend come over because you might want them. You know, if it was your body, you don't want them to see your body because you've put on weight or you're feeling tired and like you know all those different things. So then you hide away a little bit more, or you close down your house. But if I bet you, if you could have, if you know, pick some superstar that you wanted to come over, you know, if Hugh Jackman, or like somebody, was to ring up and say, oh hi, I'm coming for lunch on Friday, how quickly would you get that, you know? Or everything put away, tied in and get your house back.

Sarah McLachlan: 37:39

Yeah, absolutely.

Chelsey Jean: 37:40

On track. You know the rubbish would be out. You'd even do dump runs to to make sure you would call some specialists for help. You know as well you would do things. So I sometimes that's how I get things done I pretend that I've got somebody coming the queen or she's dead. But you know it's like somebody coming over and like, okay, I've got myself an hour, let's just boom. What can I do to to clean this up and get me back to this? You know a better functioning lifestyle, but those things it does creep up, honest, and unfortunately a lot of people don't wake up until the doctor sits across them and says, oh well, you've got cancer.

Sarah McLachlan: 38:25

And I guess, like you know, perimenopause itself is a big fork in the road for us, in that we get to choose what the next phase of life looks like for us, like metaphorically, but also physically.

Sarah McLachlan: 38:37

Whatever we do during this time period has long term impact for us. We do nothing and see how we go and and or we get. Anything that we can do to support our health or improve our health will pay dividends for the long term. So I think it's a really good time. It kind of naturally comes up for people because we start to realize, oh, I'm actually not that old, but I feel quite old or I'm feeling sluggish and whatever, and I don't want to feel that way anymore because there's lots of living left to do. So, yeah, anything that you can do and consistently do will pay dividends for you in the long run there as well. So for listeners that want to know more about the lymphatic system, your sequence, all those sorts of things, if they want to go a bit deeper in the subject, what do you recommend? Any particular resources or Definitely so.

Chelsey Jean: 39:30

Not only have I made my own products I've got my gloves and my cream and my magnesium spray and those things but I have also made a group on Facebook and it's called boob camp. So not boot camp, it's called boob boob camp and we've got 14,000, I think women in that group and we're educating in there. We're teaching once a month. I go live in there and run through the education and then the how, and then we have a guest speaker as well. So that's a free group that I run and I just love having women in there sharing and supporting each other and telling their stories about lymphedema and lipedema or any other lymphatic congestion problems, breast cancers.

Chelsey Jean: 40:16

It's such a supportive group. So boob camp is the first call. I do teach other practitioners how to become a lymphatic massage specialist, like me. We do that training. So on the website there's lots of different things that we recommend with lymphatic health. But follow us on Instagram. You can watch me on YouTube.

Chelsey Jean: 40:44

I'm very. What you see is what you get. Yes, love to share what's going on in my day, in my life, the ups, the downs and the truths of how the lymphatic system can help you day to day. And, yeah, just really want to reach.

Chelsey Jean: 41:05

It's hard, sarah, like it's a hard slog. I've been doing this for like, I've had my own clinics since I was 19. And I can think that I'm talking to a lot of people. Then I can walk into a room and then they say, oh, what do you do? And I go oh, I rub boobs. And then it's like, oh, you know. And I said, oh, I'm a naturopath who specializes in lymphatic. They got, oh, lymphatic's never heard of it. So for us to get this green lymphatic system in pictures like into our medical departments that's my goal is we? We need the educators, we need the researchers, we need them to come out and if, because it's a free you know thing, it's like they can't give us a pill for it, they can't cut with it, like this is just advice that has to be coming out when, when a naturopath says drink water, they're also going to have to say, you know, start at the boobs, do your lymphatics. That's, that's my goal.

Sarah McLachlan: 42:10

Yeah, so on everyone's lips or everyone's list of things they do each day Sounds good. It sounds good. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, chelsea. It was great having you and talking all about the lymphatic system, and you know what it is, how we can support it, why we want to support it and all those other areas that we've talked about today. I really appreciate your time and you sharing your expertise with my listeners today.

Chelsey Jean: 42:38

Yeah, thank you so much, sarah. Anything that we can do to spread you know great health and advice and support. You know other women going through this journey. Yeah, thank you so much.

Sarah McLachlan: 42:50

Thank you. It's really common for women over 40 to experience the chaos of changing hormones, mood, metabolism and energy. But I hope you know now that common doesn't have to equal normal for you or them. You can help others understand they aren't alone in feeling this way and that perimenopause doesn't have to be horrific by subscribing, leaving a review and sharing this podcast with other women in their 40s and beyond. Thanks so much for listening and sharing your time with me today in this chaos to calm conversation.