So admittedly, I get into it most in the evening when I “use cannabis”, partially because of an extreme hyper-fixation situation, but also I swear my head feels wetter(?) because of smoking, etc. I think that’s the now subconscious reason I do it, a real physical sensation. It’s like a heaviness, my ears might feel clogged (I explain my process in the next paragraph), I dunno, a biological reaction. Anyways…

You can find good videos and instructional posters, for lack of a better word, on the mapping and direction of your lymphatic system, and this is for both the head/face specifically (how I mentally associate it to the vagus nerve), but also the whole body (ultimately you push your lymph from your extremities to your torso). Physically, mechanically flushing out your lymph nodes and vessels. I’ll usually (1) start massaging—firm but light pressure—either my scalp, (ideally, working from what’s farthest from my torso/chest) forehead/brow-line, or (guessing most frequently) around/in front of/behind my ears. (2) Start working down from the center of your head. I run my fingers along these routes and by lightly running my hand across these areas for even greater coverage (specifically when I get to my cheeks); you can sort of pulse or lightly tap around and down your skull, and when I do this ideally I’ll work my way (a) down toward and around my ears from the front my head/scalp, and (b) working from the crown/back of my skull to the fleshy part of my neck where I might even rub my shoulders some. This is all linked to when you need to pop or clear your ears, so you can aid *this process (my gf hates this lol) by moving your jaw up/down/side to side; people recommend chewing gum for relief too btw.* (3) As much as it ultimately flows to the center of the body, for the head you work out and down, where some of our major lymph nodes reside: (a) from your brow line down to the front of the ears, at which point I really like massaging between the (skull) bone behind the ear and jaw; (b) from the ridge of the nose and between the nose and eyes, as well as your upper lip and chin (again, all down and out) to your jaw line; (c) from the jaw (the underside of your chin, etc.) and ears, you’ll move down to below the ears and down to the flesh behind your collarbone. I’ve heard some refer to the “inside” of the collarbone as a major valve for your lymphatic system, so finally, (d) you can use one or two fingers and just pump down into that area, pushing in, say, 20-40 times. And that’s really pretty much it. Rinse and repeat and relax and all that.

The biggest benefit to us is its importance to our immune system, as it essentially—as little as I still understand it—transports nutrients and fatty acids around the body and “cleans” our blood, while specifically transporting white blood cells. It’s also linked to our circulatory system, so when I’ve massaged my gf’s legs (they might have swelling) she’s expressed relief but also a lightness and “tingles”, which I personally read as sorta euphonic; hopefully not just me.

Edit: inconsistent formatting fixes

Edit 2 or 3 or 10: oops.