Ancestral Wood Therapy Is My New Summer Body Self-Care Routine

This story is part of Como Celebramos, in which we're sharing how we're honoring our favorite summertime Sunday rituals.

Wood therapy, often referred to as maderoterapia in Latin America, has been making its rounds on TikTok ever since Tracee Ellis Ross posted a video on Instagram last summer practicing it on her body. However, the treatment, which works in combination with lymphatic drainage massage, is by no means a new trend.

Leidy Maryory Valencia is a certified esthetician, a lymphatic drainage specialist, and the founder of Maryory Wellness.

Having grown up in Queens, NY, I remember seeing countless medical spas in Jackson Heights or Astoria — often owned by Colombians or Brazilians — offering treatments like lymphatic drainage, wood therapy, and butt cupping. After years of making lymphatic drainage massages part of my body care and wellness ritual, I decided to start incorporating ancestral wood therapy just in time for summer.

"Wood therapy is an ancient technique for body sculpting that uses various hand-held wooden tools that help break down fat, promote blood circulation, smooth the skin, and reduce the appearance of cellulite, but it needs to be used in combination with a lymphatic drainage massage in order for it to be effective," says aesthetician and lymphatic-drainage specialist Leidy Maryory Valencia.

If you're unfamiliar with lymphatic drainage massages, the technique originated in Europe and later made its way to Brazil and Colombia. It is a gentle massage that encourages the natural drainage of the lymphatic system, which keeps body fluid levels in check and helps fight off infections. While lymphatic drainage alone can help with reducing water retention, inflammation, and bloating, incorporating wood therapy can significantly help when it comes to toning and sculpting the body.

While I know wood therapy lacks scientific research, I had no hesitation trying out the treatment for the first time a few years ago. After all, I'd grown up witnessing the real results it provided for the women in my community — including those who hadn't undergone plastic surgery. I got my first wood therapy session done a few years ago and was amazed by how much more defined my abs and butt looked afterward. Since then, I've occasionally had estheticians incorporate it into my lymphatic-drainage massages. This year, I decided to start doing a few sessions with Valencia leading up to summer.

Valencia uses a specialized massage technique combined with hand-held wooden tools, such as rolling pins and vacuum-suction cups, to support lymphatic drainage and sculpt the body to appear more toned and smoother. These wooden tools come in various shapes and are often referred to as warmers, breakers, and drainers, each with a different sculpting function.

"I usually open the lymphatic system very gently using my hands first. The main ones are in the neck area, the clavicle area, and the plexus solar area," she says. "Before doing body sculpting with the wooden tools, we have to open the solar plexus area, because that's how we're going to start moving all the inflammation out of the body. I like to use the warmer tools to help warm up the body and then use the breaker tools to help break up the fat. We don't touch the lymph nodes with the breakers — we go straight to the fat. Then I use the drainers just to drain whatever fat was broken."

A wood therapy treatment is by no means a comfortable massage. Because of the wooden tools, it's a lot more vigorous than a regular lymphatic-drainage massage. But it's also not particularly painful. Like dry brushing for the body and gua sha for the face, the motions use a light amount of force. My body was slightly red after my recent session with Valencia, but I was left with absolutely no bruising or scars.

"The good thing is none of the motion needs to be hard. You just want to use enough force to warm up the body, and you want to be careful that you're not being too aggressive on your bones or skin," Valencia says, adding that she likes to incorporate a cinnamon and clove body oil to provide a gentle glide and assist in reducing inflammation.

While there's no clear evidence to track when wood therapy originated, many lymphatic-drainage experts believe it was an Indigenous practice in South America dating back centuries, and was used to drain, detox, and sculpt one's body.

"In Colombia, they used to carry loads of coffee from the coffee farms, and so they used to collect bamboo sticks and drained themselves after long hours of labor and it was something they did that was just common sense to them," says Valencia, who also likes to work with a real bamboo stick she purchased in Colombia. "My aunt used to do it after doing any type of physical labor. I've been seeing wood therapy being incorporated with lymphatic-drainage massages for body sculpting my entire life in Colombia. But it became popular like dry brushing after lymphatic-drainage massages became more popular."

After my wood therapy sessions, I always feel less inflamed, less bloated, and overall a lot lighter. Like regular lymphatic-drainage massages, wood therapy is not a weight-loss treatment. But in combination with regular exercise and healthy, mindful eating, it can assist in tightening, toning, and sculpting the body. You also want to drink plenty of water following the treatment to help release toxins.

Incorporating wood therapy as part of my wellness routine not only keeps my body detoxed and sculpted, but it also makes me feel connected to my ancestral roots. It's a non-invasive treatment that, with consistency and healthy lifestyle habits, is a lot more effective than you'd think.

Johanna Ferreira is the content director for PS Juntos. With more than 10 years of experience, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central part of Latine culture. Previously, she spent close to three years as the deputy editor at HipLatina, and she has freelanced for numerous outlets including Refinery29, Oprah magazine, Allure, InStyle, and Well+Good. She has also moderated and spoken on numerous panels on Latine identity.