Yoga is at the height of popularity for its ability to improve fitness while reducing stress and anxiety. But lately, there’s a newer trend catching on — CBD and yoga.
However, this isn’t a new phenomenon. Yoga and cannabis have enjoyed a long history of cooperation, dating back to as early as 2000 BC. References have appeared in ancient Hindu texts as one of the 5 sacred plants of the Hindu religion. Lord Shiva himself appears throughout Indian mosaics and murals smoking a chillum, the original cannabis pipe.
The reason for this recent resurgence are far from surprising. Yoga and cannabis have existed alongside each other in the sacred Vedas since the time of ancient India.
Now, with restrictions to research of cannabis being lifted across the world, the advantages of CBD yoga are just beginning to resurface.
The health benefits of CBD merged with the mental and physical discipline of yoga. It’s becoming more known as a powerful defense against stress, anxiety, pain and inflammation.
Thinking about using CBD to enhance your yoga practice but feel discouraged? We’ve collated the biggest benefits this combo can provide.
But first, let’s explore yoga in more detail.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Yoga?
The purpose of yoga is to effect greater strength, flexibility and self-awareness. Yoga achieves this by engaging the practitioner in a series of meditative stretching poses for long periods of time. Regular practitioners of this ancient Indian discipline have experienced reduced stress, lowered blood pressure and lowered heart rate.
Here’s a breakdown of yoga’s core components and benefits.
Poses that improve fitness: Yoga poses stretch your body’s physical limits and improves your strength, fitness and flexibility.
Controlled breathing that lowers your heart rate: Being mindful of your body, mind and breathing is an integral element of Yoga. Controlling your breathing allows you to quiet your mind and be more aware of the physical sensations in your body.
Meditative practices that reduce stress: Yoga is a deeply meditative process. Regularly practicing meditative exercises such as yoga aids strengthens your attention, awareness and mental strength. It can also help practitioners achieve what’s known as a state of “mindfulness.” Mindfulness grants the practitioner emotional stability and cognitive clarity because it trains you to be aware of the present action, feeling or thought.
With the plurality of benefits that yoga brings to the table, one can only imagine the positive effects of incorporating a tincture of CBD or a few CBD oil drops into your yoga routine.
How CBD Enhances Yoga
Due to its non-psychoactive nature, CBD is a safe treatment option for those suffering from anxiety disorders and chronic pain. The non-mind altering cousin of the high inducing THC compound, cannabidiol (CBD), can provide stress relief, reduce inflammation and alleviate pain. All of which can present a challenge to properly practicing yoga.
By directly interacting with your body’s endocannabinoid system, regular CBD consumption can help you stay in a relaxed state similar to yoga.
When something is operating outside of its normal range, your body activates your ECS to achieve balance through homeostasis. If you’re overheating, your body sweats to cool you down. Feeling hungry? Your stomach growls to remind you it needs fuel!
In the case of CBD, the compound acts to relax your body and mind. This helps remove any barriers you may have with muscle aches, pains and stress. All these pains would otherwise prevent you from entering the meditative state that yoga provides.
With both yoga and CBD providing calming, soothing and relaxing effects, the combination of the 2 can only serve to elevate your experience to new heights.
With all that being said, let’s get into the health and wellness benefits of CBD with yoga.
1. CBD reduces pain and inflammation
Some people might feel that they can’t do yoga because of muscle pain, stiff joints or other restrictions. With yoga positions such as downward facing dog and the crane position, it can be hard to imagine how your pelvic floor can even reach those depths if you’re suffering from pain in your nerves.
But this isn’t the case when CBD and yoga combine. Many studies have found that CBD significantly suppresses chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain.
Once you’re able to manage muscle and joint pain, you’ll be able to experience the benefits of better strength and flexibility. Trying CBD may help you push through the pain boundaries and allow you to hold poses for a longer amount of time, allowing for a better yoga experience.
2. CBD and yoga for anxiety
Research has shown that CBD is a safe and effective treatment option for a host of anxiety disorders such as OCD, social anxiety and PTSD.
CBD acts as a natural serotonin reuptake inhibitor, otherwise known as SSRIs. SSRIs are commonly sold as antidepressants which prevent the brain from reabsorbing serotonin, allowing the brain to better regulate mood and emotion.
Introducing CBD into your daily routine may be able to reduce anxiety. A mental barrier that may have prevented you from being fully aware and present during yoga and CBD can help you fully relax.
3. Battling stress with CBD and yoga
Around 8.3 million American adults, or 3.4 percent of the U.S. population, are dealing with serious psychological distress.
Through significantly lowering the levels of our body’s stress hormone, cortisol, Yoga acts to relax both body and mind.
As mentioned, yoga can significantly lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. CBD acts to achieve the same effect, making a CBD supplement used in conjunction with yoga and other meditative exercises can greatly aid in battling stress.
4. CBD and yoga for focus and balance
Focus is integral for yogis who need laser-beam focus to keep their balance and not get injured. A relaxed body can also aid in overcoming barriers to yoga such as joint pain or muscle soreness.
Including CBD in your yoga routine can act to not only improve your motor function. It also potentially alleviates any joint pain that you may have. You might find that you’ll be able to do downward facing dog like you never could before!
How To Take CBD for Yoga
After gleaning all the prospective benefits of combining CBD with yoga, you might feel inclined to give it a try yourself. Available in a variety of forms, CBD can be consumed orally or applied topically.
A popular dosing method for CBD administering a few drops sublingually (beneath your tongue) through a CBD tincture. Or you can incorporate it into your morning smoothie or tea by mixing a few drops of CBD oil into your beverage of choice.
At Shop CBD Online, we are always improving our methods and resources for educating readers on cannabidiol and holistic health.
With a wide variety of CBD products, you won’t have to worry about being withheld from the medicine your body deserves.
CBD is not addictive, so experiment over a few days until you find a dosage that works really well with your body. The best practice would be to consult with a medical professional before making any decisions to change your medication.
Whichever path you take, make sure to always take the time to love yourself and know that help is available if you choose to seek it out.