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In celebration of National Yoga Month, we wanted to touch on a subject that's becoming close to the yogis in our community's hearts: how can CBD improve the yoga experience?
India, the birthplace of yoga, has a long history of using cannabis in tangent with yoga and traditions similar, like meditation. Yoga practice and cannabis use were both amplified when combined, enhancing each other's properties to relieve the body of pain, stress, anxiety, and other symptoms.
In ancient times, where the tradition of meditating or doing yoga under the influence of cannabis started, they weren't able to extract the CBD from the plant, which is one of the key components of the herb stimulating relaxation and other forms of relief.
Today, we're going to look at all the ways taking CBD before, during, and/or after yoga can maximize your daily routine and your overall experience with both yoga practice and cannabidiol.
Extracted from the hemp plant, CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid associated with providing relief for a variety of symptoms. Made more popular since the legalization of industrial hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD products are now a mainstream interest online and off across the nation.
CBD, or cannabidiol, is thought to not saturate, but still interact with CB receptors throughout the human endocannabinoid system (ECS). Almost molecularly identical to our own endocannabinoids, researchers think CBD may play a role in helping other receptors regulate things like inflammation, pain, anxiety, and other triggers across the body.
Often used as a morning or daytime supplement, CBD oil and other CBD products have become well-known for its ability to heighten focus throughout the day, promote wakefulness, energize the body and mind, and help users feel more productive. Likewise, yoga has long since been used to center one's mind.
When practicing yoga, the goal is to still your busy mind and be able to lift feelings of fear, worry, and unease. CBD seems to optimize the ability to do this, aiding in how easy it is to still your mind and find your peace.
Not only does CBD help to stimulate wakefulness, the compound has been reported in several studies to help alleviate both physical and mental stress. We look at a 2006 study for reference, which concludes CBD has the potential to be effective in regulating stress-related anxiety and heart rate.
Some people that regularly practice yoga, other exercises, or meditation have implemented CBD into their routine before they start. Using CBD in tangent when practicing yoga is the best way to optimize how much stress you can relieve from the whole session.
CBD is often touted as being effective in reducing inflammation throughout the body, with studies that at least back up what our community echoes.
While we need more studies and human clinical trials, we do have some studies that already reinforce what anecdotal evidence demonstrates to us. In fact, further research is showing that the endocannabinoid system, which cannabidiol interacts with, is a key player in the regulation of inflammation throughout the body.
According to the 2011 NIH extramural review, CBD has shown promise as a new therapeutic strategy to lessen the impact inflammation has on oxidative stress. The conditions included in the study touched on rheumatoid arthritis, neuropathic pain, ischemia-reperfusion injury, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, Alzhemier's Disease, athersclerosis, and both types of diabetes.
All this pertains to yoga in the sense that the activity itself can very well reduce the inflammatory symptoms associated with these ailments. In the 2015 research project published by the Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research evaluated the effect on how practicing yoga and how that might have a positive effect on reducing inflammatory triggers in the body. The project concluded that with the "regular practice of yoga can protect the individual against inflammatory diseases by favorably altering pro-inflammatory cytokine levels."
That being said, the inclusion of CBD and consistent practice of yoga can compound the benefits of inflammatory reduction. In fact, a fan-favorite routine is to take a serving of CBD, such as a Tincture, practicing a yoga routine for at least 20 minutes, then applying a CBD Topical on the muscle groups worked. The process has the ability to truly amplify relief in specific, target areas of concern.
CBD is becoming well-known as something you can take daily to promote and stimulate general wellness. Raved as something that provides a better quality of life for this with negative symptoms that find the relief they're looking for with CBD, we've seen a perfect combo with it and yoga, as both may also help to improve quality of life.
In a completely randomized 6-month clinical trial on voluntary and healthy senior citizens, researchers observed quality of life using indicators including, but not limited to:
Similar to the studies conducted for CBD, the results of consistently dosing the compound and engaging in a soothing exercise like yoga, the connection can be made that both separately can help to improve quality of life. That being said, when the two are combined, the results can only compound from there.
Tying back in with improving quality of life, there are not one, but two clinical trials on the subject, both titled, "impact of long-term yoga practice on sleep quality and quality of life in the elderly." Compiled by different researchers, the 2013 project found that regular yoga exercises incorporated a daily routine among elderly individuals and concludes that yoga improves not only a better quality of life, but also, helps to improve sleep quality. The 2014 edition of the same study further reaffirms the prior conclusion, further adding the ability to reduce insomnia.
How does this tie into CBD? Well, according to a 2019 study in which CBD is administered to reduce the effects of stress associated with sleep and insomnia, researchers concluded that the leading cause of sleeplessness is associated with stress and anxiety. Where yoga can help to put the body at ease, the inclusion of CBD can help to put the mind at ease, making the pair a harmonious duo for comfort.
Since we mentioned that large case series that looked at the efficacy of CBD on both sleep and anxiety, it's good to note that they also concluded CBD may be potentially beneficial in helping with certain anxiety-related disorders. n fact, over 79% of the patients found decreased anxiety scores within the first month that remained decreased through the rest of the study duration.
At the same time, there is a full meta-analysis and systematic review of randomized controlled trials looking at the effects yoga can produce on reducing anxiety. It concluded that yoga could be a safe and effective method for individuals that have heightened levels of anxiety, though effects yoga might have on anxiety disorders were inconclusive. This just shows that we need more high-quality studies to help confirm the preliminary observations of this review.
Finally, take CBD after your practice to ensure you don't have to worry about any serious post-workout recovery. If you are new to yoga or exercise more strenuously in conjunction with yoga, many across the country have started taking CBD to aid in their post-workout recovery soreness, tightness, and inflammation. Fortunately, a combination of yoga and CBD help to stretch out and soothe soreness, thus, minimizing the total amount of time for recovery.
By incorporating both CBD and yoga practice into your daily routine, you can optimize the results you're trying to get from both. Some key takeaways are that a combination of long-term CBD use and yoga practice may help enhance focus, calm the mind, relieve stress, reduce inflammation and anxiety, improve sleep quality and overall quality of life, and lastly, to help you recover.
As an added bonus, for the rest of the month of September, we'll be having a site-wide sale to celebrate the benefits both CBD and yoga have to offer. Check out our products and enjoy a 20% off discount!
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