Enhancing the Effects of Yoga and CBD

April 14, 2021

Could CBD oil and Yoga be the solution to help take your yoga routine to the next level?

Yoga and CBD seem to be natural partners and have centuries of shared history. CBD and yoga combination are enjoying an influx of attention at the moment, with people worldwide talking about how CBD can boost their yoga experience, but how?
We’re all living in challenging times. The current corona pandemic sweeping across the globe is placing people under enormous amounts of daily stress both with their personal lives and professional lives. It has had a huge impact on the way that people live their lives and has left many people looking for alternative ways to relax and exercise. One of the most popular ways to exercise while also relaxing your mind is yoga.
In the following article, we’re going to take a closer look at how CBD can lead to better adaption, an improved body and mind connection, faster muscle recovery, and reduce inflammation.

What is CBD Oil?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the two most abundant cannabinoids found in both hemp and marijuana plants. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD has no psychoactive properties, and taking CBD won’t result in a ‘euphoric high’ that using THC products will.

CBD interacts with the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). The ECS is made up of a series of receptors that are linked together and spread throughout the body. Scientists believe that the ECS is responsible for regulating bodily functions such as mood, hunger, reproduction, immune response, and much more.

How can Yoga and CBD enhance the effects of your practice?

1. CBD can help with Better Adaptation to Poses

The practice of yoga is designed to help you to push away external distractions while focusing internally, bringing harmony between mind and body. Many of the exercises within yoga can be physically demanding, pushing your ligaments, muscles, and tendons to their limits.

Even some of the easier and gentler yoga exercises require you to transition into positions that may not be easy or comfortable, require good balance and excellent body positioning awareness. Some research (1) has shown that stretching could help to activate the endocannabinoid receptors located in the fascia and muscles.

If you’re looking for a way to boost flexibility, CBD may assist by:

Relaxing the muscle tissues
Potentially relieving muscle pain
Curbing inflammation

2. Improved Body and Mind Connection

Another added benefit of using premium hemp extracts for yoga is a better mind-body connection. After all, a big part of yoga is focused on spirituality. One study (2) into the endocannabinoid system theorized that the ECS has a large role in human consciousness. One of the most important tenets of yoga is clearing the mind.

Anecdotal evidence from people who have used CBD suggests that it helps them feel more focused and calmer. Best of all, most people report that they experience better results when only using small amounts of CBD oil, which means that you don’t have to take a lot of the cannabinoid to experience its potential benefits. That said everyone has a different biology, it is not uncommon for people to take larger doses.

3. Faster Muscle Recovery, CBD and Restorative Yoga

Have you noticed after a good physical workout, your muscles are tired and sore for several days? That’s because when you work out, you create microscopic tears in your muscles. The body floods the area with inflammatory bodies to help protect the area while it heals. However, this process takes time.

Yoga is no different from many other physical activities. It involves a lot of extremely physically demanding positions. You need to be extremely flexible to achieve many of the advanced yoga positions, but beginners can quickly master some of the more basic poses. Either way, with sore muscles, you’re going to struggle to comfortably achieve any positions.

A variety of different studies (3) have looked at CBD’s ability to help reduce inflammation. It makes sense that if you can reduce inflammation faster, your muscles will be able to recover quicker, and you’ll be ready to exercise again.

4. Reduced Inflammation

We spoke a little bit about inflammation above, but did you know that inflammation can be both good and bad for us? If you suffer from chronic inflammation, then that can be extremely damaging to your health, making CBD and hot yoga a great combo. However, inflammation in small doses is vital to help us overcome injuries.

The downside to living in a modern world is that we often treat conditions, including inflammation, with powerful pharmaceutical medications. One study (4) recently conducted looked at how yoga could also help reduce inflammation. However, if you’re suffering from inflammation, it can be extremely hard to recover from it successfully, and you may need a little assistance.

CBD yoga is a natural way to potentially reduce inflammation. Because CBD is considered to be a powerful anti-inflammatory, it can help with inflammation in:

painful areas
joints and tendons
tired and sore muscles

If you have had a bad experience with pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories, then a natural compound such as cannabidiol could be a potentially better solution for you. While pharmaceutical medications can be effective at treating inflammation, they also come with a long list of negative side-effects, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and addiction.

Yoga and CBD – Conclusion

If you have been looking for a natural way to take your yoga to the next level, then CBD yoga could be just what you’ve been looking for, especially when it comes to CBD and restorative yoga. It is always recommended to speak to your doctor or healthcare professional before taking CBD especially if you are currently taking any other medication.

CBD is considered to be safe and well tolerated in humans as reported by the World Health Organization, it If you have any questions about premium hemp extacts or how CBD oil and yoga could help improve your yoga experience, please don’t hesitate to ask. If yoga and CBD has helped you, then please share your experiences below so that others may benefit.

References:

(1) Research Gate "Expression of the endocannabinoid system in fibroblasts and myofascial tissues" Published: May 2008 Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. Author: John McPartland/University of Vermont

(2) NIH: National Library of Medicine "The Endocannabinoid System Modulating Levels of Consciousness, Emotions and Likely Dream Contents" Published 2017. Authors: Eric Murillo-Rodriquez, Jose Carlos Pastrana-Trejo, Mireille Salas-Crisostomo, Miriel de-la-Cruz.

(3) NCBI "Cannabinoids as novel anti-inflammatory drugs" Published October 2010. Authors: Prakash Nagarkatti, Rupal Pandey, Sadiye Amcaoglu Rieder, Venkatesh L. Hegde, Mitzi Nagarkatti.

(4) NCBI | PMC "Yoga, Meditation and Mind-Body Health: Increased BDNF, Cortisol Awakening Response, and Altered Inflammatory Marker Expression after a 3-Month Yoga and Meditation Retreat" Published June 26, 2017. Authors: B. Rael Cahn, Matthew S. Goodman, Christine T. Peterson, Raj Maturi, Paul J. Mills.