CBD Oil Supplementation for Yoga - Why It's a Perfect Match
Everyone deals with stress in their own way. Some people drink, some eat, while others turn to more health conscious practices such as meditation and yoga. We're going to look at improving your yoga practice, with CBD Oil for Yoga.
If you're looking to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression, then yoga can be a real game changer. Studies show that this ancient practice doesn't just improve your mood and well-being – it also gets you in touch with your body.
But what do you do when you simply can't calm your mind down?
As it turns out, CBD oil can help. More and more yogis around the world are utilizing this natural compound for its huge wealth of benefits.
CBD oil for yoga will help you:
- Rest and recover
- Focus your mind
- Expand your potential
- Achieve daily balance
If you're curious to learn more, then simply read on as we have a look at all things CBD and yoga – including why combining the two makes sense.
A Glance at CBD Oil
If you've never heard of CBD, here's a quick and easy section that will explain all you need to know about it.
CBD or Cannabidiol is a type of cannabinoid. As you could guess by the name, it's derived from the cannabis plant. This is the same plant that contains THC, a compound that's notorious for getting people high. (1)
Now, you might be asking, isn't then CBD illegal? And doesn't it make you high as well?
The answer is no. CBD doesn't have any psychoactive properties. Quite the contrary, the latest peer-reviewed studies only show promising benefits from using this natural compound.
CBD will calm down the mind, help with physical recovery, reduce pain, and quench inflammation.
Unlike THC, the legal compound CBD won't put you in a 'haze', give you a panic attack, or make you spaced out. Instead, it will expand your daily potential and promote health and wellness across the board – as you'll find out below.
How CBD Works in Your Body
CBD is just one of the hundreds of different chemicals in the cannabis plant. However, it looks to be the most promising one in terms of benefiting our health and mental wellbeing.
Believe it or not, your body has its own endocannabinoid system. Which produces some of its own cannabinoids! In the body, these cannabinoids act as antimicrobial, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory. Supplementing with CBD only enhances these benefits. (2, 3)
Not only does CBD protect the mind, it also energizes it. As such, it's a safe and popular choice among more and more people who're looking to improve sleep, relieve stress, and get more out of their yoga practice. (6, 7)
Now, another reason why CBD oil for yoga is so effective is that it helps physically ease tension in your body. When your body is more relaxed, your mind will naturally follow.
Why CBD Oil For Yoga Makes Sense
Have you ever walked into a yoga class, and despite the calm and gentle vibe, you just couldn't calm your mind down?
I think that when we reach our mat, we should put our past and future problems aside, and focus on the present moment. But sometimes you just can't.
The reason why we can't seem to calm our racing mind is most often stress. When you're stressed, your body tenses up, your cortisol levels skyrocket, and no matter what you do, it's hard to get out of that 'fight-or-flight' mode.
But as many yogis have started to discover, CBD oil can be of huge help here. CBD and asana practice go together like honey and tea. Two things that are amazing on their own, but synergizing extremely well together.
The key reasons why CBD oil for yoga makes sense are:
- CBD reduces physical tension and inflammation in the body, improving flexibility and reducing joint discomfort in the process
- In addition to soothing the body, CBD also helps to reduce cortisol levels, thus making you feel less stressed
- CBD acts as a relief from overthinking, depression, and anxiety (4, 5)
As CBD won't make you paranoid or high, it's completely safe and acceptable to take it before your yoga practice, meditation, or any other activity.
Benefits Both the Body and Mind
As I've briefly mentioned above, CBD oil for yoga makes perfect sense because it doesn't just focus your mind, but also revitalizes your body.
Imagine this for a second...
You had a hard workout yesterday. Perhaps you've pulled a muscle and now can't get into that deep stretch during your yoga class.
Enter CBD.
As a powerful and natural anti-inflammatory agent, it soothes tense muscles and reduces inflammation. Regardless if you take it sublingually as a CBD tincture, or apply it topically on the troubled area for fast relief.
Needless to say, CBD won't fix your torn muscle. But it is without a question one of the most effective natural remedies for pain and inflammation.
Ultimately, taking CBD oil for yoga can help you get into those poses that you usually have a hard time with. It also helps with recovery after an intense class. It's worth giving a go for anyone who wants to reduce muscle tension and soreness after training.
How Does CBD Oil Feel When Doing Yoga?
Much like yoga, CBD raises consciousness and puts you in touch with your body. You might start to notice areas of tightness and discomfort that you didn't know were there before taking CBD.
This inward sense of exploration that CBD gives you is both physical and mental. You may notice those sudden pressing thoughts start to dissipate and fade away.
Yogis report having more 'space' in their mind after taking CBD oil.
You may also start to feel more grounded, but lifted at the same time.
Don't get me wrong, CBD won't turn you into a superhuman. But it will definitely give you a shift – without a trace of paranoia.
Anything Else to Consider?
Just to make this clear for anyone unfamiliar: you don't need to smoke CBD. There are many forms of CBD available – from topical creams, softgel capsules to liquid tinctures.
The latter one is the most effective as it enters your bloodstream faster and has a full body impact.
This is because tinctures don't have to pass through your digestive track – instead, they're directly absorbed by tiny glands under your tongue. Within 15 minutes you'll start to feel CBD oil working.
As for when to take CBD Oil, you can do it whenever it suits you best. But if the goal is to enhance your yoga practice, then take it 30-15 minutes before your session.
The exact dosage is different for everyone. Try experimenting with the lowest dose for a week and then, if you want, slowly increase until you get the desired effect.
Consistency is Key
Again, CBD isn't a miracle cure, and it certainly won't solve all your problems. And by the way, neither will yoga!
The best way to utilize CBD for yoga is to go in without any expectations. Simply take the product every day for a few weeks and see if you can notice any difference.
Consistency is the key term here. Taking CBD here and there, only when you feel like it, probably won't yield great results. Again, do you see the correlation with yoga here?
Conclusion
On their own, CBD and yoga are both effective at helping you to calm your mind.
But combined together, they synergize to combat stress, reduce tension, suppress inflammation, improve recovery, and expand your potential.
In 2017, the WHO (World Health Organization) suggested that CBD shouldn't be a controlled substance due to its vast number of benefits and no known major side effects.
Today, CBD is federally legal, recognized for having low toxicity, and the best of all, it's not addictive even at high dosages – making it ideal for anyone who's looking to safely enhance their yoga practice.
Scientific References
- The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research. (source)
- Endocannabinoid system: An overview of its potential in current medical practice. (source)
- Pharmacotherapeutic considerations for use of cannabinoids to relieve pain in patients with malignant diseases. (source)
- Cannabidiol Reduces the Anxiety Induced by Simulated Public Speaking in Treatment-Naïve Social Phobia Patients. (source)
- Involvement of serotonin-mediated neurotransmission in the dorsal periaqueductal gray matter on cannabidiol chronic effects in panic-like responses in rats. (source)
- Effectiveness of Cannabidiol Oil for Pediatric Anxiety and Insomnia as Part of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report. (source)
- A systematic review of the antipsychotic properties of cannabidiol in humans. (source)