In today’s crazy world, our lives often seem busier than Times Square on New Year’s Eve. So, it’s no surprise that many of us turn to yoga hoping to improve our physical and mental health and bring balance to our stressed-out bodies. If this is you…before getting your OM on…why not take advantage of CBD to discover what CBD and Yoga can do for you?
Tip: Learn how to properly use CBD to master its benefits.
Let’s Start With the Basics: What is Yoga?
We all know that it’s been around for a while, but did you know that yoga is a 5000-year-old physical and spiritual discipline originating in ancient India?
All eight branches of yoga, specifically asana and meditation, are designed to provide shanti (peace) in the short-term but also teach yogis how to root consciousness in the present moment, and address anxiety with a courageous calm.
Yoga is known to improve strength, balance, and flexibility. It can enhance mood, help manage stress, boost heart health, improve sleep, and connect people to a supportive community.
Apart from the many traditional forms of yoga, some modern twists may surprise you: rope and aerial yoga; drug- and alcohol-free yoga raves, complete with a vegetarian menu; yoga with goats; yoga for guys (broga); you can even do yoga in your birthday suit (noga)!
…so, why not yoga with CBD?
Benefits of Using CBD and Yoga
CBD has moved from the wellness fringe to the mainstream and is now widely available in several forms, including oils, and topicals such as creams, ointments, balms, capsules, pills, gummies, and other edibles. The compound has no psychoactive effects and won’t get you high.
Combining CBD and Yoga can produce the following benefits:
More Stretching. Less Stressing
In short, yoga is all about stretching and relieving tension—a time to pause and reflect, boost mood, and release feel-good endorphins that generate positivity. Yoga focuses on reversing the outward flow of energy inward, and CBD’s attributes align with this.
By acting on the endocannabinoid system, the body’s system for maintaining hormonal balance and regulating our physiological responses, which also triggers the brain when we experience pain, CBD helps manage cortisol levels to reduce stress.
CBD and Yoga Aid Sleep
As if boosting the body’s ability to relieve anxiety were not enough, CBD’s insulin- and melatonin-regulating capacity may help prevent sleeplessness and weight gain, which are common if we’re stressed.
Tip: Learn more about how CBD helps sleep.
When taking to your yoga mat to find your drishti (the focal point of gazing), a few drops of CBD oil or CBD gummies can help reset your inner calm. CBD’s natural stress-relieving properties can help you focus on your practice more effectively, particularly when it comes to meditative poses that are held for a long time. CBD and Yoga can make your practice more insightful and help you get a good night’s rest.
Mood Moderators
Aside from reducing anxiety, CBD can also improve other mental processes by regulating emotions, promoting peace, and improving focus. Mood swings can be further mitigated when CBD is combined with a yoga routine.
Activating the 5-HT1a serotonin receptor, which is linked to lowering stress, helps people feel more at peace and in balance. CBD reduces feelings of depression and improves mood without giving you a “high” or hangover.
In addition, our brain naturally produces and releases the neurotransmitter anandamide, thought to contribute to sensations like the “runner’s high.” Anandamide breaks down quickly in the body, but CBD suppresses the enzyme that breaks down Anandamide, prolonging the savasana (corpse pose) feelings of bliss you might feel at the end of a yoga session.
Put Some Pep in Your Step
CBD can enhance protein synthesis and expression in areas of the brain that have to do with wakefulness. A morning yoga routine that includes CBD can boost energy levels and alertness so you can start the day with a bit of pep in your step.
A 2014 study found CBD has promising pharmacological properties as a wake-promoting agent. The study, published in the Current Neuropharmacology, asserts that CBD has similar properties to yoga in promoting focus.
Post-yoga Recovery With CBD
CBD and yoga complement each other. Combining the two can improve your mindset, and CBD helps you recover after yoga. Bending over backward (wheel pose) for your physical well-being is all well and good for countering activities that compromise your posture and alignment.
It strengthens the shoulders, chest, and hips, awakening kundalini energy to open up the heart chakra. Still, if you haven’t warmed up properly, the strain on tendons and ligaments may find yourself wishing you’d stuck with the downward dog.
Post-yoga practice, you may feel a sense of balance and relaxation. Still, it’s not unusual for even the most blissed-out, re-energized yogi to experience a few musculoskeletal aches, pains, and inflammation.
CBD alleviates these by relaxing muscle tissue, relieving muscle pain, and curbing inflammation in the muscle tissue. Recovery is sped up by enhancing satellite cell differentiation. With natural analgesic properties and high-quality cannabinoids, CBD topicals provide targeted relief that will soon have you enthusiastically saluting the sun.
How to Pair CBD with Yoga
You can apply a CBD salve or lotion to aching muscles or joints for post-yoga recovery. (Or, you may prefer to ingest CBD through tinctures, soft gels, herbal teas, or yummy gummies!) Starting with a dose of 10-15 mg or 1-6 mg of CBD, 10 lbs of body weight is ideal, and you can increase the dosage slowly if necessary.
Tinctures may act in as little as 15 minutes; for softgels, the effect can take around 35 minutes to kick in.
Topicals can be used before or after yoga or just before bed. A regular regimen of CBD products used in conjunction with yoga usually has great results.
Who Shouldn’t Use CBD with Yoga?
Although no studies show any adverse effects of using CBD with yoga, it’s advisable to check with your doctor or avoid using CBD with yoga if you are:
- Immune-compromised
- Pregnant or trying to conceive
- Taking prescription drugs
Get Your Zen On With Golden Goat
Together with actions such as freeing yourself of expectations and distractions, focusing on each breath and listening to your body, CBD can be a valuable tool for helping you get more out of an inspiring practice.
If you’re sold on the benefits of CBD and want to capitalize on a heightened mind-body-spirit connection, check out these awesome CBD products that you can incorporate into your daily routine.
🧘Namaste🧘
