CBD Can Promote Your Yoga Practice
It comes as no surprise that with our packed schedules and our crammed lives, that treating conditions such as anxiety and depression with prescription medication is a $15 billion a year worldwide industry. For some, prescription medications are a no-go either because of allergies or because they want to opt for something more natural.
Since 1980, for this reason, Yoga practice has exploded. It is an ancient Indian practice that combines exercise with spiritual awareness. One of the central tenets of Yoga is that body, mind, and spirit are all intricately interconnected.
In much the same way, CBD use has exploded. Cannabis has been used since ancient times and is still used in religious ceremonies in India. It has been well known for millennia that cannabis contains potent anti-anxiety properties, which is good for Yoga practice.
Jump forward to today and we have legalized hemp, one of the best sources for CBD. Whether you choose to take a few hits from a vape pen before your practice or choose to attend a CBD Yoga class where they infuse the air through a portable vaporizer, integrating CBD into your Yoga practice can be surprisingly beneficial.
Focus
One difficulty many people experience in Yoga class is being able to silence their mind. Turning your brain off and just being in the now can be next to impossible, but CBD can help. Our cannabinoid receptors are naturally activated during meditation something that is incorporated into many Yoga practices. CBD can help to turn off that anxiety, silencing those thoughts and allowing you to focus on the matter at hand. It can also help blast through brain fog, helping you to find your bliss during Savasana.
Pain Relief
CBD has some amazing anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties. Whether you slather a cream or a salve on beforehand to achieve maximum benefit during the part in the class where you need it most, or you apply a CBD transdermal patch for pain relief throughout, CBD can work wonders for those aching muscles. For those new to Yoga, the muscle soreness can be a serious roadblock to continuing the practice. CBD can help you to recover faster, getting you back to the mat or in class.
Feel Blissful
Yoga can put us into a blissful state. Our brains naturally produce and releases a neurotransmitter called anandamide. Unfortunately, that neurotransmitter breaks down after a time, because like all other neurotransmitters, it’s fragile. CBD can help to suppress the enzyme responsible for breaking down anandamide. By incorporating CBD into your Yoga practice, you can both enhance and prolong that feeling of bliss that is brought about by your flow session.
Get Connected
Remember how we mentioned that at Yoga’s core is the belief that mind, body, and spirit are all interconnected? Adding CBD to your practice can help to enhance and heighten physical sensation. The calming effects that CBD brings can help you to focus on taking deeper, slower, and more intentional breaths. This helps you to connect to your practice. Dabbing a little CBD oil onto your third eye can help to promote this feeling of everything being connected, elevating your practice even further.
How to Incorporate CBD Into Your Yoga Practice
While you can smoke a CBD-dominate dry flower, there are many other different methods of ingesting CBD. In today’s market, CBD has become a big thing and people are incorporating it into lotions, salves, chocolate, and even teas. If you don’t mind the woodsy flavor, you can opt for a few drops of a tincture under your tongue. Relax with a cup of hot CBD-infused tea for post-workout relaxation. Take a bath with a CBD-infused bath bomb or oil. You can also diffuse CBD oil into a vaporizer and have the benefits throughout your workout.
No matter how you choose to incorporate CBD into your Yoga practice, there are some amazing benefits to doing so. CBD helps to silence those racing thoughts, allowing you to slip into that zen state of mind. Post-workout, it can help to soothe those sore muscles and speed recovery so that you’re looking forward to your next workout.
Author
Michael is a marketing and creative content specialist at GotVape, Technology and fitness combined with healthy lifestyle obsession are his main talking points.