CBD and Meditation - by Dr. Sears

CBD and Meditation - by Dr. Sears CBD and Meditation - by Dr. Sears

/ Post by OC Pharm CBD
in

For decades, meditation has been touted to help with a variety of health parameters, but for the past year, it seems our immune system and anxiety have been what many of us are worried about.  So, I thought I’d take a quick dive into how meditation can help in both areas. 

An interesting study from 2016 reviewed dozens of other studies on the effects of meditation on the immune system and found some very interesting results. 

This study found several parameters of our immune system that can be helped with meditation but made special mention of a few results that were replicated in several separate studies.  In other words, you can find one study to support just about any scientific theory you can dream up, but when a study gets replicated (repeated) several times by other scientists and they all get the same results, then those results tend to be very reliable.

Immune system components that seem to be optimized by Mindfulness Meditation are:

  • Decreased CPR levels:
    • CRP is a measure of inflammation, that is often elevated in  dysfunctional immune problems such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis
  • Increased CD4+T cell count / activity:
    • These cells are a key component of our immune system.
  • Increased TELOMERASE activity:
    • This enzyme is responsible for protecting your DNA and keeping your cells young.  The immune system is very sensitive to the ageing affect that telomerase protects against.

As I was reading this article, my next thought was, “Ok, so meditation certainly can help our immune systems, but how many of us are truly successful at meditation in the first place?”

If you’re like me, then you might have tried meditation as a way of relaxing and clearing the mind, but can never quite settle enough to see any reasonable benefit. The moment I try to “open my mind” I start thinking about all the things going on around me like: the mess in the kitchen, the car needs gas, the stack of mail on my desk and the dog just pooped in the living room… and I feel MORE anxious than I did before.  I found that I couldn’t relax enough to feel like I was meditating!  But, that is the true purpose and benefit of meditation.  To be able to stop listening to all the chatter in your head and just focus on one thing: that one thing could be breathing, a mantra word or phrase, or a visualization. 

This is where CBD can help. 

CBD is a natural compound that can offer a relaxing effect without the “high” of THC.   While it won’t magically make you better at meditation, it can go a long way toward becoming proficient at the practice.  Many find that adding CBD to their daily wind-down routine helps them notice an improved sense of calm, awareness, and focus.  This is beneficial for not only “taking the edge off” your daily stress but for helping you settle into your meditation practice and realize its full benefits. 

I actually found that I could improve my meditation by focusing my mind on how the CBD was helping my meditation.  I visualized the tiny CBD particles binding to the various receptors in my body which would then send “time to relax!” signals to my brain.  I let my brain focus on the CBD binding to the pain receptors in any sore muscles I had.  I imagined what it might look like to have the CBD interact with my immune system in a positive way.  The first time I did this was a major breakthrough in meditation for me and was when I started to truly feel like I was benefiting.

For decades, meditation has been touted to help with a variety of health parameters, but for the past year, it seems our immune system and anxiety have been what many of us are worried about.  So, I thought I’d take a quick dive into how meditation can help in both areas. 

An interesting study from 2016 reviewed dozens of other studies on the effects of meditation on the immune system and found some very interesting results. 

This study found several parameters of our immune system that can be helped with meditation but made special mention of a few results that were replicated in several separate studies.  In other words, you can find one study to support just about any scientific theory you can dream up, but when a study gets replicated (repeated) several times by other scientists and they all get the same results, then those results tend to be very reliable.

Immune system components that seem to be optimized by Mindfulness Meditation are:

  • Decreased CPR levels:
    • CRP is a measure of inflammation, that is often elevated in  dysfunctional immune problems such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis
  • Increased CD4+T cell count / activity:
    • These cells are a key component of our immune system.
  • Increased TELOMERASE activity:
    • This enzyme is responsible for protecting your DNA and keeping your cells young.  The immune system is very sensitive to the ageing affect that telomerase protects against.

As I was reading this article, my next thought was, “Ok, so meditation certainly can help our immune systems, but how many of us are truly successful at meditation in the first place?”

If you’re like me, then you might have tried meditation as a way of relaxing and clearing the mind, but can never quite settle enough to see any reasonable benefit. The moment I try to “open my mind” I start thinking about all the things going on around me like: the mess in the kitchen, the car needs gas, the stack of mail on my desk and the dog just pooped in the living room… and I feel MORE anxious than I did before.  I found that I couldn’t relax enough to feel like I was meditating!  But, that is the true purpose and benefit of meditation.  To be able to stop listening to all the chatter in your head and just focus on one thing: that one thing could be breathing, a mantra word or phrase, or a visualization. 

This is where CBD can help. 

CBD is a natural compound that can offer a relaxing effect without the “high” of THC.   While it won’t magically make you better at meditation, it can go a long way toward becoming proficient at the practice.  Many find that adding CBD to their daily wind-down routine helps them notice an improved sense of calm, awareness, and focus.  This is beneficial for not only “taking the edge off” your daily stress but for helping you settle into your meditation practice and realize its full benefits. 

I actually found that I could improve my meditation by focusing my mind on how the CBD was helping my meditation.  I visualized the tiny CBD particles binding to the various receptors in my body which would then send “time to relax!” signals to my brain.  I let my brain focus on the CBD binding to the pain receptors in any sore muscles I had.  I imagined what it might look like to have the CBD interact with my immune system in a positive way.  The first time I did this was a major breakthrough in meditation for me and was when I started to truly feel like I was benefiting.

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