Time to Chill the F Out


Today’s culture seems to be all about doing more, earning more, hustle more.

If you’re anything like us you might be thinking ‘enough already!’ After all, it’s in those quiet peaceful moments that we recharge our batteries and recalibrate the courses of our life.

Thankfully we’re not the only ones who care about relaxation — National Relaxation Day has been held every year since 1985!

Keep reading to learn why cannabinoids and other plant products could help you celebrate it to the fullest.

  • What is National Relaxation Day?

  • How CBD could help you kick back and relax

  • How Delta 8 THC could be your evening go-to

  • Essential oils: essential for relaxation?

  • A pro-relaxation self-care routine

What is National Relaxation Day?

National Relaxation Day has been celebrated on August 15 of each year since 1985, when then-9-year-old Sean Moeller decided that relaxation needed a little more recognition. Whatever Sean’s motive for this unique idea, the holiday stuck, and people are still taking things a little easier each August 15th to this day. [1]

National Relaxation Day calls for rest, relaxation, and stress relief. Many people take some time to do yoga or meditate on this day, too. The day’s most basic rule is to avoid doing anything stressful.

Video games could work, for example — but not if losing your favorite game gets you stressed out. It might be better to take a trip to the beach, go on a hike, or just lounge around in the backyard hammock.  

How CBD could help you kick back and relax

“Within less than a minute, I felt a de-escalation, and after a few minutes, I felt noticeably, appreciably calmer.”
- Good Housekeeping’s experience with CBD [2]

CBD is renowned for its ability to shift one’s headspace from stress to zen.

If you’re hoping to kick back and relax, it may be nature’s very best option! Once relaxed you’ll be able to tap into a place of what experts call mindfulness.

What is mindfulness? It’s essentially a mental framework where one focusing on how they feel in the moment. “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future,” Lao Tzu so aptly put it. [3]

Mindfulness eliminates both these negative emotions by focusing on the only moment that really matters: now.

Of course, achieving mindfulness is easier said than done. It requires years of training. Many people who practice mindfulness use yoga, meditation, prayer, athletics, and more to train their minds.

But an easier route towards mindfulness — or maybe a complementary one — can be found by using CBD. It sets the biochemical stage for mindfulness by reducing stress hormone production, boosting cerebral blood flow, and reducing anxious thoughts. [4]

Many people who try CBD for the first time report that it makes staying focused much easier. And staying focused makes getting into a mindful state that much more accessible.

When it comes to CBD’s pro-relaxation, pro-focus effects, the proof is in the pudding. A clinical study backed by cannabis-research-godfather Raphael Mechoulam looked at what happened when CBD was given to those undergoing simulated public speaking.

Public speaking, as psychologists know well, can be terrifying because it leaves you subject to the judgment of such a large group of people. In other words, this study was the perfect testing ground on which to appraise CBD’s power. [5]

What did this study find? That just one large dose of CBD was enough to make public speakers calmer, more focused, and less fearful. In other words, more relaxed.

Another CBD study concluded something similar: “pretreatment with CBD significantly reduced [...] cognitive impairment and discomfort in their speech performance.” [6]

Summing things up: CBD could make it easier to relax by helping your body stay in balance.

How Delta 8 THC could be your evening go-to

Other cannabinoids could help you relax and unwind, too — especially Delta-8 THC. This unique cannabinoid activates the endocannabinoid system to help you “relax, eat, sleep, and forget.” [7] Perhaps best of all, Delta-8 does this without normal THC’s side effects.

Studies show that Delta-8 works by boosting your body’s levels of anandamide, an internal cannabinoid that’s closely tied to emotional health. Anandamide can also be increased by eating healthy fats and exercising. [8]

If you’ve previously relied on tobacco, alcohol, or ‘regular’ cannabis to unwind in the evenings, consider switching things up and giving Delta-8 THC a try. It offers a truly holistic way to reduce stress.

Summing things up: Delta-8 THC could help you unwind by boosting feel-good neurotransmitters like anandamide.

Essential oils: essential for relaxation?

Cannabis and hemp aren’t the only plants that promote relaxation, of course. Many other plants and herbs do too — and what better way to experience them than via a concentrated essential oil?

Some essential oils actually work via the same pathway (endocannabinoid system activation) that CBD and Delta-8 do!  Clove essential oil is a good example of this. Its terpene content allows it to bind to endocannabinoid receptors and promote plenty of relaxation in the process. [9]

And don’t forget lavender essential oil, either. It doesn’t just feel relaxing, it is relaxing — many studies have affirmed its ability to calm your nervous system and help you relax. [10]

Summing things up: Essential oils are another plant-powered product that could activate your inner bliss and promote relaxation.  

A pro-relaxation self-care routine

Put all the above info together, and you’ll have a pretty effective relaxation routine:

Self-care practice is about more than just supplements, of course. You can also reduce your stress levels by making lifestyle changes. Maybe make an effort to go on more nature walks, take less stressful phone calls, or catch up with an old friend.

Whatever way(s) you choose, your body will thank you — just in time for National Relaxation Day.

Aug, 07, 2021

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