CBD Through the Chakras
Take a look at all seven chakras and the ways in which CBD supports them physically and spiritually
How Hemp Oil Can Support you from Root to Crown
When I think about chakras I always hear my little brother sarcastically remarking, “But what IS a SHA-kra?” while he over-enunciates the “SHA” in mockery. When I first started learning about them I had a stereotypical image of old ladies in caftans luring me into their psychic’s den to cover me in crystals and talk to the angels that I can’t see.
While this is one approach and I’m always down for a little camp, turns out the Chakra system is much less frivolous than the new-agey stereotypes that have been assigned to it.
Like many other non-Western practices, the Chakra system is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom and actually marries beautifully with our modern lives and science. One thing our Western traditions have asked us to forget, by means of marginalization and invalidation, is the idea that the human experience is a holistic one, rife with both physiological and energetic components that go hand in hand.
The Chakra system developed alongside the yogic tradition in India, informing key texts and yogic philosophies meant to bring harmony to mind, body and spirit. So, if you’re doing yoga, or mindful breathing, or any sort of meditation, you’re working with the chakras anyway. Great work! Class is over! Kidding.
Deepening understanding of the chakras can feel kinda serious at first, but it’s also playful in the same way learning about astrology gives us new language to talk about things we kind of subconsciously know about ourselves. And if it serves to loosen up some literal or figurative blockages, then that’s pretty cool too!
The seven traditional chakra centers of the body correspond to bodily functions, physical appearance, health and emotional and spiritual states. As a Westerner, working with them may mean dispelling the myth that science exists in lieu of spirituality, and embracing what ancient people knew to be true, that universal truths encompass both.
Just like the systems of our body that we understand through western medicine (immune, endocrine, digestive, hormonal, cardiovascular) balance of the chakras is constantly in flux. The idea is they work with our physiology to create an environment for optimal function of each and also optimal interaction between systems.
In the CBD world, we talk a lot about ‘homeostasis’ or the process by which the body finds balance. Nourishing our Endocannabinoid system (ECS) with CBD helps nudge the body into alignment, away from extremes and back towards homeostasis.
In fact, CBD elicits something called ‘Retrograde Signaling,’ which, put simply, is a process that helps feedback travel both ways within the systems of the body, helping to tell an overactive immune response, for example, to ‘stop it’ after an immune trigger has said ‘start’. This helps to prevent overactive inflammatory responses from becoming worse and worse. It’s a two way street, instead of a domineering command. You know, kind of like a healthy relationship!
The chakras work this way too, constantly giving and receiving feedback throughout the channels of the body, in sophisticated communication. Learning about the chakras is not intended to identify where one may be ‘broken’ or ‘dysfunctional’, it’s about noticing that we are all coaxed out of balance all the time, and we all have resources to notice these shifts and respond in kind with a nourishing practice rather than a depleting one.
CBD Through the Chakras
Root-Muladhara-Base of spine
Grounding, Earth, Survival, Home, Security, Focus, Repetition, Work, Money, Shelter, Fight or Flight
YOGA POSE: KNEE TO CHEST POSE
On a physiological level, CBD helps our body to move into a ‘rest and digest’ state by supporting the parasympathetic nervous system, rather than being stuck in what we are all too familiar with which is the ‘fight or flight’ response. Especially in times of acute stress, confusion and worry, we need to feel grounded, rooted and calm so that we can move out of our lizard brains and into more rational, informed decision making.
On an energetic level, that also means supporting our root chakra. This is the chakra located at the base of the spine which is associated with survival, security, home, money, food, and overall groundedness. When this is off balance our foundation is unsteady and it becomes hard to let down our guard because we are constantly on alert for threats to our basic survival.
I love to take CBD in conjunction with meditation and yoga because I find that it helps me connect with my body and step outside of my anxiety brain. Especially now I’ve been having these waves of productivity followed by waves of what feels almost like paralysis from a complete overwhelm of information and lack of knowing what direction to go or what steps to take right now! When that happens the only place to go is nowhere and just stop.
TRY CBD IN SOME EARTHY TEA LIKE DANDELION ROOT AND LAY ON YOUR BACK JUST BREATHING AND ALTERNATING PULLING EACH LEG INTO YOUR CHEST. NOTICE THE GROUND HOLDING YOU UP. THEN GIVE BOTH YOUR KNEES A BIG HUG AND REMAIN STILL FOR JUST A MOMENT, JUST LONG ENOUGH TO SIGNAL TO YOUR BODY THAT THERE IS A GROUND UNDERNEATH AND THAT YOU GOT YOU! BUT ALSO THE GROUND, THE GROUND HAS YOU TOO.
2) Sacral-Svadisthana-Pelvic region, below naval
Creativity, Sexuality, Water, Passion, Emotions, Pleasure
YOGA POSE: GODDESS POSE
The Sacral chakra often gets classified as the chakra related to sex and sexuality, which is true, but it’s more than that. Think of it like the womb, a place where new life is generated and nurtured. It’s a watery, shifting, flowing space that is highly fertile and ripe for producing new ideas and launching creative projects. When we are in our sexual power (not always easy to get there, and this is a conversation for another day!), we’re a fully embodied version of ourselves, experiencing the visceral pleasure of being alive in a human form and navigating sensory input that has less to do with our brains and more to do with our emotions.
That’s what Chakra two is about! If we aren’t in touch with this space within us, we can become overly stuck in our intellect, seeing only the logical without feeling our way through the primal experience of being alive. Maybe a little repressed, yes?
One role that CBD plays is to increase libido by encouraging ‘vasodilation,’ or the relaxation of blood vessels. This increases circulation and whether or not this manifests in a sexual experience isn’t the point. The result is a physiology that is lighting up both “down below” and “up above.” You little glow worm, you.
Luck has it that as I am writing this from quarantine, my downstairs neighbors are, how do you say, “exploring their second chakra”?! I’ll spare you a description of the noise, but it’s obvious to me that they aren’t thinking about chores, problem solving, regret, worry, or anxiety, because it’s pretty much impossible when you’re gettin’ all busy getting busy. In order to be open to the flow of life, receptive to input from the universe and intuitively navigate that which you can birth from your own self you gotta get busy with this one! Whatever that means for you. Do an art project, dance like crazy, write a poem, put on clothes that make you feel gorgeous, listen to the song ‘I Touch Myself’ and follow the instructions, write a stream of consciousness…explore those emotions and let them live!
3) Solar Plexus-Manipura/City of Jewels-Abdomen, Navel Area
Power, Energy, Action, Metabolism, Transformation, Self-Esteem, Assertiveness, Willpower, Adrenals, Vitality, Laughter, Joy
YOGA POSE: BOW POSE OR BREATH OF FIRE
Drool! I love the Solar Plexus! Manipura! City of Jewels! I have struggled so much to get to know this one and light a fire under its ass. When I first started teaching yoga this is what guided me as I was so incredibly nervous that I had nothing to offer, that no one would like me, and that I didn’t have the confidence to deliver a class that would have meaning for people. I meditated on my underdeveloped Third Chakra and worked with yellow crystals like Citrine. I had to say a lot of mantras like, “I am strong,” etc…in order to just play with the feeling of having the kind of self-esteem that I wanted to build.
I have always struggled with self-esteem, ever since I was dubbed the captain of the “Little Tittie Committee” in 5th grade. The thought of others looking me up and down and passing judgement was so crippling as an adolescent that I quickly found ways to hide in plain sight. I stopped asserting myself in situations where I could be disagreed with and tried to fit in at any cost.
This eventually manifested in complete panic in so many situations. As a teacher, I constantly worked to squelch the anxiety I had about being in front of groups of people all the time. I worked for 12 years as an educator and facilitator in front of crowds of students and adults and never quite shook the nervous belly, IBS, digestive issues, heart palpitations and panic attacks. I could literally feel the cortisol swirling through my body as I showed up every day for work I cared about and was very good at, but which played on my lack of confidence. I hid it really well and kept moving up in the field, and while I did find my footing in what I had to offer, I ultimately had to break free of a career I felt I had built on masking parts of myself. My lack of confidence told me that it would always be that way, that the most I had to offer was a falsely self-assured version of myself and that I shouldn’t act on anything that might truly make me vulnerable.
Coming into your personal power is no small feat. Undoing years of conditioning and helping yourself to stand tall without fear of what others will think is tough work! But it’s everything. Literally, everything. Those who haven’t struggled with confidence should treasure their proud Sacral Chakra, it makes so much possible.
In relation to this, CBD supports adrenal function and stress in its ability to create homeostasis. It’s considered an adaptogen, along with other adrenal supporting supplements like ashwaghanda, rhodiola, ginseng, maca, eleuthero. Adaptogens do the job of giving your body what it needs when it needs it, this is why CBD may feel different for you from one day to the next. It can encourage sleep when you need it, or be more energizing other times.
By providing any level of nourishment for the adrenals (located on top of each kidney), it helps calm an overactive stress response, which so many of us have. Creating greater vitality emanating from your sacral chakra is crucial to living a balanced life. When we feel depleted, fatigued, foggy and run down, we aren’t able to think clearly or get aligned with what we are here to offer. Not to mention, we all deserve the opportunity to take up space, to feel big and radiant, and glow-ey, and to try out what it feels like to step fully into ourselves instead of shrinking to accommodate fear. Get it!
POWER UP YOUR CITY OF JEWELS BY DRINKING A GOLDEN TURMERIC LATTE WITH CBD AND GINGER TO WARM YOU UP AND CREATE A FIRE IN YOUR BELLY. AND DO SOME AB WORK! BAM! YOU’RE HERE!
“Where does fear come from? It comes from basic bewilderment. Where does basic bewilderment come from? It comes from being unable to harmonize or synchronize mind and body.”― Chögyam Trungpa,
4) Heart-Anahata
Love, breath, balance, healing, unity, relationships, breathing, air element, circulation, oxygen, compassion
HERBS: LAVENDER, YARROW, MEADOWSWEET STONES: ROSE QUARTZ, JADE
Going back to the idea of relaxing blood vessels, CBD is possibly also supportive to the underlying reasons for common heart-related illnesses. As a potent anti-inflammatory, CBD may help to support the heart in some of the same ways that aspirin does. It also helps mitigate the stress response, so it can promote an overall healthier cardiovascular system. Research is showing that it possibly acts not only on the CB1 and CB2 receptors, which run all throughout the body, but through yet another mechanism in the heart to relax blood vessels. This is cool!
On a more intuitive level, relaxation opens the heart. When we move out of a stressed state into one that is more relaxed, we are receptive and open to give and receive love in many forms. If you’ve ever heard of the “Negativity Bias” you might know about the fact that humans are generally hard-wired to remember and anticipate negative and traumatic events from our lives. From an evolutionary perspective, that serves to protect us from potential danger, but from a practical every day perspective it means that we are programmed to live in a constant state of fear and anxious anticipation. This is not a state of being that necessarily supports openness and generosity. It keeps us small and disconnected.
The type of relaxation we experience with the help of breathwork, meditation, yoga, nature, and plant medicine, can help crack open our hearts in such a way that we don’t live in a constant state of subconscious negativity. This is so necessary for learning, growth, connection, and joy.
To all the anarchists out there: Unblocking the heart chakra also does the trick of breaking us free from the substances, impossible expectations, materialism, consumerism and generally mechanized existence that so many of our corporations, institutions and cultural practices promote. In my opinion, more open heart equals less zombie life and taking what we’re being fed. I don’t mean to pass judgement on any lifestyle, just to serve the conversation of questioning who benefits from keeping us inflamed and anxious with coffee, sugar and the good old 9-5. America runs on ‘Dunks! Right?! Should it though?
5) Throat-Vishuddha
Self-expression, forgiveness, voice, choice, willpower, speak your truth, communication, fear of criticism, actions v words, public speaking
Pause for an anecdote to illustrate the power of the throat chakra:
In my twenties when I kept losing my voice constantly, I read a ton about the throat chakra and was amazed at how much the actual nodules forming on my vocal chords were reflective of how inauthentically I was using my voice. At the time, I was in a state of total identity crisis, squashing my authentic self, trying on personalities and pretending to be anything but who I was, because ultimately I was afraid that being me would lead to rejection or failure.
Not only was I often playing a role, a version of myself that I thought people would like, but I was screaming in loud bars all the time, trying to make sure that everyone heard me, hiding behind a persona and being the first, last and often ONLY one talking. This lack of alignment was something I had to work through psychologically (therapy), philosophically (buddhism mostly), spiritually (yoga) and physically (I actually had to go see this voice coach who taught me how to do recovery exercises for my vocal chords so the nodules wouldn’t get worse, she taught me how to...talk! Kind of embarrassing). I wasn’t speaking my truth, I was using my words for gossip, I was afraid of being seen, and this energetic center was deteriorating as a result. Wild stuff. So real.
We put so much emphasis in this culture on being seen, admired, heard above the rest. We equate outspoken personalities to success and promote those who love to put themselves on a pedestal. It’s worth all of us asking ourselves the questions: Am I using my voice to speak truth? Are the things I’m saying helpful or hurtful?
As a lifelong lover of sarcasm, I still struggle with this one because sometimes to be funny you just HAVE to say something bitchy, right?! Doesn’t humor with a pinch of gossip make the world a more hilarious place?! All I can say is that I feel it in my bones. If I say something biting and funny versus biting and completely unnecessary, I make a mental note to probably not use my voice that way next time. It’s a learning curve. I’m still getting there, I promise not to talk shit about you.
Oh, and a bonus! Studies have shown that CBD helps with Social Anxiety and public speaking. Clear those throat chakras and get on a podium, babe!
Lastly, not to plug, but: Small Farma gummies are made with wild Maine blueberries and Blue is the color associated with the throat chakra. Eat blue foods for support with this! Eat gummies?
6) Third Eye-Ajna-Between the Eyebrows
Intuition, perception, light, clairvoyance, connection to the universe, imagination, circadian rhythms, reproductive hormones, telepathy, lucid dreaming, astral projection
YOGA POSE: SUN SALUTATIONS, TRY CLOSING YOUR EYES
“The third eye can be seen as the psychic organ of the sixth chakra, just as our physical eyes are tools of perception for the brain. The third eye sees beyond the physical world, bringing us added insight, just as reading between the lines of written material brings us deeper understanding.” (Anodea Judith in Wheels of Life)
Physically, the pineal gland is in this space and there is so much to talk about there. Suffice it to say that this little gland regulates melatonin, sleep cycles, circadian rhythms and reproductive hormones. Cannabinoid receptors are all over the endocrine system, so not only is CBD supportive for sleep, but also for a healthy Pineal gland and all of the other endocrine functions that are related to it.
Ever wondered why so many people avoid fluoride toothpaste? It’s thought that many of our modern practices contribute to calcification of this gland, which could otherwise support things like psychic connection, telepathy and lucid dreaming. Fluoride, along with a modern western diet and blue light are some of the things that may contribute to a less than stellar pineal gland.
There’s hope though! When CBD interacts with the many Cannabinoid receptors all across the endocrine system it, again, helps to bring the body into a place of ‘Homeostasis.’ Healthier sleep-wake cycles, hormone production, and blood-sugar levels all work together to create that balance that helps us tap into this powerfully intuitive third eye space.
Burn some Mugwort incense, chant ‘Om’ till the cows come home, and trust that whatever wisdom comes from this space is part of your connection to the universe at large.
7) Crown-Sahasrara-Top of the head
Consciousness, thought, information, transcendence, meditation, bliss
Remember that working with the chakras is not necessarily about ascending a ladder to enlightenment, with the crown chakra being the ultimate goal. Take away that notion of a goal to achieve and just notice the flow of energy from top to bottom, root to crown, a constant interplay back and forth of feedback, stimuli, movement and rest. The crown chakra is not the be all and end all, it is part of a system in which our groundedness is just as significant as our lofty conscious awareness.
The crown chakra is the space where we have the opportunity to use all of our wisdom, intuition and openness to connect to universal truths. To take a birds eye view of what it means to be in a body on a planet, and to find commonality with the tiniest leaves and the biggest mountains. It’s all connected and we are all part of the same swirly matter and energy that makes up the universe.
CBD increases the amount of Anandamide, which naturally occurs in the body. This is known as the ‘Bliss’ molecule. Anandamide is also a mood booster which helps with getting into a meditative state. Sure, you could pop some ‘shrooms (can I legally say that?) and get all gooey about the whirly swirly colors and energy fields, or you can realize that you have the capacity to know and see all of these things all the time. You just forgot, like all the rest of us, because we have TV and Target and happy hour and foosball and sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll and it’s all so cool and enticing and who can even take a pause?! I know it’s hard. No pressure, but it’s there I swear!
Whew this was long and I have seven million other things to say. Did you read all of this?! I would be really impressed if so.
Love you,
Brooke
Further reading for the fellow Chakra-obsessed:
Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith
Healing with CBD By Eileen Konieczny and Lauren Wilson
