Getting to know herbs (spotlight CBD)

I’m sharing an article I found interesting about CBD. I’m sharing this simply to illustrate how one perhaps gets to know any herb or plant-based medicine. These are relationships. You get to know the plant and how you interact with it. There are times when it’s appropriate and there are times when it is not and this is true for just about everything.

Those of us with these injuries know something about the trickster in just about any food or substance. We have a lot of sensitivities. I find that most herbs have a sort of polarity in which they may be just what you need today but not tomorrow. And they really do act differently in the body depending on what is going on. All herbs do this in one way or another. Some are much more noticeable than others.

From: CBD Science: How Cannabinoids Work at the Cellular Level to Keep You Healthy

“Cannabinoids are well known among scientists for their trickster-like ability to exert opposite effects in different situations. In mitochondria, cannabinoid activity is even more complicated. At low-stress conditions, cannabinoids often increase mitochondrial activity and cellular respiration, triggering autophagic cellular repair. Cannabinoids will also buffer high stress conditions and protect cells by decreasing mitochondrial activity. But that’s not all. The dependence on stress is actually trimodular: In very high-stress conditions — such as those often present in cancer cells — endocannabinoids can create a positive feedback loop, increasing stress to the point where the cell undergoes apoptosis.” —

My comments:

I didn’t get on well with CBD for a long time…as with most isolates and extracts. At this point I will only use full spectrum extracts (the whole plant is used). I quite like CBD on occasion now and find that a small amount of THC (whatever is legal in your state) really helps the CBD work…tiny, trace amounts do not cause one to get “high.” Some people, however, are sensitive to anything coming from a plant with any amount of THC so one must always be careful when first trying anything.

Mostly I’ve come back to CBD with great respect. Like many herbs, it has deep intelligence. It will not just get rid of pain if that is not what you need…it’s just as likely to put you squarely into the pain in order to process it and heal. This is actually true of many herbs and something people often have a hard time with this. Real medicine takes time and it often requires us to face our pain. CBD is very grounding at this point for me. Again, remember, it’s different for everyone and it’s different everyday. Our bodies change in every moment.

Western medicine has brainwashed us to think we should take “medicine” everyday, always. That’s pHARMa propaganda.

If an herb is feeling right, use it. If not, don’t. Listen to your body. Learn to respond to it’s cues in the moment. That is the healing process for me in a nutshell, really.

When we’re healing homeostasis doesn’t exist…we can’t do the same thing every day and expect to continue getting better…healing is a vibrant state of CHANGE.