The body makes its own cannabinoids
The endocannabinoid system helps explain why exercise and cannabis can appear in the same scientific conversation. Endocannabinoids are signalling molecules produced by the body; they are not THC taken from the cannabis plant. Research into exercise-related changes in these molecules examines an internal physiological response. It does not mean that a yoga class requires an external cannabinoid.
What a running experiment found
A 2021 randomised, placebo-controlled study involved 63 participants and compared 45 minutes of moderate treadmill running with walking. Running increased euphoria and reduced anxiety. These changes still occurred when participants received naltrexone, which blocks opioid receptors. The result challenged an exclusively endorphin-based explanation of the runner’s high and made endocannabinoid signalling a strong candidate. The experiment concerned running, not a cannabis-assisted yoga programme.
Yoga has its own clinical evidence
In a separate trial of 226 adults with generalised anxiety disorder, Kundalini yoga was compared with cognitive behavioural therapy and stress education over 12 weeks. Response rates were 54.2% for yoga, 70.8% for cognitive behavioural therapy and 33% for stress education. Yoga outperformed the education control, but the study did not establish that it was no worse than cognitive behavioural therapy. Cannabis was not the intervention tested.
A changed feeling is not an improved movement
Research on cannabis and exercise also separates subjective experience from performance. A University of Colorado study of 42 experienced runners found greater enjoyment during cannabis-associated treadmill sessions, while THC sessions felt more effortful. That finding cannot establish better yoga balance, alignment or learning. Exercise-related mood, a structured yoga intervention and cannabis intoxication are three different effects. Combining their names does not turn them into one proven therapy.
Sources & further reading
General information, not individual legal or medical advice.