Balance vs. Relax vs. Uplift: 3 CBD Moods Explained
Smoking or vaping Cannabis sativa can provide a wide variety of different vibes. Even CBD-rich hemp, which isn’t intoxicating, can produce considerably varied effects, and these effects are generally categorized as either balanced, relaxing, or uplifting.
Some strains of CBD-rich hemp, for instance, will make you feel energized, focused, and ready for any challenge. Other strains, on the other hand, might accentuate the inherently relaxing effects of CBD and make you feel sleepy. Still other CBD-rich cannabis cultivars will provide a balanced mix of both uplifting and relaxing effects.
The type of CBD you smoke or vape will have a significant impact on the effects you experience. Therefore, it’s important to learn which products are uplifting, relaxing, or balanced along with what causes these differences between various strains of Cannabis sativa. In this guide, we’ll provide you with the answers you’ll need to choose the ideal CBD experience.
What makes CBD products uplifting, relaxing, or balanced?
Over the years, users of both intoxicating and non-intoxicating forms of Cannabis sativa have noted that each strain of hemp or marijuana has a different effect. While these variances between strains are often very subtle, veteran cannabis users have no trouble picking them out, and over time, cannabis strains have been separated into three distinct categories.
The first category, sativa, consists of strains that have energizing or uplifting effects. Originally, scientists thought that cannabis was separated into two distinct species: Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. While the current opinion is that these variants are in fact part of the same species, sativa cannabis plants certainly have different traits than their indica counterparts.
Having spread across Southeast Asia and Africa over the centuries, sativa cannabis strains grow in stretched-out, lanky patterns, and they often feature sweet, bright flavors and aromas that reflect their tropical roots. Indica strains, on the other hand, remained limited to Central Asia until relatively recently, and they grow thick buds in squat formations that reflect the colder temperatures of the Himalayas and Eurasian Steppe. Strains with indica genetics have calming, relaxing effects.
Over the last few decades, breeders have crossed indica and sativa cannabis cultivars to produce “hybrid” strains. Walking the line between sativa energy and indica calm, hybrid cannabis strains offer the best of both worlds.
While the differences between indica, sativa, and hybrid strains are clear to anyone who has seen Cannabis sativa plants in full bloom, the exact chemical differences between these types of cannabis have proven harder to determine. The reigning theory is that the terpenes present in indica, sativa, and hybrid strains are responsible for their distinct effects. It appears that, during the maturation process, the unique genetic codes present in each cannabis strain cause certain terpenes to be expressed instead of others, subtly modifying the effects that the mature flower provides.
Which CBD products are uplifting?
CBD products that are listed as sativa generally provide uplifting effects. For these effects to take place, however, it’s necessary to use full-spectrum CBD that keeps the terpenes naturally present in Cannabis sativa intact.
It’s also possible to reintroduce terpenes from sativa cannabis strains to boost the uplifting effect of a CBD product. In general, CBD products that you vape or smoke will have more potent uplifting effects since they take effect faster and with greater bioavailability.
Which CBD products are relaxing?
Indica CBD products provide the most relaxing effects. Compared to THC, the effects of CBD are already inherently relaxing, so it isn’t uncommon for our customers to report that sativa or hybrid strains also offer relaxing benefits.
This also means that practically any CBD product is likely to be relaxing whether it contains full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, or isolate CBD. These relaxing effects are boosted, however, in CBD products that contain the full entourage of terpenes that are present in indica-dominant cannabis strains.
Which CBD products are balanced?
CBD products derived from Cannabis sativa plants with roughly equal indica and sativa genetics will provide balanced effects. Since CBD is inherently a relaxing cannabinoid, the effects of hybrid strains might lean more toward the soothing end of the spectrum, but the uplifting attributes of sativa will also strongly shine through.
Uplifting vs. relaxing CBD products
Now that you know how to tell the difference between uplifting, relaxing, and balanced CBD products, it’s time to discover the ideal scenarios for using each type of CBD. Many hemp users find that uplifting, sativa CBD products are best for getting ready for your day or preparing for physical activity. Before you head out the door on your way to work, therefore, you might want to take a puff of your sativa CBD cartridge, or you might want to smoke a sativa hemp pre-roll before working out at the gym.
Indica CBD products, on the other hand, are more appropriate for times when you don’t have much ahead of you in your schedule other than relaxing at home or going to sleep. These products accentuate the inherently relaxing effects of CBD to their fullest, and for some people, this sense of potent, non-intoxicating relaxation might make energy-intensive activities unappealing.
Uplifting vs. balanced CBD products
The dividing line between uplifting and balanced CBD products is less defined than the differences between uplifting and relaxing CBD. While both uplifting and balanced CBD products somewhat counteract the inherently relaxing effects of this cannabinoid, balanced CBD products do so to a lesser degree than uplifting CBD products.
You might reach for either a sativa or a hybrid CBD flower strain, for instance, throughout the day for help with stress or anxiety without getting sleepy. Some CBD users like to avoid uplifting or balanced products toward the end of the day, but others report that they get to sleep just as well after using sativa or hybrid strains as they do after using indica strains.
Relaxing vs. balanced CBD products
Both balanced and relaxing CBD products effectively accentuate the relaxing effects that CBD provides. Indica CBD strains and vape cartridges with indica terpenes, however, might provide these effects more strongly than similar products with balanced indica and sativa genetics.
How to choose between uplifting, relaxing, and balanced CBD
If you never want to feel powerfully relaxing effects when you use CBD, you might want to exclusively use CBD flower strains with sativa genetics or CBD vape cartridges with added sativa terpenes. Even people who use CBD for uplifting stress-reduction throughout the day, however, often want some help with getting to sleep at night.
Therefore, you might want to stock your stash with both indica and sativa hemp flower strains or switch between CBD vape cartridges with sativa or indica terpenes. Rather than constantly selecting between these two types of non-intoxicating cannabis, some CBD users prefer to stick with balanced products since they provide relaxing effects when desired but can also be uplifting.
Get the best of all three CBD moods with Secret Nature
At Secret Nature, we separate our CBD vape, CBD flower, and CBD pre-roll products into uplifting, relaxing, and balanced categories. This way, it’s easy to identify which Secret Nature products will provide which effects, allowing you to pinpoint the experience that you want to enjoy when you use CBD. To fully understand the diversity of effects that relaxing, uplifting, and balanced CBD can provide, go ahead and try products from all three categories to compare the differences between sativa, indica, and hybrid genetics for yourself.
