The Role of the Endocannabinoid System in Stress Reduction

When we are chronically stressed and living in survival mode, adrenaline lingers in our body, and this results in symptoms.

So how to get out of this state again?

Recently, in the last 10 or 20 years, scientists have found out, that we have a system, that can counterbalance survival instincts. So we have an inner mechanism, that can calm us down, and let go of the adrenaline.

You can see it in Meercats, in nature videos, where one of them raises the alarm, and they stop, stand up and look around - that's the dopamine state. Then depending on the scout in the herd, they run to the burrows and hide for maybe 10 minutes, and then they come back.

They do that 10 - 100 times every day.  So this gearing up, and calming down again - of course, there is a mechanism.

Science is on the edge here. They haven't found out everything about this yet, but you can find studies on the internet. And the reason they found out about this system, was that they got curious about, why cannabis work. So they investigated, what happened, with the cannabis in the body.  And they named this new system after cannabis. I am so sad that this happened because I'm not an advocate for cannabis because it doesn’t address root causes (and comes with side effects). 

But, they call it the endocannabinoid system. So something inside the body where cannabis can interact.

And cannabis is just mimicking one of the chemicals in the body.

But now this system has this name. I hope someday it will get a better word, so I don't have to use the word every time (cannabis is NOT a solution, like pills is not a solution to chronic diseases).

But, overall our instincts alert us and make it possible for us to escape danger. And the endocannabinoid system cools us down again, to a calm state.

Here, I guess, all alternative therapies and strategies are at the forefront here. Trying out all the different ways how the body can be calmed down.

What is important is you can try all these things, that are not explained by science, but that can interact with the endocannabinoid system and calm you down.

For example, in 1:1 therapy, I help people with the trigger situations, where they were once hurt or embarrassed in some way, and get this feeling present in their body, while they are talking about it. Then I get them to activate the endocannabinoid system by retelling a better end to the story, not to neglect the event, but calm them down. The way that things should have been happened many years ago when you were in this situation.

Maybe you were bullied in school and no one came and help you, So you installed a body memory. Or do you just hate that people look like the guy that bullied you? Then connecting with these feelings and making a happy ending to them. What could that be? An ending that a teacher, a mother, or a good friend, coming into the scene at the right moment and stopping whatever was going on, telling the bully it was not a fair way to be in the world, and getting your childhood self all the support you need, listen to your version of the story, being social and comforting you that could have happened in the situations.

So often a body memory or trauma is a story/situation with an unhappy ending.

If it does not become a trauma or body memory, is it because someone interacted with you and helped you!

So two people with the same story being in the same situation, and one got help and the other did not and ends up in terrible trouble (mentally, and with symptoms many years later).

Below is a study that tells you that we are on the right track.

More importantly, modulating the activity of the endocannabinoid system turned out to hold therapeutic promise in a wide range of disparate diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, to cancer, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity/metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis, to name just a few. Link to study here

For the month of June and July, my online course developed with

Gary Sharpe

“Body Memories and Fascia” is free for our members. Here we tell more about body memories and how it affects you.

Dear pledging people:
If you want to support me and Gary’s [

Gary Sharpe's Articles

], the Member’a Area is a way with a monthly payment at $16 and can also be a gift for a loved one with a disease or who is stressed. It has taken Gary 7 years of his own struggles and life experience, and me 5 years of experimenting with clients and test cases, and researching survivor stories, and studying to acquire this knowledge. We need to find out if this knowledge is welcome in the world. (And we need to start employing people, so we can make more content.)