Cannabis and Tools to Sustain Your Joy‌ ‌

Posted: September 29th, 2020

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I use cannabis. Because you are reading this, you probably do, too. Or, maybe you want to? It has taken me a long time to admit to my use of this plant medicine. I was raised during a time, in a state, in a household where its legality made its benefits null to me. But, the benefits as I traverse time and space are much more acceptable now. Though I have to admit to my consistent use of marijuana throughout my young adult and adult life, it took living somewhere where the state approved of my use to relax around it. And even then, I found that I would have to remind myself that I could relax.‌

Cannabis as medicine?

I say this to welcome those of you who struggle to enjoy the benefits of this plant because you, like me, were told this “drug” was bad. Remember, at one point there was a war waged on it. That trauma, from a yogic standpoint, sits in our muscle memory. Until we do something about it, until we let our faulty thinking go, until we let this lie go, it will remain with us. Like all memories, they do not just disperse. We must create in ourselves a new story, and that is just the beginning of the healing required.‌

Use of herbs has always been important in every culture. To cure food, heal wounds, assist in the birthing process… ‌the list goes on and on. Since the beginning of documented time, if you had an ailment, you turned to a medicine person to prescribe you, most readily, a plant. To list the benefits of cannabis here would be out of my scope, as I can only tell you certainly how it has worked for me. Though we can probably all agree that knowing what our medicine can specifically do has aided us dramatically. In more recent years the science behind what cannabis can do is phenomenal.‌

Medicine women, often considered to be witches, were burned at the stake because they knew. They knew that anything that could alter one’s way of life would first be shunned before it would be accepted, especially if being offered up by a woman or found to be financially inconsequential to the patriarchy. And women, more often than not, were entreated privately to give those in need something new. Women have traditionally been terrorized by their knowledge. And we, as a culture, have been bamboozled.‌

The experience that we are now able to access openly with cannabis could have been then, and still is today, a reason to die or at the very least to be imprisoned in some places.‌ ‌So it took me a‌ long‌ time to really accept cannabis as medicine. To be able to utilize cannabis in so many different ways for so many varied reasons is a gift from the Earth, which allows us to feel a myriad of ways.‌

As a cancer patient, I like to shout about how cannabis helped me during chemo. It was one of the most beneficial substances that I was putting in my body at the time. And it allowed me access to some semblance of normality in the body. When I felt nauseous or tired, I was able to tap into the wealth of this plant’s medicinal benefit. When I needed energy, it offered me possibility.‌

So, Cannabis for Joy?

I can admit, that for a time, my use of cannabis was recreational (which is totally acceptable now, but then, not so much). Still, some would argue that even in my recreation use, there must have been a need. What was it that my body was asking for that cannabis offered?‌

If I am looking for euphoria from my THC, the feeling may come, but it will not last beyond the high. So what do we do to sustain our joy? Cannabis can assist us, but it can not sustain us. I don’t want to blow your high with that thought. What I aim to do is fluff it up. We have tools that when paired with cannabis allow us to access deeper levels of healing and a greater sense of joy, throughout our days. Here, now, we can access them without penalty.‌

Here are some tools to pair with your cannabis to get you feeling blissed out now, throughout, and after your high comes down.‌

1. Create a sense ceremony.‌

Before using your flower pre-roll, edible, oil…, hold the product in your hand. How does it feel; what do you see; how does it smell? Use your senses to take in the product before you taste or inhale it. Go so far as to fill your product with words of power that, now external, will become internal, that will become a part of you. Then, enjoy its taste as you partake, slowly and deliberately. Enjoy it all.‌

2. Use sound.‌‌

‌The right music at the right hertz (which captures the frequency with which vibrations occur every second) can create the right vibe. The middle C note on the piano is 262 Hz, so 262 vibrations are released every second when you hear the C note. Because many realize the impact of sound, they keep us hostage at the grocery store or in department stores with sounds that make us want to shop and buy. We can do that with bliss, too. 963 hertz is considered to be spiritual bliss. If you look on YouTube, there are binaural beats that you can pair with your cannabis to get you closer to wherever you are trying to go.‌

3. Pay attention to your breath.

‌‌One easy way to educe the breath is to pay attention to it. Feel it as it comes into the body- its texture, its temperature, the way it maneuvers the body: expanding the belly or ribcage. In yoga, being in touch with your breath is to be in touch with your life. The deeper you engage with the breath, the deeper you engage with life. Pair this awareness of the breath with your cannabis. Taking time to observe how you are breathing will help you deepen your connection to the good you may already be feeling in the body. Or if you are not feeling good, it will help you to feel better much more quickly. When conscious breath is paired with cannabis, there is a magnanimous effect.‌

4. Welcome your own touch.

‌‌As this month is National Sexual Health Month, I want to invite you to get sexy with yourself and your cannibus. You can include a partner in this journey, but you do not need one. Touching yourself, even while with a partner, can stimulate you both. Acknowledge the softness and tenderness of your own body. Start by stroking your arms and legs lightly. Use some oil and massage your head, neck, chest, breasts, and belly. Work your way down to your feet. Massage in between your toes, in between your fingers. Work your way into the spaces that are often overlooked. Tap into your high and go into regions of your body that call out to you to be touched. Go all the way.‌

‌The benefits of cannabis paired with other conscious tools open up doors to more bliss, more of the time. There is a world of healing that we can enter if we can acknowledge where we are and what we need. In each moment as human beings, our ability to access joy is dependent upon our ability to see that desire and respond appropriately, making use of our tools, to get there.‌

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