Can Cannabis Help With Meditation?

Ever tried meditation while using cannabis?

The benefits of meditation are well-known. Just a few minutes of mindfulness a day can make a world of difference in your life.

It’s no surprise that people often draw an association between cannabis and meditation. Cannabis can often evoke a state of mind that is reminiscent of meditation. Many people even use cannabis to assist their meditation.

But what’s the source of this relationship? When did people start using cannabis to meditate? And does cannabis even help with meditation at all?

Today, we’ll examine the relationship between cannabis and meditation. We’ll take a look at the history between the two, and also talk about ways you can apply it to your own life.

So sit back, take a deep breath, and let’s get into it.

The History

Meditation has long been a part of human culture. Certain Eastern religions, like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Rastafarianism have long employed meditation as part of their practices. The exact point at which meditation was conceived is unknown, but historians say it began in India around 500 BCE.

In the century that followed, Hindu scholars chronicled meditation in The Yoga Sutras, as the eighth of the nine steps of yoga. It wasn’t until the 18th century that the West caught wind of meditation through Buddhism, and in 1922, the book Siddhartha made knowledge of meditation widespread.

So when did cannabis come into play? It’s hard to say exactly when, but these religions have worked cannabis into their meditation rituals. Certain sectors of Buddhism, namely Vajrayana Buddhism, are open to cannabis use. In Hinduism, it’s believed that the god Shiva used cannabis to help focus his meditation. As such, cannabis is worked into the meditation practices of some Hindus.

How Does it Work?

The benefits of cannabis and meditation haven’t been studied extensively, but there are plenty of users that have offered their stories on how cannabis-assisted meditation helped them. These anecdotes offer some perspective on how cannabis can be used for meditation.

Some users claim that, in relaxing their minds, cannabis can help overcome some of the symptoms or thinking patterns associated with OCD, autism, or PTSD. For these users, cannabis offers the opportunity for control over one’s thinking, allowing them to calm down at their will. Being separated from their emotions, materialistic thoughts, and knee-jerk reactions enables them to observe their thoughts more objectively than they are when sober. The ability to calm one’s mind also assists in relaxing one’s body.

In a purely physical sense, many have spoken about the ways in which cannabis relaxes the body. For these users, cannabis allows tension in the body to dissipate. It also brings attention to any area that might be feeling rigid, allowing the user to focus on that area through their meditation practices. Cannabis is known to have muscle-relaxing properties, being helpful for chronic pain and gastrointestinal issues. Some studies also state that cannabis might be linked to lower blood pressure and inflammation.

But why do these changes happen to begin with? While the exact mechanisms behind this aren’t entirely clear, certain experts in the realm of cannabis-assisted meditation attribute these effects to the endocannabinoid system. This can happen naturally through the process of exercise or meditation, similar to a “runner’s high”, but the addition of cannabis drastically enhances this phenomenon. These processes are also quite similar to the “flow state”, which cannabis is adept at provoking.

The Technique

If you’re looking to try mixing cannabis and meditation, you’ll want to start with a strain that’s relevant to your needs. A low dose of a sativa like Strawberry Cough can help to separate you from mental stimuli that might be distracting or distressing. Conversely, a moderate-to-high dose of an indica like Pink Gasoline can help you tackle bodily tension, helping you to relax.

So should you just smoke and then meditate? You can, but there are also practices or rituals that you can incorporate to really facilitate the benefits of cannabis and meditation. Breathing exercises are a go-to in this case, as they help you centre yourself and separate from what’s happening around you. These practices can be supplemented with mindfulness meditation, whereby you intentionally let go of the physical or mental stimuli that ails you. Repeating your own personal mantra might help in this regard.

And something that’s specifically inherent to smoking cannabis? Staring at the smoke! Some users have experienced a state of calm simply by taking controlled puffs and staring at the smoke as it gently wafts from the joint. In a similar manner to incense, the burning of cannabis leaves is associated with calmness and serenity, so this can be a tool for those looking to imbue meditation rituals into their usual smoke session.

Wanna Learn More?

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Also, interested in learning how to grow your own cannabis? We’ve got a blog post on that! Check it out here!