Mindfulness Moments With Cannabis

Written by Jamie Partida

Finally, a warmer season is upon us. Spring is my favorite part of the year, as I witness new flowers blossom and growth appear in the form of luscious gardens and gorgeous trees. It seems that everywhere you turn there is something new to perceive, like a small patch of grass among dirt or new flowers budding on the leaves of big trees... While it all sounds poetic, it turns out our brains actually do receive calming and meditative signals when you stop and smell the roses. In other words, being aware of your surroundings can have tremendous effects on your wellbeing. Studies have shown that just being outdoors can have the potential to help heal our body and mind, and even just staring at a flower helps reduce your blood pressure, lower stress and increase serotonin (double points if it's a smokeable flower). So, it’s worth it to take your smoke sesh outdoors now and then to enjoy everything mother nature has to offer. For a quick session, a nicely packed joint or an easy to carry small pipe may be the perfect companion for your daily dose of nature therapy.

Photos by Emily Carter

A simple way to practice mindfulness is to choose a relatively quiet location to sit or stand, and begin taking long deep breaths through your nose and out through your mouth while saying the words “inhale” as you breathe in and “exhale” to yourself as you breathe out. Doing this up to 3 times helps center your attention and bring awareness to your being in the outside world. For an even more elevated effect, try incorporating a high-CBD strain or pre-gaming your outdoor adventures with a CBD gummy. This practice also can help with the anxiety we often feel when smoking out in public, (which is common to still experience as cannabis has only recently become legal in New York) however over time this practice will help diminish anxiety as it brings awareness to your surroundings and tells your brain that everything is going to be ok.

Mindfulness can also be practiced indoors in several ways such as maintaining a few houseplants, doing repetitive tasks like cleaning and organizing, or simply standing still for a few moments. When we take time during the week to observe and analyze your growing plants, we are giving our brain a dose of serotonin to help elevate our mood and overall wellness. Doing remedial tasks such as cleaning or organizing space can also become a mindful moment when paired with the proper breathing technique. Setting intentions while breathing can also help the mind focus on more positive thoughts and turn the attention towards achieving our goals and aspirations. However, this wouldn’t be a cannabis article without suggesting a pre-work smoke to ease into the activity, and that always makes for a more enjoyable time anyways. To get into the center of intention during our meditative cleaning, I personally prefer to pack a water-filled percolator with a sativa dominant strain for a smooth and lasting effect.

Thanks to the legalization of cannabis in New York, it is now permitted to grow up to six plants at home, which could make for the most mindful practice of all, as growing cannabis requires a lot of patience and observation. Watching the entire process from seed to flower can be enlightening as it has been for many home growers everywhere, and creates a deeper sense of connection between you and the plant. Simply start by germinating a seed then planting it into your growing method, then feed it and watch it grow. While the process is a bit more complicated than that, there is an opportunity for more mindfulness to enter your space as you learn about the lifecycle of cannabis. These options for practicing mindfulness at home or even outdoors are just a few of the ways we can celebrate National Mindfulness Month, and not to mention all the steady progress that has been made towards achieving social equity and legalization of Cannabis nationwide. So spark up...inhale... speak your intentions...and exhale deeply to reap the benefits of this simple yet amazing practice.

SHOP MINDFULLY AT WWW.CULTURECLUBSMOKESHOP.COM @CULTURECLUBSMOKESHOP