It’s obvious that “wellness” is becoming more popular with TikTok’s recent adoration of pilates, Instagram’s preoccupation with gut health, and the appearance of mushroom lattes on the menus of our neighborhood coffee shops. Despite the health fads and diets in disguise, there is one certain upside: more and more people are starting to realize how closely connected our physical and emotional health are.
There has never been more interest in yoga, meditation, and other Eastern methods of improving health and wellbeing. Authorities in the government, healthcare systems, and the general people are now beginning to realize that cannabis is medicine after decades of stigma and false information in the West. The spiritual value of combining cannabis with yoga is undeniable, even though it isn’t just the newest wellness craze. Let’s explore why the two have peacefully coexisted for countless years.
Yoga and cannabis: the fusion of two religions
Yoga is a form of breathing exercises, meditation, and physical postures called asanas that aims to unite the mind and body through awareness of the present moment. Yoga is a mental, physical, and spiritual exercise that has its roots in the past 5,000 years in ancient India.
Similar to yoga, cannabis use has a spiritual component. Although getting high isn’t necessarily a spiritual experience, for some people it can be. People have been using cannabis for thousands of years to help with spiritual development and to think about philosophical issues.
Yoga and cannabis can be practiced together since both can help a person access more of their thoughts and feel more connected to their body. The two practices have been entwined for many years; the combination is by no means novel. I’ve traveled the Siberian, the entire Silk Road, the Himalayas, various regions of Africa, the Middle East, and South-East Asia, as author, ethnobotanist, and spiritual authority Christopher Kilham recounts. Cannabis has recently spread widely. Not all spiritual disciplines included it, but many did.
Nowadays, it’s not unusual to smoke, vape, or eat a cannabis edible before practicing yoga. Many assert that the fusion has enormous long-term health and psychological advantages.
Why do individuals mix yoga with cannabis?
To most people, cannabis and yoga may sound like a flavorful mix that pairs well. Others might completely reject the concept. If you were in the studio, wouldn’t you start laughing out loud? Or doze off soundly while in savasana? Weed has varied effects on different people. And whether it comes as a surprise or not, many people find that practicing yoga while high is really a very compatible activity.
Yoga practitioners may primarily use cannabis to reduce pain and stiffness during their practices. The main cannabinoids in the Cannabis sativa plant, cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can target some of the pain pathways in our neurological system and decrease the sense of pain, according to a wealth of experimental and clinical research. Because of this, many people use cannabis to ease the physical discomfort that could otherwise prevent them from engaging in a yoga flow.
Cannabis may not only help people relax physically, but it may also have similar psychological advantages. Many people praise it for its capacity to calm the mind and intensify the meditative state. For instance, it might be the secret to turning off nervous thoughts and promoting mental quiet during savasana, helping to put a stop to a hectic day. Others discover that cannabis can help them concentrate better, which may result in advancements in their posture, form, and breathing strategies.
Iz*, who has been practicing yoga on a daily basis for about a year, admitted to leafie that she frequently smokes marijuana for spiritual development and introspection. Iz made the decision to include marijuana in her yoga routine because, according to her, “you can get really in your brain [while high], so it was good to…experience how weed can feel simply for your body.” She claims that cannabis improves her practice progress and makes her feel closer to her physical self. She describes one specific stoned yoga experience: “When I was in child’s pose, I felt really grounded. I felt like I was part of the soil.”
There are a ton of positive testimonies about the results of combining cannabis and yoga. Are the claims that cannabis can improve yoga’s mental and physical advantages supported by science?
The main cannabis chemicals, or cannabinoids, interact with the endocannabinoid system in our bodies (ECS). This intricate cell-signaling system helps to control our mood, hunger, sleep, level of pain, immune function, and many other aspects of our lives. It is in charge of preserving biological stability in the brain and the body. Cannabinoids “supplement” this system in an efficient way, helping the ECS perform its essential duties.
Yoga has been shown to have positive effects on the mind and body through a variety of processes, but there is some indication that the ECS may also be involved. It is hypothesized that mind-body practices like Tai Chi and yoga activate CB1 receptors in the ECS, which elevates our mood. This is covered in a 2018 review. This is in line with earlier research that suggested the endocannabinoid anandamide, also referred to as “the bliss molecule,” is released during exercise and contributes to the “runner’s high” and the ECS.
Even top researchers in the field of cannabis medicine appear to be in agreement that much more research is needed to pinpoint the precise mechanisms underlying the mental and physical advantages of yoga. There is reason to believe that the ECS is also involved in the mental and physical benefits associated with yoga, according to neuroscientist and psychopharmacology researcher Dr. Ethan Russo, who states that “research supports the hypothesis that the ECS is responsible for the mood boost created by healing practices like meditation.”
Does marijuana actually belong in a yoga studio?
Even though stoned yoga sounds like a lot of fun, it has risks and is absolutely not for everyone.
Cannabis can make your body feel more at ease and comfortable during a yoga session by lowering pain and stiffness. While this may be advantageous, it also makes it simpler to overwork yourself. Some people could discover that cannabis doesn’t help them think more clearly and really makes it harder for them to focus, which ups the danger factor. Therefore, it is often advised to move slowly and maintain doses modest. No matter how unstoppable you feel, keep your poses simple and avoid headstands and crow poses.
Not everyone will use cannabis as a stress-relieving agent. In fact, marijuana use has been known to cause severe anxiety, panic, and paranoia in some people. High amounts of THC frequently result in racing thoughts, which is the reverse of the mental clarity that yoga and meditation seek to promote. Learning what works for your body is essential because entering a calmer state won’t assist everyone.
Prominent members of the yoga community have also expressed some opposition to the idea of stoned yoga. Although there are historical connections between yoga and cannabis, according to Kat Heagberg, author, yoga teacher, and editor of Yoga International, these connections are shaky and the push for commercialized cannabis yoga “shows a profound lack of understanding and respect for the established philosophical and spiritual tradition.”
Others think that incorporating cannabis into meditation or other forms of yoga is a “cheat code” for attaining nirvana. There is no short path to inner serenity, according to Ayurveda, an integrative Indian medical system. Despite this, contemporary science has demonstrated that complementary pharmaceutical approaches can be as valuable. Cannabis “may assist open the spiritual door and offer them a peep” for some people, claims Darrin Zeer, the creator of 420 Retreats.
The potential of marijuana yoga
Numerous cannabis-focused yoga businesses, pop-ups, and retreats already exist in US states where the recreational use of cannabis is permitted, and the spiritual discipline is reportedly a “multi-million dollar business.”
However, legislative limitations on cannabis use for recreational purposes make things more challenging in the UK. There aren’t any recognized cannabis yoga groups yet, despite the fact that many people include marijuana in their at-home yoga routines.
Instead, a lot of yoga practitioners are deciding to include CBD in their routine. CBD products cannot make you high because they are fully lawful and non-psychoactive. However, they can provide similar pain-relieving and stress-relieving advantages to whole-plant cannabis, making CBD a wonderful place to start for anyone looking to give their yoga sessions a little plant-powered boost. Even if marijuana won’t improve everyone’s yoga practice or open the path to enlightenment, cannabis has tremendous worth in the practice of spirituality. The more you research marijuana and yoga, the more you realize how complementary they are to one another.
