In today’s world, where softness, ease, grounded connection to self and nature are undervalued and downplayed, the element of cannabis that allows us to tap into higher levels of insight and consciousness is often missed or stumbled upon by accident. Rites and rituals are exchanged for marketing campaigns, COA reports, & retail management.
To be clear, all of those things have their place; in fact, they are necessary. Trust me, my nerd-brain will geek out over a COA, and I appreciate clever marketing, for sure. However, just like when you isolate one component of cannabis, you leave part of the offering on the table. The spiritual and personal insights are a powerful part of her ensemble.
I’d like to share with you simple rituals to bring more intention into your cannabis consumption. Use these to layer in with existing practices, to pause, to breathe in deep gratitude and respect, and to breathe out what no longer serves you.
Intention & Ritual for Cannabis Consumption
Before we get into the rituals themselves, let’s take a brief look at what I mean by intention and ritual.
I remember one of my first yoga classes, hearing the teacher say, “Set an intention for your practice.”
This honestly derailed most of my first practice.
“What does he mean by setting an intention? If it’s something I desire or want for my practice or my life or others, do I only choose one? Where do I start? What if I choose the wrong thing?”
It took me several months to really understand. Here are a few things I’ve learned:
- No, you don’t have to have only one intention. However, being laser-focused on 1 thing amplifies it.
- No, you can’t “choose the wrong one,” and there are multiple spaces and times you can set an intention. So tune into what’s most on your heart and focus your intention there. Our hearts and souls can be expansive and hold space for SO many things.
- Intentions should be framed in the positive, always. Focus on what you do intend and not what you don’t. Swap, “I want to stop having stressful mornings,” for, “My intention is to be calm and regulated in the morning.” Instead of “Fewer arguments with my partner,” frame it as, “Clear communication and understanding between me and my partner.”
- Don’t overthink it–ask yourself, where are your plateaus or pain points? What could you use more of? What needs to be cleared?
When it comes to ritual, a lot of people tag it with “routine.” However, there are a few differences. A ritual almost always has a spiritual element, rooted in deep purpose and mindfulness. The more we cultivate a relationship with cannabis, the more we can connect with her as a tool to elevate and enhance our wellbeing through these rituals.
5 Simple Cannabis Rituals to Bring More Intention to Your Seshes
Intention and ritual play well together because of the very nature of ritual itself; it’s time set aside for a purpose. As you explore the rituals below, be sure to check your current mindset and set an intention at the start.
Proverbially speaking, Where are you? Where are you going? Are you ready? You’re not looking for “super spiritual” or performance–you’re looking for what helps you connect to yourself, a deity, and/or your intuition.
Now, without further ado, here are 5 simple rituals to bring more intention to your cannabis practice.
Cannabis Ritual 1: Focused Prep
One of the simplest ways to bring intention into your consumption practice is through focused, mindful prep. Instead of grabbing a preroll, take time to thoughtfully prepare your joint, thinking about your desires and what you want to get out of the consumption experience at hand.
Instead of popping a gummy in your mouth as you sit down, put it on the surface in front of you and close your eyes. When you eat it, hold it in your mouth and chew slowly, savoring the flavors and texture.
As you wait for your dab rig to heat up, hold gratitude for what’s about to come and send out an expectation or desire.
The point here is the pause. A pause for gratitude, for energetically holding your intention.
This ritual may not seem like much, but it brings your attention to the present experience. Ask yourself the following questions:
What am I looking to get out of this experience?
Am I consuming to escape or consuming to tune in to something? What is it? (Skip the judgment; take the insight)
What does this cultivar smell like? Does it bring up any memories?
Pull in as many senses as possible, not only with the cannabis, but with your environment. Where are you? Can you name 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel, 2 things you smell, 1 thing you taste?
Taking time to mindfully interact with what your expectations are and what she’s offering you and to tune in to how you’re showing up, will add a deeper layer of intention to your consumption practice.
Cannabis Ritual 2: Layering with Meditation & Prayer
One of the great things about cannabis, as mentioned above, is its versatility. With this ritual, you are able to connect with higher levels of consciousness, gain deeper insights, and let go of a lot of the trappings that hinder the process of connecting to the divine.
Meditation is the “Art of Doing Nothing.” It allows us to still the voices in our head so we can release and receive. If you are new to meditating, I highly recommend starting with something guided. There are several spaces that provide these meditations, and they are often worth their weight in gold, especially when you’re starting, feel like you’re in a rut, or have a difficult time clearing your thoughts.
While meditation is clearing of head space and being open to receiving, prayer is desire and communication voiced to a higher power. I like to think of meditation as more passive, while prayer is active–both have their challenges in the midst of the levels of busyness that life can bring.
There’s something both about prayer and meditation that provides so much clarity and calm. Even challenging times can be met with this sense of, “I don’t know how, but I know this will work out. This too shall pass.”
Layering cannabis in with these practices can help by:
- Quieting the noise in your head. Meditation calls for releasing thoughts, all the lists, and stories. When you do a guided meditation, and they say, “Let go of all thought,” does it make you laugh and go, “How?!? Can you do that?!” Before you sell yourself short, add cannabis to your practice and see how that can enhance your practice.
- Grounding you in your body and in the moment. As multi-dimensional beings, the mind, body, and spirit have deep interconnections that are often overlooked or misunderstood. Being able to be anchored in our physical and feeling grounded and safe frees us to tune into the spiritual. Finding a cultivar that helps you drop into your body while still being cerebral can enhance your prayer and meditation practices.
Cannabis Ritual 3: Anchoring to the Physical
Speaking of grounding, one of the best rituals to help you get the most out of your session is by anchoring into the physical by using the objects around you… by setting up a space that is specifically set aside for intentional consumption.
Where in your home can you specifically dedicate space for your conscious cannabis sessions? What can you add to this space to help connect you to what you’re doing? Perhaps it’s a favorite blanket or hoodie, a special-to-you water bong, crystals and a candle, a picture of your favorite people or place. The goal is to create a space that automatically gets your whole self ready to connect to your cannabis experience.
This space can be as big or as small as you need. Can’t find a space that fits? Create a “Conscious Consumption Kit” that has physical anchors that you only take out for these times. You can add a lot of the items mentioned above and have this experience within a variety of spaces. The point here is to have physical items that you start to connect with these experiences.
Cannabis Ritual 4: Creative Flow
When was the last time you got messy with paint? Danced like no one was watching? Took out some colored pencils and markers?
It’s way too easy to get caught up in “adulting” and disconnect from these things. Even creating can be tied up into a “job” that we do only to earn money. Hello influencers and content creators–anyone else?
There’s an important aspect to messy and raw creativity in that it allows us to understand ourselves and what we feel and think underneath the loud voices of our thoughts and interactions–our distractions.
What stops us most of the time? Our to-do lists, the stresses of life, and the 15,000 distractions in a day.
Here’s how to flip the script on this if you feel caught in the “But I need to be productive” trap. I call this Spirit Math. If you burn out, you can serve no one until you heal. When you take time for creative expression (or the other rituals here), you are allowing yourself to show up more present and clear-headed in your life–for yourself, for your family, for your clients or teammates.
Simply put: Creative Flow is productive. Your unseen practice is serving people. Making space for yourself to play, dance, create… especially in a beautifully altered state with cannabis, allows you to release from hidden corners of yourself and reset so you can move forward with where you want to go in your day-to-day.
Cannabis Ritual 5: Journal & Release
Probably one of the simplest rituals and the one that allows you to go deep and release the most is through journaling. There is something special about putting pen to paper and letting the thoughts flow. It makes things more real. It takes things out of our headspace and allows us to deal with them on the outside.
Often, there’s nothing we need to “do” outside of the release. Other times, it allows us a level of clarity that suddenly opens up a path to what our next steps are toward our goals and desires.
This pairs nicely with cannabis for those times when we are perhaps “stuck” with our thoughts or have a bit of fear over what might come out when we journal. “What would someone say if they saw this? What would they think?”
You can have a general basic journal, but if you need to go deep, you can always consume, let the thoughts and feelings flow, and then safely burn or dispose of your journal entry. In fact, many do this burning of the journal entry as a symbolic way to release.
Your Next Session, Reimagined
Now that we’ve covered a few simple rituals to create more intentional cannabis consumption practice, pick the one that resonated with you the most and set aside time for you to engage with Lady Cannabis in this way this week. Think of these practices as a way to reset your rhythm, build reverence for the plant, and honor yourself. Which ritual will you start with?
You can learn more about intentional cannabis consumption and author Crystal Corker at www.gaiasgift.love
