Hi Becca,
I like the idea of trying out your cannabis elevation ceremony (especially when it’s free;) but I have this fraught relationship with cannabis and am a little leery about doing it.
When I smoke (or vape or do an edible with) THC, I get really anxious, which feels, excuse my French, shitty. That’s not something I want to deal with in your event because all I can think about is getting rid of the feeling asap!
In fact, I pretty much avoid getting high (and especially getting high with others) because I want to avoid that feeling. I’m between a rock and a hard place because I’d like to experience your ceremony yet I certainly don’t want to grapple with that awful feeling that THC can bring up for me.
So I’m not really sure what to do and am wondering if you have some advice.
Excited but scared,
Bonnie
Dear Bonnie,
You’re not alone in experiencing this issue with THC. But it’s easily taken care of and I’m going to explain how for you and anyone else wondering about this.
But first, I’m going to tell you why it happens. Then I’m going to give you a recommendation for how to join us and get the most out of our gathering, okay? Because at the end of the day, I believe honoring this potent plant medicine helps us open fully without fear.
The Intensity of a Whoosh
For many, many people, THC, by itself, potentiates anxiety (that is, it increases the power of it). Actually, when people report this to me, I always ask if they usually grapple with anxiety in their day-to-day life (when there’s no THC in the equation) and the answer is categorically yes, showing they want to release emotional triggers for good. So this tells me that the emotion is very close to the surface for them – and wants to be released.
This is exactly the reason that THC is so helpful when we do our emotional release work. It amplifies the difficult emotion so it makes it easier to process and release. But, having said that, we need to be very thoughtful about the amount and type we use – otherwise the emotion (in this instance, anxiety) becomes too intense. And this too much, too fast whoosh can throw a person into total disarray and/or get numbed out. And, when that happens, the opportunity is lost for processing and releasing the heavy emotional energy.*
How Releasing Emotional Triggers Leads to Healing
Finding what works for you is easily managed. First, I never suggest THC by itself when doing this spiritual work. I always recommend that your cannabis needs to be a judicious combination of THC and CBD. My approach is to use cannabis consciously, with balance and intention. There are many other cannabinoids but these two are the “stars” and the best known and serve our purpose well.
I have a more detailed explanation in this video, which will give you a good primer on how to prepare your cannabis for our time together.
Preparing Your Canna for Our Elevation and Meditation Ceremonies
Balancing our potent plant medicine
But here’s the take home message: I suggest at least two times the amount of CBD as THC. CBD calms the “fight or flight” response. In other words, the CBD will calm your nervous system as the THC amplifies the emotion you’re summoning. This helps you maintain emotional balance throughout the ceremony, even when emotions become overwhelming.
I also would suggest if you’re unsure about using THC, just use CBD as it will open you to the movement of energy and put you in a good place for this emotional release work. And then, in other ceremonies, you can start adding in THC.
Join me on Saturday, September 14th for an online Cannabis Elevation Ceremony – my gift to our awakening community. In this gathering, you can take our industrial strength meditations (or some call them, “neuro-workouts”) for a spin to release whatever is knocking loudest on your head. This ceremony creates space for releasing emotional triggers with intention and care. The practices and (optionally) small amounts of cannabis will ground you to pull you through to the other side so you can come away reset and renewed.
If you haven’t already, you can register here. When you register, you’ll also be enrolled to get my weekly newsletter (which you can always unsubscribe to – I don’t want to keep anybody prisoner 🫣).
Let me know if you have questions.
With Love,
Becca
*but don’t fret! The beauty of this spiritual work with cannabis is that it’s all experiential. And if you lose the opportunity this time for inner exploration, wait a day, adjust your amounts and try again!
P.S. I found this article from The Atlantic, Marijuana Is Too Strong Now. It examines the reported effects of rising THC levels in cannabis products and argues for stronger regulation to increase consumer safety. What are your thoughts? Drop down into the comments section and let me know.
