- Meditation is an intentional practice dedicated to clearing or focusing your mind; every person who meditates has unique goals and uses their own methods to achieve them.
- People who use medical marijuana for mental health often find great value in using cannabis in combination with their meditation routine.
- To determine whether or not medical cannabis would be a good complement to your meditation practice, consider some of the benefits and keep an eye out for opportunities to grow.
Meditation and medical marijuana have something in common: they’ve both been the subject of popular media portrayals that don’t tell the whole story.
While it might seem like a rigid exercise for only the most devout spiritualists, meditation is so much more. Any practice that helps focus or clear your mind can be meditative—you might already have a meditative practice without even realizing it.
Similarly, there’s more to cannabis than TV and movies would have you believe. People have been using it as an all-natural healing tool for generations, and science is only just starting to catch on to the clinical potential of medical marijuana.
What else do these two topics have in common? What benefits might you discover if you combined them and harnessed their power for personal growth? We’ll cover these topics and more in the guide below. If you’re skeptical about using medical marijuana for mental health support, this primer could be a game-changer.
Meditation 101
First, let’s debunk some myths about meditation:
- Myth: Meditation is a silent, still activity – While some meditators might like to clear their mind by sitting in a quiet setting in one position, this isn’t true for everyone. Some people meditate to music or harness meditation techniques during exercise.
- Myth: Meditation demands that you clear your mind – Some meditators are devoted to styles that help them clear their thoughts and wipe their mental slate clean. However, meditation takes many forms—some people use it to focus on a specific line of internal questioning or sensations within their bodies.
- Myth: Meditation is a solemn practice – In media portrayals, meditation may seem like an emotionless or very serious activity. But meditation can also spark powerful emotional responses, help people identify specific feelings or aid in processing overwhelming events from our past.
In short, meditation is any practice that helps us slow down, make time for intentional mental work, and move toward positive change.
Medical Cannabis 101
It’s hard to sum up everything newcomers should know about cannabis in just a few sentences. If you’re looking for in-depth explorations of medical marijuana topics, the TeleLeaf blog is a key resource.
For now, let’s just debunk a few myths that might keep you from trying medical cannabis for meditation support:
- Myth: Marijuana makes you high – While strains of medical cannabis that include a non-negligible concentration of THC (one of many cannabinoid compounds found in the marijuana plant) do produce psychoactive effects, not all cannabis products induce a high. CBD-only products, for instance, aren’t psychoactive, and CBD also touts numerous healing benefits.
- Myth: Cannabis is an addictive drug – While it might have the same federal classification as heroin, this is misleading. Cannabis actually has a low dependence potential, and its status as an illicit substance is changing as states begin to legalize it.
- Myth: Marijuana isn’t a good match for self-improvement work – This couldn’t be further from the truth. Can weed help with mental health problems and assist in critical introspective practices? Yes. Cannabis can even help people recover from traumatic events in their past and overcome mental health challenges for good. You can learn more in our complete guide.
Meditating and Medical Cannabis: Benefits
While combining medical cannabis with meditation will look different for every patient, let’s explore some of the benefits of this powerful wellness match.
Slowing Down to Reflect
If you’ve ever tried meditation with the goal of clearing your mind, you might have become frustrated. While this isn’t the only goal of meditation, it can be extremely difficult to empty your mind of all thoughts, feelings, and images.
But if you struggle with a racing internal monologue (especially during periods of high anxiety), cannabis could be your perfect match. Many patients report that some strains of medical marijuana slow their internal monologue.
If you leverage this power during meditation, you could:
- Give yourself more time to process every image, thought, or sensation that enters your mind
- Expand your ability to focus on just one piece of stimulus at a time
- Acknowledge stimuli, process them, and let them pass
Focusing On or Tuning Out Sensory Stimuli
Speaking of stimuli, meditators generally take one of two approaches to them during their practice:
- Acknowledging and focusing on each sensation or thought that enters the mind with the goal of understanding them better
- Intentionally clearing them from their mind to avoid distractions and keep the mental slate blank
Medical cannabis can actually help you do both, but you’ll need to choose the right cannabis product for your goals. There are hundreds of strains (subtypes) of the cannabis plant, and each unique formula produces different effects. Some are more stimulating (which could help generate and focus on complex ideas) while others promote a calm state (the perfect match for people trying to clear their minds).
No matter your approach to stimuli during meditation, cannabis could be a boon to your process.
Promoting a State of Calm
Let’s return to one of the common effects mentioned above, many cannabis strains can make you feel relaxed and promote an overall sense of inner peace.
If you think that effect might be compatible with your meditative practice, you’d be right. Both successful meditation and successful use of cannabis for healing require intention—setting a goal and doing everything you can to achieve it.
With an intentional cannabis practice, you could facilitate the kind of calm state you need to build a deliberate meditation practice. Intention requires focus, and medical marijuana can create the mental space you need to focus by rounding out the sharp edges of your senses.
Considerations for Medical Cannabis and Meditation
So, you’re interested in combining meditation and medical marijuana—what should you know before you get started?
Choosing the Right Kind of Meditation for You
As we’ve mentioned, meditation looks different for everyone. As you experiment with cannabis strains to find the one that works best for you, remember that you can change your meditation style over time to best match your goals and thought-processing approach.
That might look like incorporating:
- Journaling
- Verbal reflections (e.g., talking to a meditation partner or recording your voice)
- Body movement or exercise
- Patterned breathing or other repetitive actions
While there are a variety of existing meditation modalities (e.g., transcendental meditation, mantra meditation, and movement meditation), don’t be afraid to curate a set of tactics that work best for you.
Creating an Intentional Space
No matter your specific meditation style, having a dedicated space to practice can be the difference between an impactful, consistent routine and an unproductive effort.
If you incorporate movement into your meditation routine, you’ll need a space with:
- Room to move
- A place to set your water bottle
- Privacy to move without judgment
If you’re considering meditating to music, you’ll need:
- A place to play music at your chosen volume without disturbing others
- Sound equipment or headphones
- A device to play music (like your smartphone or a stereo)
For meditators seeking a more classical, quiet, and still experience, try to carve out a space that’s:
- Quiet and separate from other spaces in your home
- Free of distractions
- Well-lit or blocked from light (depending on your preferences)
Intentionally curating the ideal meditation space can be the first step to discovering a new, empowering practice that enhances your overall quality of life.
TeleLeaf: Opening the Door of Opportunity for Cannabis Care
If you were already considering using medical marijuana for mental health support or to treat a different medical issue, combining your medical cannabis regimen with a meditation routine could enhance the benefits of both.
But first, you’ll need a recommendation from a healthcare provider to access medical marijuana—that’s where TeleLeaf comes in. As the best online medical marijuana card service on the market, we’re committed to connecting patients to the all-natural care they need and the non-judgmental, open-minded clinical support they deserve.
Ready to unlock the healing power of medical cannabis? Schedule an appointment with our providers today.
Sources:
Cleveland Clinic. Meditation.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/
Calm. Can You Meditate With Music? How to Practice Music Meditation.
https://www.calm.com/blog/can-you-meditate-with-music
Mindful. How to Meditate Through Exercise.
https://www.mindful.org/how-to-meditate-through-exercise/
Healthline. Which Type of Meditation is Right for Me?
https://www.healthline.com/
US Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug Scheduling.
https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling
Harvard Gazette. What We Know and Don’t Know About Pot.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/professor-explores-marijuanas-safe-use-and-addiction/
Healthline. Beginner’s Guide to Marijuana Strains.
https://www.healthline.com/health/beginners-guide-to-marijuana-strains
Ashlyn Saucier 
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