I knew when I started this blog and podcast, that there would be some days, and maybe even weeks where I wouldn’t be able to write, and record, and last week was one of those times. The depression was a bit more potent than normal, and I spent hours sometimes just staring at my laptop, and nothing would come to me.
I also had a few commitments outside the house that I had to also excuse myself from, including touring one of the big cannabis grow facilities here in Utah. But as things go, I missed out on another opportunity for something that I was really looking forward to.
You know, we sometimes have locked away in our brains’s filing system, sayings, mantras, idioms, and random soliloquies that we store away for the moments of inspirational hunger when we need them.
One of these statements for me, I have written on a post-it note on my studio wall,
“When things become so heavy, and you just can’t anymore…take a knee, catch your breath — and then get back up again.”
But what do you do when you need some extra strength inspiration?
This is a weed blog, so I’m sure you’re ready for me to start talking Weed…
But I’m not going to, at least not just yet.
I heard a lot of folks talk about how cannabis can fix everything. Gawd I wish that was true, it’s almost true, but not entirely. But in Marijuana circles you hear a lot of advocates talk about how Cannabis isn’t a panacea for everything, and while it helps with so much, and is one of the tools in the arsenal of things I’ve found useful in my medical treatment protocols for Post Traumatic Stress, Chronic Pain and everything else broken with me — Cannabis alone isn’t the cure.
So what the frack does that even mean?
Well for starters, One Puff, that’s all… isn’t enough to solve all your problems, So what are other tools that can help you figure out your crap?
Therapy, Meditation, psychological Integration and shadow work are just a few I’ve found useful, and in many cases I’ve taken bits and pieces of therapeutic concepts, and stitched together something that works for me — It’s almost like a Psychological version of Chaos Magic.
You can call me the Emerald Witch.
Or the Weed Witch — I’m not sure which one is better.
I have found this kind of cafeteria therapy helpful, especially in my situation, because I’ve pieced together all the things I can do on my own without anyone else.
I know, I can hear my therapist in my head reminding me that you can’t do everything on your own, but I sure am going to try to do everything that I can do independently, and when I’ve reached that end, then I’ll consider reaching out for help externally.
That is just how I am. I’m the kind of gay that will be one of the first people there at your side when you ask for help, and many times I will even recognize and respond to the non-verbal cries for help, or lead an intervention for a friend self destructing, but I could be in near critical condition, laying on the floor bleeding out while I try to stitch myself back together, and my family is trying to get me into the car to go to the hospital, and I’d be worried that I’m being a burden, and ruining their day. That I think is the biggest trigger and that issue for me is the fear of being a burden on others, and living with chronic issues I’m often finding myself needing help from those closest to me, and I do feel like a burden.
I really hate that cycle of thought.
Weed and Therapy are two amazing tools, and now that Utah is a medical cannabis state, I’m starting to see therapist incorporating cannabis into their therapy sessions. They are literally setting up a cannabis vaporizer next to the therapy couch, and the patient medicates during the session.
How fantastic is that!
[Singing] 🎶 There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow…🎶
…and I better stop now before Disney sues me.
But it truly is a wonder seeing how far and how fast Utah has come on the front of marijuana.
I got involved in the cannabis fight here in Utah in 2013, and in those 9 years since I began, we had only 30% public approval, to having a functioning medical cannabis program entering it’s 3rd year, is an evolutionary step for Utah I wouldn’t have thought possible a decade ago.
I’ve talked about it in several posts already but cannabis assisted therapy is such a groundbreaking and powerful tool in the arsenal of fixing our shit.
I actually plan on doing a more in-depth post and discussion on this topic with my dear friend Valerie Ahanonu-Plautz in a few weeks, and I am really looking forward to that one, so stay tuned!
There is another amazing “non-traditional” treatment experience that I have found a lot of success from, and it involves a Salt Cave.
Nearby there is a shop that has built a Himalayan salt cave in one of their therapy rooms, with thousands of pounds of coarse ground Himalayan pink salt 8 inches deep on the ground, and gigantic bricks of pure salt made into a bench, and lining the walls and it’s backlit so the entire room has a nice warm glow to it. They have a machine that grinds the salt into a very fine cloud and blows it into the cave as you just relax, meditate and breathe it in.
The lore behind Halo-therapy comes from the 19th and 20th century where doctors started to notice that salt miners who are underground in the salt mines all day were not getting respiratory illnesses the same way as the above grounders, and it was figured that the fine salt dust that they were all breathing was responsible.
I like to medicate before going by taking a few cannabis gummies about 90 min before the session, and then taking a few rips off my vape pen before, and then when I’m done, and in less than an hour it feels like you just had a mini vacation.
It would be fantastic if they could hot box the salt cave with cannabis at the same time they are doing the halo-therapy, that would be amazingly therapeutic, but something like that can only exist in our imaginations, who knows what the future will bring us.
After a 45-min session, I feel more grounded, and relaxed.
Now there are some who say Halo-therapy is nothing but the placebo effect, to which I say, so is religion. So if it works because it works, or because you believe it works, regardless either way it's working right?
Just the fact that you’re able to be in a state of meditation for 45-min is therapeutic beyond measure, and you’re guaranteed to be in a better mood and state of mind than when you started.
Anyway, I’m the Pot Head Veteran, please follow me on Twitter @potheadveteran, subscribe to my podcast, eat your vegetables, take your vitamins and like always Smoke Long and Prosper 🖖🏻
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