In addition to functioning as a pain management tool, a workout recovery aid, or just a way to help us unwind, cannabis is ultimately, for many of us, a plant guide. What does that mean? It’s an ally on our personal journey, whatever that journey may be. Whether it’s your mission to heal physically, or to grow your relationship to creativity or your intuition, etc., if cannabis has helped you to make progress in any way, then it, and your consumption of it, is something to honour! Here’s how to bring a heightened sense of intention to your consumption and get even more out of it.

Set an intention for your session

Our intention for our cannabis consumption influences the outcome, whether we’re conscious about it or not. As a Spiritual Transmissions blogger wrote, “cannabis is a non-specific amplifier, an energy-generating… medicine. If your intention is to escape, it can amplify that intention. If your intention is to heal, to wake up spiritually, to open your heart, and to relax into peace, she can amplify that… (hence), intention is the alchemy we add to the medicine experience and plants respond to our intention.”

If you smoke when you’re sad, it may actually make you ruminate on those stuck thoughts and feels. If you smoke when you’re happy, it can take your mood to even higher heights. Ever noticed that? You’re in the drivers seat of what you can amplify. So rather than stay fixated on what you don’t want to feel before you hit that spliff, take a second to ask yourself, which of your feelings, desires, motivations, do you want to really step into now? Clear your mind and allow that intention to fill your being.

‘Setting’ an intention can be as simple as practicing focused breathing or meditation for a set amount of time and calling in that desired outcome. You could go a step further and write a symbol or word on your rolling paper. Or, say it out loud before you light your lighter – like, ‘I’m capable of turning any bad day around,’ for example. You might also mix some sacred herbs with your bud before you roll a joint. The point is to take time and put thought into your cannabis consumption, rather than do it haphazardly, or when you’re not feeling right.

Continuing to get familiar with more cannabinoids helps you make better decisions to match your intention. Understanding cannabis classification – including the effects of indica, sativa, and hybrid strains, can help curate your experience and medicinal benefits. Knowledge is definitely power.

Create a high-vibe ritual around your consumption

Rituals help us compartmentalize activities or blocks of time in our minds, and allow us to mentally prepare for things (like our day, our night, for example – we all have a morning ritual like brushing our teeth, etc.). They anchor us into an intention, and let us step forward into a new space, mentally.

Whether it’s conscious or not, we all have some kind of ritual(s) around the way we consume cannabis. Some are more simple – like grinding bud and rolling a joint, others will be more elaborate – like hitting a bong between various yoga poses – whatever does it for you). The point is, our rituals around cannabis consumption are as key to our personal experience as the actual herb itself. Consciously creating them can be a big help to move us forward to where we want to be.

Consider Tree Femme Collective founder Lauren Kruz’s high-vibe ‘full moon + cannabis release’ ritual which she shared over on Miss Grass: “While I roll my joint into hemp rolling papers, I scan my chakra system from crown to root feeling into subtle sensation. When I light up and take my first inhale, I close my eyes and feel Mama Ganja move through my body, my mind, and kiss my spirit. I focus on each area that I am feeling sensation, listening for messages that arise. The things that are ready to move that no longer serve me are consciously released.”

Bringing a heightened awareness of every subtle happening in the body and mind like this is one way to access a higher state of being, outside the small day to day worries. From there, messages from your intuition, or higher self, may be able to come through. If you vibe with this, then put your own spin on it and journal out what happens afterward, or, just let your ritual take you where it takes you. Maybe you end up cleaning your closet and ready to step into a new day feeling fresh. Maybe you just listen to music and chill. The point is to create the intentional structure of the ritual as a starting point. It’s like a door you can walk though, into a new headspace.

Other rituals might include vaping as a prelude to a herb-filled bath. Or, a prelude to a grounding crystal meditation. Or, maybe mixing up a post-workout recovery smoothie with CBD oil so you can launch into your day feeling strong and energized and like you really care for yourself. Your definition of what is sacred, and what makes you feel in touch with your best self, is totally your own. Make rituals that feel genuinely supportive to you and your relationship with cannabis will always be something to honour.

What are your cannabis rituals? What helps you root into an intention and move forward into a high-vibe headspace? Let us know over on the ‘gram. We love hearing from ya.