When it comes to holistic health and alternative therapies, meditation can be overlooked. If you have never engaged in meditation practice, the concept of taking time out to relax, breathe, and wind down from the hectic pace of everyday life may sound like a waste of time. Can it really offer any mental health benefits?
There is ample scientific evidence to show that mindfulness meditation can have a positive impact on health and overall well-being. Meditation practice is centuries old and may provide pain-relieving properties, help improve sleep, and reduce stress.
Ancient cultures also used substances to achieve a meditative state, including the hemp and cannabis plant. If you are a journal to improve your emotional well-being and self-awareness, you may want to combine medical marijuana with breathing exercises and meditation.
What Are the Health Benefits of Meditating?
Mental and physical health are connected. If you are in a state of chronic pain and stress, your body can build up excessive levels of cortisol, the human stress hormone. That hormone is also known as the “fight or flight” trigger, developed to provide a surge of adrenaline when we are in physical danger. Think about our cavemen ancestors trying to outrun a sabretooth tiger.
The problem is that modern life has stressors that our bodies have not evolved well to manage. The human body wasn’t designed to have peak levels of cortisol every day, or weeks, months, or even years. Because of this, people who have chronic and unmanaged high-stress levels can experience side effects and increased health risks. High cortisol levels affect your immune system, digestive processes, and cardiac health.
Clinical studies have suggested that meditation practice (if done correctly) can help lower cortisol levels just as much as regular exercise. Meditation is frequently part of successful integrated medicine treatment plans. The best part is that it costs nothing but time.
It is not difficult to incorporate cannabis into your mindfulness meditation practice on a regular basis. In fact, many of the psychoactive effects of medical marijuana can help you remove feelings of anxiety or distraction to make the most out of your meditation session.
Anxiety and Stress Relief
Much of anxiety is caused by thinking about upsetting things that happened in the past or worrying about what might happen in the future. Meditation and mindfulness training can help you focus on only the present moment, which can naturally reduce stress.
People who regularly practice meditation find that they can improve their emotional resilience and break the harmful cycle of anxious thoughts and the physiological effects stress has on the body. Meditation can teach you new ways to cope with stress and improve mental and physical well-being.
Can Help With Pain Relief
Some may be skeptical about the benefits of meditation for pain relief. When you are feeling stressed, one of the ways that your body responds is to tighten muscles. If you have back or joint pain, spasticity, or recurrent muscle spasms, that can intensify chronic pain.
Deep breathing exercises are an important part of meditation. Not only does mindful breathing help you reduce stress, but rhythmic deep breathing allows your body to reduce muscle tension. When you are feeling more emotionally calm, you will notice that your muscles also relax.
Another important thing happens during meditation; those deep breaths stimulate the release of endorphins, which are hormones that are natural painkillers. The endorphins (like Anandamide) quickly bind to receptors in the brain, specifically CB1 and CB2 receptors.
If you ever wonder why cannabis can have a relaxing effect, it is because cannabinoids bind to those receptors, too. Consider the combination of deep breathing and meditation with cannabis as the ultimate combination for natural pain relief.
Many physicians recommend meditation as a holistic approach to help manage pain symptoms. Medical cannabis, by engaging with the human endocannabinoid system, can reduce pain perception and help you find relief.
May Help With Insomnia
Stress hormones do a number on your whole body, throwing the natural processes of relaxation into chaos. If you haven’t guessed it, the stress hormone cortisol is to blame. When cortisol levels are high, it disrupts the natural sleep-wake cycle.
Referring back to the cave dwellers analogy, if you are in danger, the last thing you want to do is fall asleep. Your body equates stress to danger, and falling asleep can feel impossible when stress levels are high. Not only that but should you manage to get to sleep, you may wake up throughout the night because of high cortisol levels.
When you meditate regularly, you may calm racing thoughts and reduce cortisol levels naturally, and that may reduce sleep disruption. You may also find that you get more REM and restorative sleep. Remember that healthy sleep is critically important to your immune system and mental health.
Can Help Improve Circulation
Neuropathy is a painful condition caused by nerve damage. People who have diabetes and other health conditions like spasticity can experience numbness and uncomfortable tingling sensations that feel like pins and needles.
When you experience neuropathy daily, you may not feel like moving around. However, sedentary positioning (staying seated) can actually make neuropathic pain more severe. The deep breathing exercises in meditation can help improve your circulation and provide oxygen to damaged nerves. That may help moderate pain symptoms.
How to Unlock the Therapeutic Benefits of Meditation At Home
If you have been thinking about trying meditation but you aren’t sure where to start, there are free resources on YouTube that you can try. Some videos are guided, with a calm, soothing voice to help you set positive intentions and time your breathing to maximize potential benefits. It is a great way to learn the techniques of effective meditation at home.
Some people prefer to meditate while sitting on the floor, but you can be seated comfortably on your couch or bed as well. In fact, you can meditate anywhere that is a calm and quiet place. Switch your phone to silent mode, and take some time out for deep breathing and relaxation.
How-To Combine Medical Marijuana With Meditation
If you use smokable medical cannabis, the psychoactive and physical effects can take 3-5 minutes. Edibles, however, can take up to 90 minutes, depending on whether you take them on a full or empty stomach. Time your intake accordingly so that you are feeling the therapeutic benefits of cannabis before you start your meditation session.
Finding Zen-Like Strains to Try
Patients may choose a different strain than they normally use if they plan to combine medical marijuana with meditation. If your goal is to use meditation to help with pain relief, choose a lower-potency cannabis product with high cannabidiol (CBD) levels. Cannabidiol can provide anti-inflammatory benefits that can help reduce pain.
Sativa-dominant cannabis strains can provide sensations of energy and active thinking. Consider an Indica-dominant strain, which is more sedative and calming. Taking a nap after a great meditation session is a great way to extend the benefits and allow your body to enjoy a break from everyday stressors.
Some medical cannabis strains to consider include:
- Fruit Spirit
- Hindu Kush
- Laughing Buddha
- Northern Lights
- Lambs Bread
- Oregon Lemons
- Super Glue
- Sour Tsunami
Meditation has been proven by scientific studies, to provide physical and mental health benefits that naturally stimulate the body’s endocannabinoid system. Many individuals find great value in the meditation experience. Try it out and see if it provides the desired effects to help you reach your symptom management goals.
Dr. Rothman is a diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has received multiple special awards and recognitions, including Physician of the Year, from the Pinellas County Medical Association (2014 – 2015) and the President’s Service Award from the Pinellas County Medical Society.
He attended medical school at State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, New York, where he also completed his Obstetrics and Gynecology residency. In addition to practicing medicine, Dr. Rothman’s professional career includes being an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida and Clinical Instructor at the University of Tampa’s College of Nursing.
Dr. Rothman received his Florida Medical Marijuana Physicians Certification in 2016 and was one of the first recommending physicians through DocMJ in the state and is loved by many of those early patients today.