Cannabis and Meditation, Anyone?

[HOPS5K]

I've been getting interested in meditation lately, learning a little here and there. I have been known to have a somewhat short attention span and I was wondering if I could help that with meditation. During some recent smoke sessions, I tried mini-meditations, with the radio off and all distractions muted.

I wasn't aiming for anything except to be quiet in my mind for a few minutes. I just focused on my breathing, the smells around me, being in an already altered state (cannabis/hash). It felt good to just be quiet without any noise. I might not have quieted my mind just yet, but it was worth it, I liked the feeling even after just 5 or so minutes.

I'm still learning about this practice and how I can fuse canna smoking and meditation for a really great experience every time I partake in the herbs.

this was taken from a search I did
"Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of self awareness. To free one's awareness from associating solely with the mind and its soul. There are many different meditation methods.
At the core of meditation is the goal to focus and eventually quiet your mind, thus freeing your awareness. As you progress, you will find that you can meditate anywhere and at any time, accessing an inner calm no matter what's going on around you. You will also find that you can better control your reactions to things as you become increasingly aware of your thoughts (letting go of anger, for example). But first, you have to learn to tame your mind and control your breathing."

 

[Galactic]

Bodhi is "deep in botanical meditation" and has mentioned before it being the inspirational source for some of his work.

 

[hard rain]

I took up mindfulness meditation up several months ago and try and do 40 minutes each day. I did this with the goal of trying to cope with pain without using medication. It has helped to an extent and also made me much calmer in a very stressful job. Can thoroughly recommend it but you have to make a real commitment.

I find that mostly when I try and meditate stoned it does not work well as the mind tends to wander more. There were the odd occasions where it seemed to help. I have now pretty much abandoned combining the two.

 

[mrcreosote]

I gave up meditating years ago.

I finally reached God...

And he put me on 'hold'.

 

[huligun]

I meditate every time I smoke... I don't really have a choice in the matter

 

[trichrider]

while cannabis puts me somewhere else, it also unleashes imagination, which for me is hard to corral...guess that's the point.
i spend much of my time alone so i get to go there quite often. just have to tell that voice to stfu and pay attention.

 

[HOPS5K]

My morning routine is becoming wake and bake, stretch, and then just be still and quiet for a few minutes or however long I can go.

getting into my routine again today and I see this thread pop up again..lol..cool

I found that if I go into a still quiet seated pose with intent and what I want to get out of it, it works a lot better. It's easy to find a quiet place when you live in the sticks.

Doing this for a little while now, I find my day goes better, seems to flow better from one thing to the next..just really mellow, relaxed days.

 

[huligun]

Yesterday in bed a lady hands me a joint. I almost never do that (smoke in bed before I even get up). It was a joint of two kinds of weed mixed, Trainwreck and Super Lemon Haze. I was so loaded I didn't get out of bed for at least an hour later. I was fucked up

 

[Rob547]

while cannabis puts me somewhere else, it also unleashes imagination, which for me is hard to corral...guess that's the point.
i spend much of my time alone so i get to go there quite often. just have to tell that voice to stfu and pay attention.

Me too man. I find that meditation and things like that are kind of hard to learn from a book or the internet. I too have become interested in mindfulness meditation, just bought a well-reviewed book called "Wherever You Go There You Are". Also been looking into astral projection, pretty amazing subject.

But to make this more relevant.... completely agree Trich. Being high can put me 'more in the mood' and focused to a point, but at the same time, while I can generally get past the everyday annoyances and distractions, being high causes my brain to kind of go crazy and I think of all kinds of crazy shit. Lol not the worst thing, just need to work more on that. One way it DOES help me is if I listen to a guided meditation, then I can really focus on relaxing my body piece by piece and (if I can get to 'that' point) I can usually hold on to it a little more. You know, that warm, fuzzy, peaceful feeling, down deep inside.

 

[ronbo51]

I lived at a Zen Monastery for a while and put some serious time on the cushions. I love Zen because it is stark and simple. Trying to quiet and focus the mind is so against your nature that it rebels almost instantly and fills any void with thoughts, and once you are thinking you are no longer meditating. I did several long stretches called Sesshins that were 18 hour days of mostly sitting, with brief walking meditation, breaks for meals and sleep. Very vigorous, and in my 55 years still one of the hardest things I've ever done. Try this, this is what I do now: go for a walk. Get on a path or trail and start to notice things. The terrain, plants, colors, shapes, sounds, shadows, light. Don't get caught up in them. Just notice and catalogue them. If you find yourself thinking about shit, drop it and go back to just waving golden grass, flat bottomed clouds, gently rolling green hills, with tall straight trunked trees. I try to do this and sometimes I make it 15 feet and don't remember to come back until miles later as I become lost in some project, or problem. Sometimes I make it longer. But always come back. Intent is important in Zen. All my years of breath counting on cushions I don't think I ever made it past 3 or 4 breaths before I lost count and started thinking.

 

[ronbo51]

and for what it's worth, what i think is the best book ever written on or for meditation is called "Zen Mind Beginners Mind" It is short, sweet, and real.

 

[Bag]

progress not perfection, i try to medicatation too

 

[Agaricus]

I definitely agree that meditation and weed don't mix. Meditation is imo a path to clarity, and that clarity shouldn't be hidden any more than it already is!

A simple relaxation technique is nice at the beginning of the meditation. We learned that in Transcendental Meditation and it's used in almost all guided meditations and in hypnosis. Sitting upright in your meditation chair close your eyes and inhale deeply through your now, not too fast. Hold the breath (gently, don't clamp down like you're holding a big hit). After a count of three let it out slowly. Repeat three times. Then go about your meditation.

It's also like a tranquilizer if you're in an emotionally tense situation. It's good when you get some paranoid weed, or if a trip starts to go bad. Or the supermarket line's taking forever while Granny Grunt slowly counts her change and carefully puts it in her billfold and her coin purse, puts those in her pocketbook then says a few nice words to the cashier and happily ambles out of the store. We could take lessons from her.

 

[lost in a sea]

posture is an important part of meditation because correct blood flow is vital, which is also another reason why yoga is often practiced in the east and by buddhists, hidus etc as well..

the spine should be curved with the head slightly in front of bum and legs crossed or with increased flexibility in lotus position..



however i dont see any gain to trying to live what we now call the "western lifestyle" and practicing meditation to escape from it.. first cut out the media's wind from getting past your senses, guard yourself from falsehoods then you will open the way to a better life..

how people can meditate and put poison in their body and mind daily is beyond me..

 

[Rob547]

guess I'll throw this question in here as it seems like some of you are pretty experienced.

One thing that has always stopped me form meditating, and even beginning for a long time is the fact I have a bad back and sitting in your classic meditation pose is just very uncomfortable and straining on my back. Any thoughts on that? I always lie down, and know that it is possible to do different positions but just a question.

 

[lost in a sea]

probably the crucial part is how much easier that position makes it to cut off from the sensory information,, with enough practice and inner peace/truth you can meditate anytime you want..

the body and brain gets better and better at getting into certain rhythms the more you attempt something.. you are what you think..

it's important for chi flow as well,, which is a real thing btw, the electrical activity of the body goes beyond the nervous system..

 

[barnyard]

We moderns are "distracted from distraction by distraction".

 

[Galactic]

guess I'll throw this question in here as it seems like some of you are pretty experienced.

One thing that has always stopped me form meditating, and even beginning for a long time is the fact I have a bad back and sitting in your classic meditation pose is just very uncomfortable and straining on my back. Any thoughts on that? I always lie down, and know that it is possible to do different positions but just a question.

That's essentially the whole premise/purpose to Yoga. To get your body able to not be an issue in the reaching of these higher states of consciousness...

 

[hard rain]

guess I'll throw this question in here as it seems like some of you are pretty experienced.

One thing that has always stopped me form meditating, and even beginning for a long time is the fact I have a bad back and sitting in your classic meditation pose is just very uncomfortable and straining on my back. Any thoughts on that? I always lie down, and know that it is possible to do different positions but just a question.

Meditation is used as a technique in many pain clinics and pain management programs. It is well worth trying to find a way to do it even (or especially) if you are in pain.

I began meditating with a mindfulness body scan meditation which is done lying down on your back (corpse pose?). It is a great meditation to start with and very good for pain. I do this some days and sitting meditation other days. I have a very bad back and some days cannot sit. Sometimes I achieve great pain control, other times it just won't work. You need to persist and try and make it a daily practice.

You will get some good days, some bad, when you are starting meditation.

Tai Chi may be another option for those with bad backs. It is something I have practiced for years and I have personally found it great.

 

[Bag]

i lay down when i try to meditate, i tried a guided meditation from youtube today , seems theres some interesting stuff on youtube.