Connecting with Nature is a Wonderful Practice: How Cannabis Can Make it Even Sweeter
It cannot be dismissed as coincidence that our very breath comes from the trees and the plants or that our bones are made of the same minerals as the stones of the earth. We have a symbiotic relationship with the earth and especially with the plants who provide the oxygen that makes our lives possible. We know this connection even more deeply when we stop to be in nature. We can become still and present in the moment and reconnect to our true home.
When I am in the beauty of nature, I can experience a sense of awe. Being present to a single flower or blade of grass infused with sunlight, I feel flooded by light inside of me. I feel protected and grounded, especially in the presence of a deeply rooted tree securely waving its branches in the wind as it opens to the moment. These feelings bring me joy and a deeper sense of belonging. As I allow myself to enter into the stillness, I can feel that everything around me and below me and above me is alive and conscious. I become more conscious of the life that is also interacting with me: the plants, the fungi peeking up from the brilliant subterranean network of life below my feet; the rocks, the birds, the buzzing of the insects, and the sound of the breeze.
When we go out to be in nature, consciously present, we can intuitively experience a greater sense of wholeness and peace. No longer separated from the part of us that intuitively ‘knows’ our connection to spirit through Mother Earth, we can come home to our true nature: to our open heart. Being reflective and still in the presence of green beings and mountains and rivers or just sitting with ourselves, is a practice.
There is no shortcut for practice, but cannabis offers a unique gift helping to land us and gently hold us in the here and now. My overall experience with cannabis is that she is unmistakably female and I am aware of a loving, supportive embrace. She knows me better than some parts of me know myself. She assists me in becoming aware of my higher self, my observer- the one who hovers close by and can see whatever is going on with loving, non-judging and often humorous eyes. One of cannabis’s many gifts is her ability to awaken my awareness to my observer and allow myself to see things from a different perspective for a while: a less entangled perspective.
Cannabis is a powerful amplifier with a tendency towards an uplifted amplification. She helps invoke appreciation for life. She helps open our hearts. We humans intuitively crave that sense of connection and cannabis offers us a direct portal into the world of our senses, relaxing us and awakening us so that we are better able to let go into our inner stillness and feel connected. Cannabis helps lubricate the entry into every activity, from walking in nature to eating or listening to music or drawing or dancing or watching the birds.
When we ingest cannabis to get high, or as I prefer to say when we elevate, you can feel the presence of someone nurturing who is there to help us be present in the moment and perhaps to help us find joy in that moment. Cannabis helps us feel deep gratitude for the life we have. She is a humble master teacher and deserves all the respect we hold for our wise elders. After all, she'd had at least 400 million more years than humans to figure out how to live on the land, having moved from the water to the land that much earlier than we have. We have co-evolved with her: our own bodies contain cannabinoid receptors ready to receive her myriad benefits. She is a true gift from nature to us.
Gratitude is its own beautiful practice. To feel truly grateful and express it is a blessing and a medicine in itself, so if a common plant opens our hearts and brings us the sentiment that we are glad to be alive, then aren’t we fortunate to now be coevolving with it?
-- Kathleen Harrison, Ethnobotanist
The cannabis plant, when used consciously and with intention, is one of the more powerful plants for opening our hearts and healing our souls. She has the unique ability to assist us in accessing higher levels of consciousness. She enables contemplation and reflection. She is the catalyst that helps to wake us up to who we really are.
Having the right strain and the right dose is as important as set and setting. I’m always looking for a variety that helps me feel balanced, open, curious, optimistic, expanded and rooted. I love feeling the plant’s knowing presence and the way she influences mine so that I am aware of my connection to the beautiful aliveness of all of nature, of which I am apart. I belong!
It is most important to me that I know who grew the plant for me to feel secure and held. I know too much about how greed encourages the use of harmful chemicals and how harshly plants, seen as no more than a means to profit, are treated. This is not what I want to take into my body. I am fortunate to be in direct relationship with all my plants, but particularly my cannabis plants. We are allies - we are in a synergistic relationship looking out for and working in support of each other.
Getting grounded is re-rooting yourself with the earth.
