Meditation is difficult for many people. They find it difficult to acknowledge the thoughts that arise and let them go. Instead, they become entangled in them, beating themselves up. They also want to feel the mental health benefits meditation can bring, particularly now that there has been a pandemic, and a national uprising against the legacy of anti-Black police violence. The popularity of cannabis meditation classes and the studies show that it can reduce anxiety.I ordered some products from our local cannabis dispensary and experimented on myself Monday night, taking my fav cannabis-infused gummy, which contained a low dose of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC -- the compound behind weed's high -- and cannabidiol, or CBD -- a non-inebriating compound in the plant that has purportedly calming properties. After the effects of weed had subsided, I laid down on my back and followed a guided meditation via Spotify. This involved me focusing my attention on different parts of my body.Although I didn't feel rooted in my bodily sensations until the last, I did find myself judging myself less harshly for my wandering thoughts (and I felt a bit giggly). However, I don't know if I might have experienced the placebo effect. In other words, my expectation that cannabis would help me find my chill may have influenced my experience. I reached out for medical professionals to help me investigate.It is not a new practice to use marijuana in meditation. consider cannabis a sacred herb in religious texts called the Vedas. These texts were written in India over a millennia ago. Many scholars and yogis believe that marijuana (and other psychoactive substances) has been used historically to expand people's consciousness.
Effects of Cannabis
Let's begin with the brain effects of meditation sober. This can cause a little bit of a high, to be honest. Daniele Piomelli is the director of the UCI Center for the Study of Cannabis. He explains that when you are focused on a task, the task positive network of brain structures activates. The task-negative network, also known as the default network, activates when you aren't engaged in a task. Thoughts float around your mind, like when you're looking at the sky, but when you aren't focused on a task, the task-positive network becomes active.Piomelli states that meditative states don't require you to focus on a task, but activating the task positive network. It doesn't mean that you allow your thoughts to roam, which is what activates the default network. Instead, you would focus on a song, sound, mantra, or other type of music. Ecstasy and a feeling of being beyond yourself would be experienced.Piomelli says, "You are conscious of yourself." But "certain preoccupations disappear. Certain anxieties disappear. "You now see yourself and your brain activity in a new way." This sounds vague, but it is. It is an inexplicable experience.Piomelli says that some psychedelic substances like LSD and psilocybin can disrupt or weaken the default networks, leading to a mental condition similar to meditative states. A few studies also suggest that something similar might happen with cannabis.Piomelli states that there is some plausibility but not necessarily reality. Piomelli says that there is no scientific evidence to support the use of cannabis for meditation. It is possible that marijuana may interfere with your ability to achieve a meditative state. We don't know until scientists do a proper study.This study would have at least 10 to 15 participants choose to either take a placebo or cannabis. To minimize bias, Piomelli explained. Participants would meditate and then answer questions about how long it took them to reach a meditative state. The brain imaging of participants could help reduce bias.Piomelli asks me if studies on anxiety and cannabis could show that the substance can facilitate mediation. He has not mentioned the kind of study. He says that although decades of research have not yielded a definitive answer. For example, most studies were small and we do not yet have phase 3 placebo-controlled trials. "A little more evidence" exists that CBD has an anxiety-reducing impact than THC. A growing body of research also suggests that CBD and THC can be combined to soften some of the THC's edge.
Impact of Cannabis Dosage
You might want to start with a very low dose of THC or around three milligrams -- enough to make you feel giddy and a little high, which may lower your anxiety. Lewis Nelson, professor and chair at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and chief of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School's division of medical toxicology, says that "I think that one problem you see with all of the cannabis research is how poorly it's designed." This is partly due to the restrictions of cannabis research, including its illegality at federal level. Scientists are often required to only study people who have used cannabis -- so they're not studying a biased population. Nelson notes that adding psychoactive substances like cannabis to meditation could cause the latter to lose most of its health benefits.