A Simple Way to Understand How Cannabis Expands Consciousness
If consciousness is awareness and when we're high, our awareness expands outside our normal thoughts then by definition cannabis expands consciousness. The key is how we direct that awareness...
Cannabis has expanded and altered human consciousness for thousands of years. You may have a different belief, but would you agree that consciousness is awareness? So then, when we are high, we know our thoughts expand outside of our normal thinking. By definition, wouldn't that be an expansion of consciousness? However, to truly expand consciousness, we must explore it.
I started consuming cannabis as a teenager to escape and party. It was very mindless usage albeit there may have been an importance to this as I reflect back - That’s a story for another time. 15 years ago, I started my journey in the cannabis industry and learned about the medical benefits and our endocannabinoid system. I was blown away by how much I did not know about this plant.
The cannabinoids in cannabis (i.e. CBD, THC, CBN) replenish the human endocannabinoid system. As the late Dr. Bob once said to me, "Some people aren't getting high, but getting normal." He meant that our endocannabinoid receptors could be at low levels, and when you consume, you're bringing those levels up to their regulated levels as you seek homeostasis.
Now, this isn't a piece diving into the endocannabinoid system—that will come in the next few months. You’ll be blown away.
As my journey continued, I started to understand that cannabis was a plant medicine. I started to understand that medicines aren't only meant to be consumed when you're sick. Our goal should be never to get sick.
About nine years ago, I started cultivating a healthy lifestyle and building a deeper understanding of what I consumed and how that affected me. This is when I started seeing how cannabis was impacting my awareness, creativity, and connection with my body, mind, and spirit. Given these downloads of how cannabis could positively impact me, I started using cannabis consciously. I can't say I use cannabis consciously 100 percent of the time to this day, but I'm close. And it’s powerful! Which also gives me discernment when to not consume.
Setting an intention before meditation or an asana (yogic movements) practice gives your mind a focused framework. Doing this allows you to visualize and feel what you want to achieve through experience besides the direct relation of the experience, and sometimes, you come out of your movement practices feeling closer to that goal. Or your mind gains a deeper understanding of the "subject" of your focus.
Some people might find this similar to sports psychology, visualization techniques by athletes.
There are many conditions associated with setting an intention that can allow you to access or unlock thoughts, feelings, or emotions with more depth, understanding, and receptivity.
I started setting intentions before consuming cannabis which is just one of many techniques used to explore consciousness with cannabis. This first step opened a whole new world for me. It gave me an anchor to explore consciousness. With CashoM, we will provide you with the practices and philosophies that equip you with tangible tools to understand how to master intentional cannabis consumption. And given that consuming cannabis is a personal experience, the approach is built around individuality, not one-size-fits-all.
Now, there are many ways to understand this expansion of awareness—through wisdom traditions, metaphysics, or spiritual perspectives—but our culture would prefer we look at cannabis's expansion of consciousness from a scientific perspective. The scientific phenomenon behind the increased thought connections, longer-reaching synaptic connections, and these tumbling thoughts are called "hyper-priming." This isn't the only scientific reason, but one of many we will teach you over time, like the entourage effect, which is when all of the plant's compounds, such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, work in unison to create a specific type of high.
Neuroscientists say 'Hyper-priming' is an effect where priming (the application of a catalyst) is prepared for concepts and thoughts and happens at a much greater distance and speed than normal—at a "hyper" rate. This means that exposure to one stimulus, like a thought, can influence a response to a subsequent stimulus, which is another thought without conscious guidance. So when you consume, you can connect unconnected (disparate or dissimilar) thoughts that may seem far apart and not connected otherwise. This ability to connect cognitive thought further can allow us to see something established, mundane, and normal in a new, novel, and brilliant way, completely reimagining it!
Does this experience expand consciousness? I argue yes. If consciousness is awareness, then I feel that my awareness—of life, existence, the universe, and the world around and inside me—received thoughts that it never had before, and may not have had otherwise, expanding my mind with new solutions, creativity, inspiration and sometimes paranoia from self-examination, judgment, and critique.
Cannabis isn't for everyone and shouldn't be treated as such. But for those it resonates with, learning to channel awareness to explore consciousness effectively and positively can benefit multiple areas of your life.
The choice of mindfully using this powerful ally for expansion is yours. Once you do, you can apply it to your work, hobbies, relationships, spiritual practices, etc.
It can revolutionize your life.
If the exploration of consciousness is something you're not ready for, I get it. It's a big ideology that’s not meant for everyone, this is neither good nor bad but is what it is. Thank God we are all different. But don't worry, we will be diving into the art of cannabis consumption so you can still gain tools to apply to your life through this Substack.