I hate the term “new year, new me” but the idea behind it is one that I can’t argue with. Who wouldn’t want to work on evolving and improving? This year is only slightly different for me because I’m intentionally focusing on a few key areas that I believe cannabis can help me with. I never thought I’d be in a position to actually include cannabis in my resolutions, but here I am.

My resolutions for this year include: reading every night for at least 30 minutes before bed, losing 30lbs. before July and healing some deep rooted trauma. How I plan on tackling all three includes cannabis (among other things).

Cannabis Improves Focus

If you are a cannabis user, you probably already know the great benefits of using cannabis to focus better. I have personally run some experiments regarding what I achieve stone cold sober versus what I achieve while under the influence of cannabis. Obviously there are some exceptions to this, but generally I find that I am more productive and creative when I’ve had some cannabis in my system. “Cannabis can help boost the brain’s dopamine levels, leading to a euphoric high that inspires you to be productive, focused, and creative. The right strain will leave you feeling energized, motivated, and determined to conquer any task. It can help you to think outside the box and stay tuned in to the task at hand.” (Abrams, nd).

I’ve noticed that when I’ve spent a great length of time without cannabis I tend to feel less energized or focused and tend to just zone out while watching tv most nights. Even if I have plenty of activities available to me, I tend to just… zone out. But when I kept with my nightly regimen of taking a couple of puffs from my vape pen after dinner, I remembered things that need to get done around the house, added to my calendar or to-do list for the next day or the week ahead and felt just sleepy enough to turn the television off 45 minutes to an hour before bed to curl up with a good book. It’s the perfect nightcap to a very long and productive day. With this consistent cannabis-infused nightly routine, I am setting myself up for a more restful night’s sleep which can definitely help with the next resolution; weight loss.

Cannabis Can Help You Lose Weight

There are a few reasons why I want to lose some weight this year. The biggest reason is that after years of beer drinking, grad school and wild work hours, my body has taken a beating. If I’m going to try and be the best, most improved version of myself, I have to get serious about losing weight. And I’m not alone in this goal. Most Americans tend to include weight loss or some kind of exercise routine and nutrition goals in their New Year’s Resolutions. So how can cannabis help you lose weight? There are a couple of ways that it can. The first is by drinking less alcohol and relying a little more on cannabis. Less caloric intake equals weight loss assistance. There are also some studies that suggest cannabis use boosts metabolism which can lower BMI. There have been “studies on mice and rats in Poland, Italy, Hungary, Canada and the UK that have led some researchers to conclude that there is "a correlation between cannabis use and reduction in the BMI," says Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, a Washington-based physician and cannabis researcher. "This association holds even after controlling for other variables," such as age, gender, or why a person is smoking marijuana to begin with (so for instance, a cancer patient who uses marijuana as a method of pain relief)” (Matthews and Washington-Harmon, 2021). That is one experiment I would love to keep learning more about!

The second way cannabis can assist with weight loss is through movement of the body during exercise. People who have physical pain can feel relief from cannabis in a way that allows them to move more freely. “By loosening your muscles, alleviating the pain or stiffness that currently holds you back from exercising, and promoting other beneficial physical and mental effects, Cannabis can help you get more mileage – and more enjoyment – out of your everyday fitness routine” (InhaleMD, nd). I can’t say that I have tried cannabis before a workout, but after reading the benefits, I think this may become a part of my new workout routine.

Cannabis Can Heal Your Mind

It’s no secret that cannabis has greatly benefited those who suffer from depression, PTSD and other trauma related mental health issues. For many, cannabis is prescribed as medicine to assist with coping with these ailments. As someone who is a cannabis user and attends regular therapy sessions to heal past trauma, I wanted to take my healing a step further. I recently started looking into cannabis and meditation. “Marijuana and mindfulness have gone hand and hand for centuries. The Vedas—historical texts written in India around 1500 BC—name cannabis as one of the five sacred plants,” according to Vice. “Modern-day Nepal still holds a yearly spiritual festival with marijuana serving as a central feature of the holy celebration” (Gaffey, 2022).  Using cannabis to calm the mind while focusing on breathing through meditation can create a more balanced, euphoric feeling. “‘Mindfulness can be helpful for a variety of physical health issues, generally speaking, stress-related conditions such as high blood pressure,’ says Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education at UCLA Semel Institute’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. ‘Conditions that relate to inflammation can be positively affected such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc, and it also has been shown to boost the immune system and promote the healing response’” (Gill, 2018).

I haven’t started meditating with cannabis yet, nor have I tried exercising with cannabis, but I thoroughly look forward to trying that this year. With excitement surrounding my New Year’s Resolutions I feel as if this year is going to have some lasting changes for the good. I can’t wait to begin working towards my resolutions while enlisting the help of my trusty bud-friends. This year, cannabis will help me reach my goals in a way that can have some lasting changes. 

Resources:

Abrams, Naomi C. Trouble Focusing? Here’s How Cannabis Could Help . Fluent. Nd. https://getfluent.com/trouble-focusing-heres-how-cannabis-could-help%E2%80%AF/.

Gaffey, Tom. 5 Ways Marijuana Can Help You Reach Your New Year’s Resolutions. The Fresh Toast. 2022, January 3. https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/5-ways-marijuana-can-help-you-reach-your-new-years-resolutions/.

Gill, Jessie. This Is What Happens When You Combine Weed and Meditation. Vice. 2018, April 23. https://www.vice.com/en/article/vbxj58/this-is-what-happens-when-you-combine-weed-and-meditation.

InhaleMD. Boston Marijuana for Joint Health and Mobility. InhaleMD. Nd. https://inhalemd.com/boston-marijuana-for-joint-health-and-mobility/.

Matthews, Melissa and Taylyn Washington-Harmon. This Is What Smoking Weed Does for Weight Loss. Men’sHealth. 2021, November 30. https://www.menshealth.com/weight-loss/a19538689/marijuana-for-weight-loss-does-it-actually-work/.