I rarely smoke but occasionally eat ganja butter or oil. I have had some VERY positive experiences while high. It does not help me meditate or make doing postures any better so I don’t usually use it before engaging in these practices. That being said I have also had some scary out of body experiences and hallucinations after eating too much. Sometimes it’s hard to gauge how strong the edibles will be. The first few times I freaked out and couldn’t figure out how to come back down. Then one time I just started doing yoga and it brought me right back and centered me into my body. Basically yoga helps me to stay in my body and enjoy the extreme highs in the right frame of mind.
I think that marijuana can be a prob like a mantra, incenses, etc. it may give a short cut in experiencing to some degree your higher self. It can be like driving your bike with supporting wheels when learning to ride it, but after a while you can drive it without them and have to let them go…
I smoke on a daily basis, and I try to avoid smoking before my practice. It tends to ruin my balance and I have a hard time “acknowledging my thoughts and letting them pass by”. Instead, I?ll end up obsessing to myself about something trivial as opposed to trying to push my practice further.
FYI marijuana is “genotoxic.” It attacks some genes.
[QUOTE=TonyTamer;58641]That was the theme of a PBS documentary about cannabis , “cannabis may simply be a crafty plant seducing worthy cultivators in humanity” - I didn’t see it all but what I saw was pretty convincing that cannabis sees us a primary pollinators and is adjusting it’s psychotropic elements to attract us all the more. Plant Intelligence- something to contemplate[/QUOTE]
Ahh a little borrowed subconscious knowledge surfacing?that?s where that notion came from.
Hi,
This thread is quite old, but I happened to stumble across it when searching google.
I practice yoga 4-5 times a week at my gym (and if I have time in the weekend I will do a dvd because I enjoy it so much).
For me personally, Yoga has changed my life, it has for the first time brought me deep meditation and peace. Since my first session I have really taken to it and I feel it has helped me deal with stress and I look forward to practicing it everyday.
I also smoke cannabis regularly from my Volcano vaporizer which cuts the carcinogens.
For me vaporizing before going to yoga helps me a lot. I feel I enter a deeper concentration and meditation and it regulates my body temperature. My body is also accustomed to Cannabis so I know how to handle myself and how much to take. This may not be for every one, but for me I have found the combination of both, wonderful.
It also makes me think, with Yoga originating in India, did yogi’s use Indian Kush while practicing? Cannabis has been a medicine for thousands of years, would be interesting to get information on this.
This thread has been going a few years so I will add something myself.
I have a mild scoliosis and started doing yoga and pilates in order to try and correct the imbalance or at least prevent it getting worse. I found it very helpful - I no longer have back pain and I am much stronger although not straight.
HOWEVER I only started feeling real progress when I tried smoking a little before hand. I used to smoke a fair bit around 17-22 before I got bored of it, because let’s face it, it is boring! But once I smoked a little and realised I found it much easier to home in on individual muscles and relax them so I thought why not try some stretching?
When I am stoned I can feel the pattern of tension in my body. I get into a shape and I feel where it’s tight, I adjust myself and relax it, and then the tension moves to the next spot and so on until I am doing a very impressive stretch that I couldn’t do sober. Recently I have actually managed to make my spine feel straight and every session this sensation of a straight spine seems to be increasing. I just need to strength the muscles in the right side of my back and I think I am there.
Also interestingly I’ve done a little meditation stoned recently and found I can dig much deeper and have been shocked to see what’s come out. I’ve gone deep into my chest and make something relax or pour ‘energy’ into the tight or weak feeling spot and I’ve had floods of emotion or mental imagery about child hood stuff come back or hang ups, then leave and float away leaving me feeling lighter and relieved.
The next day I am maybe a little dulled but very relaxed and with soft breathing. I used to be quite anxious and through doing this it seems I am slowly curing myself of it and getting control of my breathing and emotions.
Now I’m not saying this isn’t possible without cannabis but the instant results are very appealing.
As for how much I smoke, it’s just the tiniest bit of weed in a bong. Smaller than my little finger nail. If you don’t smoke every day the amount you need is tiny. It’s not great for the lungs but the benefits I have in day to day life from relieved back pain and reduced anxiety are surely worth it.
and yes a lot of the yogis in india smoke like chimneys, literally… (check out photos of chillums). So there must be something in it…
I agree - yoga in practice and marijuana are for me more comparable than compatible.
I do yoga and I do MJ too. Sometimes I do it together and it’a amazing: physically you are more aware of your body, you feel exactly how to position your body, you know how to get perfect balance, you have in your head ideal 4D musculature projection and amazingly all of this become great harmony. Mentally: wow that’s a different story…
Yoga and MJ works in different way for each of us, but if you know what you are doing (both yoga & MJ), if you really understand it - you definitely enjoy it.
Ococo,
“and yes a lot of the yogis in india smoke like chimneys, literally… (check out photos of chillums”
That does not mean that it is something which would be suitable for you, or that it is some kind of excuse for you to get drugged up. You have to understand that for a yogi - if he wants, he can become totally drugged up on certain herbs, but still remain completely mindful, balanced, and meditative within oneself. That is not the case with you. When you become intoxicated, you become entangled in the experience and loose all clarity of vision. That is why it has always been recommended in the yogic sciences that you do not consume anything which brings such states of intoxication, for precisely the reason - that you are unable to experience your mind and senses stimulated, and yet at the same time with an inner silence which is unbreakable. There are certain tantric methods which do involve the use of certain materials which will intoxicate the mind - but you have to understand that such methods were always transmitted secretly from master to disciple. If the disciple is to become initiated into such methods - he would have to first demonstrate a certain level of integration and freedom of the senses. Because while you are involved in stimulating the mind - again, if you are unable to remain mindful and balanced in spite of your senses being active, you can become a prey to all kinds of delusions. All too often, people have become insane - simply because they become too much of a slave to their own imagination. This is often the case without the help of drugs, just in one’s so called “ordinary” state - one is probably already carrying all sorts of delusions, there is no need to magnify one’s delusions through the use of drugs.
So don’t take this to be some kind of excuse - that just because certain yogis may have been using herbs, that means that it is something which is suitable for just about anybody. It is not the case. Those yogis have cultivated their system in such a way, that even if a snake bites them, they will remain immune to the poison. If you are seeking to use drugs just for the sake of pleasure, that is one’s own business - but when it comes to the spiritual process, you should not tamper with certain things without the proper understanding and discretion. If you wish to explore into such dimensions, either become more mature with a solid and unshakable foundation in your own practice, or seek the help of a master.
I appreciate what you’re saying but yoga is not very spiritual to me it is simply a means to an end to correct my back problems, posture and the pain and discomfort I used to suffer.
I find that MJ/weed/cannabis/pot (etc.) has greatly sped up the process and helped me understand my body better and the way it’s ‘wired up’.
As for the meditation, again I use this as a tool to learn to relax and cure my anxiety, I am not looking for or expecting any kind of spiritual experience or understanding. And as before I found when stoned I can teach myself to relax and become aware of certain parts of me that are in a constant state of tension much easier than when I’m not.
I do agree that it’s not for everyone and I really don’t enjoy the effects of that particular drug recreationally, especially in social situations. I find I become introverted and awkward, and over analyse everything. But this introversion and over analysis is really helpful for me when it’s me alone trying to relax and fix my twisted muscles and spine.
[QUOTE=ococo;71743]I find that MJ/weed/cannabis/pot (etc.) has greatly sped up the process and helped me understand my body better and the way it’s ‘wired up’.[/QUOTE]
No, no it hasn’t.
It has taught you how to better understand your body under the influence of Marijuana… which is not part of your body nor is being under the influence of Marijuana natural to your body…therefore you have not learned to understand your body at all since you are depending on things external to your body to gain understanding… therefore you have not learned anything about your body…the natural body… at all
[QUOTE=SCMT;71795]No, no it hasn’t.
It has taught you how to better understand your body under the influence of Marijuana… which is not part of your body nor is being under the influence of Marijuana natural to your body…therefore you have not learned to understand your body at all since you are depending on things external to your body to gain understanding… therefore you have not learned anything about your body…the natural body… at all[/QUOTE]
What do I care if I’m not suffering back pain/discomfort/anxiety for the rest of the time when I’m not stoned?
Better than taking pharmaceutical painkillers and benzos every day which just numb the symptoms.
Admittedly would be good to do it without smoking but I tried…a few times a week for a couple of years and I have had more progress in a few months of being stoned than I have in 2 years of trying sober.
Again don’t recommend it for everyone but works for me. There are other peoples opinions on here which are against and that is what forums are for so people can read the anecdotal evidence and help make up their own minds.
Also one more thought as to why this might be well suited to me…
I used to take a lot of drugs recreationally. Talking weed every day, LSD most weekends, ecstacy and stuff most of you will have never even heard of before.
If I was going to go crazy or mess up from twisting my mind every day it would have happened by now. So to me suggesting that a tiny puff of weed and having a bit of a stretch/chill (which is what it is to me) is laughable.
Since then I have curbed my drug use considerably and am now doing more interesting things with my life although still dabble from time to time. I look back and wonder what the hell I was doing although was fun at the time.
So I guess what I am saying is my mind can handle altered states pretty well, perhaps better than someone who has never been intoxicated before who might find it overwhelming!
“If I was going to go crazy or mess up from twisting my mind every day it would have happened by now.”
There is no need to take any drugs for this. In your so called ordinary state, where nothing in life seems to be satisfying enough, where everything is always sweeter on the other side, and you are constantly seeking but not finding - you have probably driven yourself already to madness but you have become so used to the madness, that you do not even question it.
[QUOTE=ococo;71800]So I guess what I am saying is my mind can handle altered states pretty well, perhaps better than someone who has never been intoxicated before who might find it overwhelming![/QUOTE]
But can it handle unaltered states? That is the questions and should be the goal. The fact that you were a heavy drug user and now you use less is not an justification or a rebuttal.
You stated that that MJ/weed/cannabis/pot (etc.) has greatly sped up the process and helped me understand your body better and the way it’s 'wired up.?
I say it hasn?t and how could it if you are trying to understand your body or the way it is wired up in an altered state which is not the natural state of the body at all and since the body is wired up naturally how could you understand anything of it if you do not approach it from a natural perspective.
Whether or not you can handle drugs and altered states has nothing to do with it at all as it comes to understanding the body. I could say that since you are approaching this from an altered state that you are only fooling yourself in any understanding at all since it is obvious you are under the influence of a drug. A person that goes out and drinks copious amounts and goes out and drives home is very likely to think he/she is able to handle driving under the influence of alcohol too and the fact that they wake uop at home safe is what they use to justify that conclusion but yet they very likely were just lucky and/or so far gone they never noticed they were swerving or went off the road or ran up on the sidewalk?. How could they, they were under the influence of alcohol.
How do you truly know if you understand anything if you are not trying to understand your body as it is naturally, you can?t? You can only understand body and how it is wired under the influence of a drug.
If this is what gets you by then that is what gets you by? but it is not, IMO, understanding anything.
I too have had sever back injuries, knee injuries and broken bones but I never went to drugs because they did nothing for me. I spent months on my back and early in that process I spent many nights unable to sleep and ended up in a hospital. But after it was over I started slowly, learned my triggers, learned more about my body and how it works and got into exercise and traditional Chinese medicine for pain management and then yoga and it all helped?drugs do not help? all they do is mask the problem nd fool you into thinking you are better.
How can you know the body in its natural state when you have high amounts of sugar in your system? That’s not natural.
How can you know the body it its natural state when your cortisol, epinephrine, and nor-epinephrine is elevated for extended periods of time? That’s not natural.
How can you know the body when your vitamin B12 levels are deficient because you’re a vegan that doesn’t properly supplement? That’s not natural.
How can you know the body when you’re drinking your own urine. That’s not natural.
How can you know the body when your vitamin D levels are deficient because you don’t spent enough time in the sun. That’s not natural.
The body has evolved to have actual cannabinoid receptors. Receptors activated by cannabis. Sounds natural.
If vitamin B12 was illegal for some inane reason I’m betting there’s be countless people telling us foods that contained it were bad, not natural, and that, while yes, B12 is shown to help alleviate peripheral neuropathy it’s illegal so take this prescription medication that quadruples your chances of cancer and only covers up the symptoms of the neuropathy. Sure, you have Cubam receptors in your terminal ileum specifically for vitamin B12 but… pffft. Oh, and that boost of energy and lack of depression you feel when you inject that horrible IV drug B12, yeah, that’s bad. You’re just high. You don’t know your body when you’re high on B12.
Maybe we don’t know our body until we do yoga while cannabinoid receptors are activated because we’re deficient in that essential nutrient. We have cannabinoid receptors. There’s an ever-increasing number of studies showing the physiological benefits of cannabis. Maybe it’s actually an essential nutrient and those people smoking it and then doing yoga are feeling what they’re supposed to be feeling.
Man. I always super bakkeddd before I go to any form of yoga. I taught english in India and they have this drink called bhang (look it up) and eveyone drinks that before practicing, and it hits you waaayyy harder than just smoking. There were hardcore old men who would require you to drink their home made bhang before class and the first thirty minutes were just for breathing and letting it kick in.
Actually Terrenece Mckenna wrote about this in one of his books, and showed that in early Indian texts that yoga, and bhang have been together from the start, and that yoga got popular as a way to increase the effects of bhang because it got the drink in your blood to travel through your whole body and get you highh…
And to you all you guys who say “I get high off being myself I don’t need any drugs.” Go **** yourself. People like you make this world a boring place, and seriously if you’re in a first world country, with a job, shelter, good food, and can afford yoga, or certification to teach yoga then you aren’t becoming enlightened anytime soon. I met thousands of people in India who starve themselves for weeks, and mediate for 18 hours a day, and are not even close to becoming “enlightened”. So give it up and go get high. Seriously. Name one great, progressive band from 1965-present who wasn’t on drugs at some point in their careers. Ok I am done ranting 
[QUOTE=AmirMourad;71801]
There is no need to take any drugs for this. In your so called ordinary state, where nothing in life seems to be satisfying enough, where everything is always sweeter on the other side, and you are constantly seeking but not finding - you have probably driven yourself already to madness but you have become so used to the madness, that you do not even question it.[/QUOTE]
And you’re perfectly sane, and not mad? Oh yeah! I forgot. You’re an evolutionary yogi, on the path of life, trying to achieve enlightenment by detaching yourself from deadly toxins, and attachments. Thats original!
I have used marijuana for doing yoga i really enjoy the feeling i get whenever combining the two. Whenever i smoke feel like i get more of a deep stretch and generally feel better. I feel more into myself and aware of my body. It does not make me lazy if anything i am more focused on my practice and enjoy it more. There is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana and doing yoga or any other practice it helps open up the senses and become more aware of your body.