Why I use different strains? To get me into different flow states!
This was one thing that I couldn’t understand about cannabis…the plant looked the same…and when I would use it, sometimes I got sleepy, sometimes I got excited. Sometimes I LOVED the high…but other times? I’ve had better seshes I suppose. All of this eventually brought me to realize that with cannabis, STRAIN MATTERS. “Weed is weed is weed” is 100% not accurate, and I’ll explain why.
To begin, I don’t necessarily NEED cannabis to start, end, or function throughout my day. I am perfectly capable, and have done it plenty of times in the recent past (within the past few months), where I am not utilizing at all. So after months and months and months of using cannabis daily, what happens if I stop all of the sudden? First, yes, you CAN stop if you want to, as I have no physical addiction and again, have gone days in the past recently without utilizing already. Secondly, you simply just go back to your body’s baseline that you experienced before you started utilizing cannabis as a regular user. So all that means is that holistically, I would then be performing subpar to what I was before when I was supplementing with cannabis. If I am to do this, it means that my sleep is a little off, my anxiety is a little higher, I may binge-eat a little more throughout the day, my muscles don’t recover as quickly after workouts, I may put the weight back on, my immune system may be weaker again, I do not hold attention as well as I typically would, my digestive problems would return, as would my heartburn, increased blood pressure, inflammation in my knees would come back, grinding my teeth at night may return, heart palpitations could come back, workouts may not be as efficient, meditations may not be as efficient, and much more. I also find that my social connections/interactions are weakened, which affects both my family and business relationships.
All of these things will worsen back to the state that it was at before I started utilizing cannabis, and as a result, will have a life that’s very similar to how the majority of Americans live their lives today, and much less healthy at that. So do I “need” cannabis? I don’t know really, but when I want to be my best self and shift into a particular flow state, cannabis allows me to choose which flow state I want to shift into, and the different terpenes that you find in cannabis will assist with allowing you to tap into different flow states.
First, however, what is a “flow state”? A flow state, in short, is when you have that feeling of being “in the zone.” You hear it with athletes all the time, “the zone.” Being “in the zone” means you are 100% devoted to what is happening in front of you and are happily engaged. Time may become altered because of this as well, and we experience this all the time…it’s not just with athletes! To be our best selves every day, we all need to tap into this flow state as well in all aspects of our lives. Lebron James becomes unstoppable when he taps into a flow state and gets “in the zone.” Every part of his game is elevated and unmatched by any prior performance he’s had before for the most part. Similarly, my sleep becomes unstoppable when I also tap into the right flow state when my head hits the pillow at night and “get into the zone”…the SLEEP zone that is! When I’m working on a project at work and find myself occasionally immersed with what I’m doing, enjoying it, AND just being really, really comfortably efficient, that’s flow. When I’m with a group of people and find myself very easily engaging with the others around me, and with an infectious energy that everyone else around me also latches onto, that’s also flow! When I’m in the gym and am comfortably pushing the weight, feeling good, striding to one exercise to the next and just KNOWING that I’m getting a great workout and feeling “unstoppable”, THAT is flow. Flow = peak-productivity and an optimal state of consciousness, and we all want to be our most productive selves as often as possible, and is where cannabis can assist!
Why is it important to be in flow? The benefits of being in a flow state allow people to report higher levels of creativity, productivity and happiness up to three days after being in a deep flow state.
Benefits of flow state:
“According to positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, what you experience in that moment is known as flow state, defined as an “optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best.” Csíkszentmihályi, who popularized the term in his 1990 book, the mental state of flow involves “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” The ten factors that can accompany this state of flow are:
1. Having clear goals about what you want to achieve
2. Concentration and focus
3. Participating in an intrinsically rewarding activity
4. Losing feelings of self-consciousness
5. Timelessness; losing track of time passing
6. Being able to immediately judge your own progress; instant feedback on your performance
7. Knowing that your skills align with the goals of the task
8. Feeling control over the situation and the outcome
9. Lack of awareness of physical needs
10. Complete focus on the activity itself”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/flow-state-what-it-is-and_b_9607084
It’s important to remember that our skillset also needs to just barely not align with your activity in order to achieve flow, and shouldn’t be too hard or too easy, which will put you out of flow. When you are in a situation of being highly skilled, and also highly challenged, is when you can achieve flow. I find most that I achieve flow in my job (highly challenged and skilled) and when I am doing activities when I control the skill-level (i.e.- creating music, writing, creative endeavors). Creativity seems to encourage flow because you are always being encourage to push this boundary.
What brain waves can we use to get into flow? I personally find that on the border of theta and alpha ~7hz is the sweet spot for me in achieving flow (especially mental). To learn more about the science on this, Steven Kotler wrote the book The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance where he describes how this occurs scientifically within the body. One thing that you’ll find during this process is that anandamide is one of the leading chemicals that the body naturally releases during the process of getting into flow, which is the body’s own endocannabinoid, i.e.- THC….so yes, cannabis scientifically allows us to get into flow as well!
So how do I use cannabis to get into flow? A few different ways! It typically depends not on the activity but below is a run-down of my day and how I use cannabis to shift from one flow state to another. This could change from day-to-day, but this is pretty typically for me I would say. I can also break this down by one-off activities…which I will do also below.
Morning
For the first 1-2 hours of my day, I am the only one awake, and am able to be very productive. Here, I work on myself, where I do a small HIIT workout, yoga, and then meditate over a ~45 minute span, prep the kitchen for the circus that is about to begin, and also listen to a panel from my app Wellness Coach.
Shift #1: First thing in the morning typically, I like the vape a high CBD medical oil from one of my dispensaries here in NYC. The ratios will usually range here from 1:1 to 20:1 CBD:THC, and I’m just trying to prime my body, lowering the immediate morning anxiety, calm the stomach that starts up around that time as well, and just get my morning CALIBRATED.
Shift #2: After slamming my 40oz of secret speciality water, I shift to a strain that will assist with high energy production and focus. For me, this is usually Jack Herer, but can be various high-THC, energy-producing sativas. This gets me ready for the workout, focused, and I’m able to power through any challenges that come my way. Any soreness that usually bothers me before a workout starts also begins to fade at this time, so I can focus on just crushing the next 10 precious minutes that I have!
Shift #3: After my HIIT workout, I like to dial it back down to a 1:1, balanced CBD:THC ratio strain during they weekdays, or a high-THC hybrid on the weekends (for fun!!). This is when I’ll start my 10-15 minute yoga yoga-practice.
Shift #4: Back to high-CBD for the weekdays, 1:1 during the weekend days! Possibly light supplementation with high-THC vapes depending on what kind of shift I’m feeling like I’m going to be in the mood for!
Afternoon
Shift #5: Stay with high-THC energizing sativa if needed, or start to shift back down to balanced, 1:1 ratio during the late afternoon/early evening.
Evening
Shift #6: stick with the 1:1 ratio at night usually during the weekdays, go to high-thc for relaxation on the weekends.
That’s my usual routine, where I shift a few times/day. But there are also situational times as well. What if I’m going out to socialize? What if I feel like I’m getting sick? What If….
Cannabis allows me to shift instantly into flow states that are needed to perform at an optimal level. Yes, it would be lovely to do this ourselves effortlessly without cannabis, but that may not always be feasible. There are vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to survive, just as we have a system that can has requirements for cannabinoids as well. So cannabis is helpful for all of this, and for allowing us to SHIFT into becoming our best selves throughout the day, months, years, and lives!
Activities where cannabis helps achieve flow
-Making music
-Studying
-Working
-Socializing
-Parenting
-Exercising
-Meditating
-Yoga
-Boxing