How Boston Locals Use Cannabis for Stress Relief and Balance

Cannabis

Cannabis is popular among hobbyists for many reasons, from its pleasant head and body highs to relief from pain and depressive symptoms. However, many Boston locals are increasingly turning to weed for stress relief and achieving a general sense of balance, calm, and focus in their lives. Boston dispensaries are working to support their communities by increasing access to products that facilitate emotional health.

If you haven’t considered how cannabis could work for your own stress and worry, there is no better time to try than the present! Making an informed choice about which cannabis products from a Boston dispensary requires an understanding of how and why weed can bring relief. Here is a basic overview to get you started.

Cannabis as a Mindfulness Tool

Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally paying attention to the present moment. In other words, you might take a deep breath and turn your attention inward, focusing on what you are feeling. You may acknowledge that you’re stressed and name the specific dynamics of your experience: your heart rate is higher, you feel tension in your muscles, or you can’t seem to get out of a cycle of anxious thoughts.

Mindfulness is a valuable tool for developing emotional intelligence and handling difficult situations. It can help you live a more balanced, intentional life, and for some, cannabis can help them cultivate this skill.

Consider some of the things weed can do that may support your ability to be mindful:

• It improves focus
• It aids in relaxation
• It enhances perceptions of sensations or feelings
• It can facilitate positive feelings of separation from time and place

Weed for Community and Connection

Another significant element of cannabis as a regular stress reliever is its communal nature. Many hobbyists find that partaking with others, whether at tasting parties or by passing a blunt, is an unmatched experience. Staying in close contact with a community of like-minded individuals is a great way to maintain a balanced life and find relief from stress in the company of others.

Terpenes and Cannabinoids

In the big picture, weed brings people together and offers unique body and mental effects that can make mindfulness and stress relief easier. However, there are also chemical processes occurring within the body that, on their own, facilitate decreased stress. These mechanisms work because of the cannabinoids and terpenes inside the cannabis plant.

Cannabinoids

The two main cannabinoids in weed are THC and CBD. Broad-spectrum products have the THC removed, while some other items contain almost no CBD at all. That’s why understanding what they do is important to help you decide what to buy.

CBD is a non-psychoactive compound that is associated with relaxation and a decrease in cortisol. Cortisol is the stress hormone, and the presence of CBD appears to blunt the body’s response (stress) when cortisol is released.

THC is the part of weed that can get you high, which can be a great advantage for some people. This compound can help you see the world more vividly, bring creative ideas to the forefront, and generate feelings of euphoria and contentment. All of these work well to reduce stress and help you focus on mindfulness in a new, often more intense way.

Terpenes

Terpenes are other compounds inside weed that influence everything from its therapeutic benefits to its taste and smell.

• Myrcene: This compound is an anxiolytic (anxio- for “anxious,” -lytic for “to reduce”) that decreases the anxiety response, which can help to lower stress.
• Limonene: This terpene offers anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to help you stay balanced, centered, and free from pain
• Caryophyllene: This compound can contribute to healthy sleep patterns, helping your body process its own stress compounds and balancing your waking hours with restful slumber

These are just a few of the many terpenes inside cannabis. Others include pinene, humulene, linalool, terpinolene, and ocimene. In addition, weed products can contain lesser-known compounds, such as HHC, CBN, and more, so always read the ingredient label to understand what’s inside your cannabis.

Stop by One of Our Boston Dispensary Locations

If you are seeking to regulate your life, reduce stress, and find greater joy in mindfulness and peace, cannabis is one option for making that process easier. The compounds inside cannabis have multiple benefits to offer, from improving your mood to interfacing with the body’s stress response system directly to help keep you calm. The team at Pure Oasis is always happy to help our customers find the products that can put them on the path toward their goals. Stop by Pure Oasis to talk to our Boston dispensary budtenders and learn more about how cannabis can change the way you address stress.