• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Wellness
  • Cuisine
  • Product Reviews
  • Subscribe
Cannabis News and Culture Magazine

Cannabis News and Culture Magazine

Cannabis News and Culture Magazine

Emerald Media News Subscription
  • Print Magazines
  • 100+ Minority-Owned Companies to Support
  • No Pipe, No Problem
  • Blunt vs. Joint
  • The Cost of Cannabis in Each State
  • Calculating Your Edibles Dosage
  • Flintts Mouthwatering Mints

Higher Self Yoga

May 5, 2017 by Sasa Bjork Leave a Comment

Yoga and cannabis might seem like the new kid on the block, but it turns out it’s nothing new at all. The two have deep roots through the history of India, the birthplace of yoga. It is there that practitioners used the herb for centuries. Cannabis is even mentioned in The Vedas, a Hindu sacred script dating back 2000 to 1400 B.C.

During the 1960s, people like Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and Ram Dass started combining yoga and meditation with cannabis and psychedelics. Eventually with the War on Drugs in full swing, things changed and using cannabis became synonymous with laziness and the munchies.

Now the pendulum has slowly swung back. As our stance towards cannabis has shifted, THC-infused yoga classes started popping up in Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles around 2010.

The combination of the two was first met with skepticism and ridicule, but as scientists discover more of the plants’ benefits — people’s perceptions are slowly changing.

This growing popularity has encouraged me to try the combo of yoga and cannabis for myself. I went down to my neighborhood yoga studio. It was 7:30 p.m. on a Friday in Culver City, California and people were gathering inside the Goda Studio for the monthly session of Higher Self Yoga.

While there, I spoke with owners, Emily Meyers and Nathania Stambouli, who’ve taught the class since 2016.

The class welcomes approximately 25-30 participants of all age ranges, who must show ID and valid 215 card to attend. “We probably wouldn’t recommend this class for someone who has never taken cannabis and never done yoga,” said Stambouli, “Some degree of experience with cannabis is recommended, since we all react differently and it’s important to ensure that you feel good during the session.”

The atmosphere in the studio is relaxed but giddy with anticipation, as PureVape hands out goodie bags complete with an indica pen and other trinkets, but don’t think you can bring your own glass blown bong and just toke up, said Stambouli. “We usually don’t have vendors here, but it’s something we are trying. We do not allow any outside substances into the studio, so we are better able to control the quality of the experience.”

Phil, a 60 year old participant, explained that when he first took the class  he didn’t even know cannabis was being used, but he gave it a go. Tonight, he is back and signing up for a membership

Fifteen minutes into the session, we were welcomed into a candle lit room where mats had been placed in a circle. As we plop down and play with our swag bags, Meyers is in the center of the room and is softly gathering our attentions towards her and the session ahead. She welcomes us and gives a brief explanation of what we can expect, and why the vape pen is the preferred method in the class. Since edibles are hard to dose correctly, the effects you are looking for might not kick in until you are halfway home, so vaping offers a safer alternative.

Most in the class had joined out of pure curiosity and in search of something new. A few shared emotional and touching reasons for their attendance, attributed interest to the sense of community offered here. The common thread we all had was searching for an alternative approach to our health and well-being.

Finding the right strain to exercise to can be tricky when starting out. Different indicas seem to be the most popular way to go, but as people get more used to the practice, many start to use hybrids and sativas with a higher CBD content

Our practice started with breathing exercises and the room slowly got warmer as Stambouli guided us gently through a number of poses and sequences, “The yoga is more chill — the purpose is not to work out, but to feel a deep connection to one’s breath and body,” adding, “It is gentle vinyasa. Our Higher Self Yoga classes are intended to build community and help us connect with ourselves and one another on a deeper level. It is not a ‘get high and do yoga’ class.”

For more information, visit Higherself-Yoga.com

Filed Under: Wellness Tagged With: California, cannabis, slider, wellness

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Advertise Here

Categories

Sustainability

seaweed naturals

SeaWeed Naturals Combines the Power of Seaweed with Cannabis to Further Ocean Restoration

April 3, 2022 By Maggie Horton

fungi climate change

Research Finds Fungi Help Ease Climate Change and Benefit the Environment

March 30, 2022 By Julia Meyer

climate crisis and the pandemic

“We Can Act:” What Bending the COVID-19 Curve Teaches Us About the Climate Crisis

April 21, 2020 By Melissa Hutsell

Footer

  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Press

Recent

  • Priscilla Vilchis and Lil Kim Launch Aphrodisiak: A Cannabis Brand Focused on Sensuality, Social Justice, and Inclusivity
  • First Latina CEO of a Cannabis Company Partners with Music Industry Trailblazer Lil Kim to Launch Aphrodisiak Brand
  • Aphrodisiak: The New Female-Led Cannabis Brand Empowering Women and Promoting Inclusivity
  • Las Vegas Welcomes Aphrodisiak
  • HighOnLove – Taking Pleasure to New Heights

Search

Copyright © 2023 · The Emerald™ · News & Lifestyle Magazine

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Cannabis News and Culture Magazine
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.