There’s no denying that these are extremely stressful times. Cannabis, because of its ability to help us achieve balance in restoring homeostasis throughout our bodies, can be a great tool to calm any nerves we’re all collectively experiencing right now. That’s because the world’s most favored flower has been shown to blunt anxious reactions by reducing the release of the stress hormone cortisol. 

If you are looking for some ideas on how to mix relaxation and cannabis, try some of these methods and see if they work for you.

PHOTO Dan Armstrong

1. Take a Cannabis-Infused Bath

A cannabis-infused bath can be part of your daily routine if you’ve got the time to soak, or you can keep a stash ready for an especially rough day when you need the tension to just melt off. With these topical methods of use, there won’t be a psychoactive or “head high” feeling.

People over time have ingested cannabis, used cannabis tinctures or smoked it as flower or hash, but only in the last decade has the bathing experience reached these new heights. What a time to be alive!

PHOTO Stoner Babe’s Coloring Book

2. Doodle in a Cannabis-Themed Coloring Book

Adult coloring books have been around for several decades, becoming more popular in recent years as people look for ways to unwind and decompress from their screen-soaked lives.

According to the experts, coloring activates different areas of our two cerebral hemispheres, which has a stress-reducing effect. Psychologist Gloria Martínez Ayala tells The Huffington Post, coloring “brings out our imagination and takes us back to our childhood, a period in which we most certainly had a lot less stress.”

You know what else helps reduce stress? Yeah, you guessed it: cannabis.

PHOTO Hernán Piñera

3. Combine Cannabis & Meditation

There are lots of different types of meditation and choosing a method of consumption for them really depends on the type of experience you’d like to have. In general, smoking or vaping is probably best because the effects will come on more rapidly than with edibles, although a low-dose edible might be a good option for longer practices that might also include yoga along with meditation or sound healing.

PHOTO Sartoti

4. Microdose Some Edibles

A particularly effective tool towards keeping your cool are cannabis edibles. Low-dose offerings can insert a bit of pleasantry into an otherwise drab day. With just a punch of positive, microdose edibles are great for getting through these scary times. 

PHOTO Gracie Malley

5. Try Ganja Yoga

Cannabis-friendly yoga was once a California niche, as the state’s early medical marijuana laws helped spawn a proliferation of events that paired weed with an ancient Hindu tradition. Now, as attitudes towards cannabis consumption continue to shift, high yoga has made its way to the East Coast too.

Despite its growing popularity, the rise of 420-friendly classes has caused some debate within the yoga community. Does consuming cannabis help one’s yoga practice — or hinder it? Does THC intoxicate, or heighten the experience? Would THC hinder the pursuit of “clarity and purity of mind”?