Ever had those, “It’s not you, it’s me, moments? I think most of us have in one way, shape, or form. But the next question is, have you ever had those feelings about cannabis?

My answer is yes, and it’s totally okay if yours is too!

Sometimes we just need to take a break, and that’s OKAY! It’s good to take a step back sometimes. This doesn’t mean cannabis is bad or that you don’t like it. It also doesn’t make cannabis a negative thing. All of life is about balancing, about accepting and understanding the life/death/life cycle that is in everything we do. We all need breaks - and this doesn’t mean just with cannabis, but with every aspect of life.

Understanding the Life/Death/Life Cycle

This is the cycle of life - yet something that many people fear. In our society, people fear death - they fear even the word of death, always taking it so literally. A lot of people feel that with death and destruction only more death and destruction will come, but this is not true. In fact, only life comes after death - life always, ALWAYS follows.

Death isn’t always literal and is crucial to growth and change. Think of Mother Nature as she models it best for us, trees in the Fall start to change colors and shed their leaves - essentially dying off for the Winter. But what then happens? New growth! In the Spring the trees begin to sprout new leaves and the flowers pop back up. Nature does this every year for year us and continually teaches us that all of life truly works in cycles.

If the Life/Death/Lifecycles intrigue you and this is something you would like to learn more about. You can pick up Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run With Wolves and check out Chapter 3, Nosing out the Facts: The Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation.

So What Does This Have To Do With Weed

Taking a break (death) can do so many positive things for you, your brain, and your soul. There are many reasons to take breaks, and none of them mean that cannabis is a negative substance. We have always been told, everything in moderation, and that rings true for well, everything - which includes cannabis.

Taking a break can be the death that is needed in order to create new life. So what are a few of those reasons?

Tolerance Breaks 

If you’re a heavy smoker, tolerance breaks are a real thing and are very important, for many reasons! Cannabis is something that you have to consume more and more of to get that high feeling if you smoke frequently. With smoking higher quantities comes the crazy high tolerance that you hear of people having - with these high tolerances comes the need to buy a lot which can break the bank.

Beyond breaking the bank, with the availability of dabs some people find it easy to keep up with their high tolerances. But even when it comes to cannabis, keeping up with the Jones’ can be costly - and not just in a financial way. If you’ve never heard of CHS, then you should definitely look into it. They don’t know exactly what causes it, but it has been found frequently in users who consume frequently and/or high doses of cannabis.

Tolerance breaks will vary per person as we each have our own unique endocannabinoid systems. So just be mindful of your limits.

Clear Head Space 

In a world where cannabis is becoming mainstream and we have companies left and right coming out with new innovative and discreet ways for us to get lit, I catch myself using cannabis in one way, shape, or form, throughout the entire day. If you find yourself doing this too, or even if you don’t but can still relate, then you know while cannabis is truly amazing and a miracle for creativity, spirituality, anxiety, etc., it can actually trip you up a bit too. Especially depending on the strain and product being used.

For me, I find taking a break can help me clear my head a little and go within myself to realign with my priorities. Even though I use cannabis as a tool for self-reflection and my own spiritual journey - it’s important to remember that at the end of the day it is something that alters your mindset and has a psychoactive effect. Taking a day or two to be completely sober, fully aware, in-tune, and observant of ourselves, our minds, our goals, and our true desires is beyond important for self-awareness and growth!

Creative Time Out 

Just like tolerance breaks and finding that clear headspace, sometimes a break is needed in order to take a creative time-out. The life/death/life cycle also applies to our creative energy and sometimes, we need to take a break from this too. Creativity, like anything else, works in cycles.

While cannabis is an amazing creative enhancer for most, including myself - creativity isn’t always there. I find that when I take a small break from cannabis this can help kickstart my mind to start thinking in different ways, with a different approach. Then when I start smoking again, the wheels start turning even faster and I find myself in that creative flow again.

The reasons for taking that break can be and are different for everyone. I would love to hear any reasons you many have that are different than the ones listed above, as there are many more out there! And honestly, there doesn’t even need to be a reason, other than you just don’t want to - and that’s OKAY.

The point is, it’s alright to take breaks and step back a minute - if anything, it’s probably healthier. Being sober with your own mind and your own thoughts is important for self-awareness and self-growth. So please learn your body, learn your limits, and most importantly respect yourself.