Cannabis and Floating
Marijuana was legalized across Canada last week; here’s what you need to know if you are thinking about augmenting your float session with cannabis.
Key Takeaways:
Floating by itself is so relaxing you might not want to get high and the deep relaxation state you can reach is like a good sleep.
Marijuana may physically relax most people but its psychoactive effects tend to cause more anxiety. By floating while high you may get something out of it creatively but you probably won’t reach as deep of a mentally relaxed state as you could otherwise.
Ultimately it comes down to personal preference but it is highly recommended that you go into your first float completely sober to understand the experience.
Try CBD Oil for a relaxation effect to settle into the float more without the high.
There are still many people who consider floating to be some kind of hippy practice so it serves as no surprise that many people are wondering what the protocol for floating and marijuana use are.
Additionally, there are a number of staunch advocates of float tanks who also happen to be renowned pot smokers and the two are regularly described as going hand in hand for some of these experienced floaters.
Let’s dive a little deeper into the weeds and see if combining marijuana with floating is really worth its weight in smoke.
Floating - Complete Relaxation, Easily Accessible
Float therapy is like taking a long and relaxing vacation condensed into a brief session and there’s good evidence to show that it actually works this way; becoming weightless in the tank helps to relieve joint and muscle pain and the break that your mind gets feels a lot like years of practice in meditation.
Through floating you are able to achieve a state of complete relaxation in mind and body that is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve through other relaxation practices. Floating is so relaxing in fact that many people equate an hour-long float session with four hours of sleep.
This is exactly what many people are looking for when they feel like smoking weed - they just want to chill out.
Does Cannabis Equal Calm?
Marijuana does have a pain-relieving and physically relaxing effect on many people. People with chronic pain looking for a remedy without an extensive list of terrible side effects may indeed find it beneficial to smoke some weed occasionally. These pain-relieving effects are primarily the domain of the cannabinoids in marijuana which act as pain-signal blockers in the body. This is why CBD products have become so popular.
CBD Oil and Floating
CBD has changed the game for combining floating with cannabis in a lot of ways. CBD works to create a calming, anti-inflammatory effect in the body without the associated high of THC. At Flow Spa we sell both Calyx Wellness CBD products as well at the broad-spectrum cannabinoids from Flow CBD. Using CBD in combination with floating provides a gentle relaxation effect to help those who are more anxious settle into the float experience more. CBD oil is fast-acting when a dropper of the tincture is placed under the tongue to absorb more directly into the bloodstream and helps with relieving pain and improving sleep quality.
The Drawback of Cannabis
Where it is unlikely that cannabis is conducive to a complete relaxation experience is that along with CBD, there is another common cannabis acronym thrown around a lot is THC - the psychoactive component of the plant.
As a psychoactive substance, THC is the part of the plant that results in people getting high. Getting stoned may glue some people to the couch to watch endless hours of Family Guy but it doesn’t similarly settle the mind and therein lies the rub. Most people become more anxious while under the influence of marijuana, they just can’t act on it when they’re stoned.
Research has shown that despite people thinking that marijuana helps them to fall asleep, their overall sleep quality suffers and this is the most important factor when it comes to sleeping and ultimately feeling better. This is not to say that some people don’t benefit from cannabis for sleep in another way - if the individual is in so much pain that he or she cannot sleep at all, surely lower quality sleep is better than no sleep at all.
Floating Plus Cannabis Equals...
If you’re entering a float tank to try to relax as deeply as possible, you’re not likely to achieve such a state while floating high.
With that being said, some people like to use the float tank for creative purposes. Turning off the outside world allows some incredible people to accentuate their talents. Many of these people also use marijuana on occasion (or more liberally) for creative purposes. By combining the two, like the multi-talented float advocate Joe Rogan, some people may enjoy a heightened experience of creative output during their float in the tank.
If you do decide to enter the tank while high, I would advise you to let the staff at your local float centre know prior to your session so that they can better guide you through the experience. If you are extremely intoxicated though, do know that most float centres reserve the right to turn you away until you sober up for your own wellbeing.
So should you float while high? I think it comes down to individual preference and what your intentions are for your float session. The only time I would say absolutely not is for first-time floaters who should approach the new experience clear-headed and receptive to all instructions for making the most out of the journey they are about to embark upon.
Have you ever floated while high? Leave a comment below to share your opinion with new floaters.
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