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Courtesy http://deedussault.com/
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Dee Dussault offers up a bowl of cannabis for medicated yoga sessions.
To some people, smoking marijuana is a sport. Then there are those yoga types who consider downward dog the finest high around.
And then there's Ganja Yoga, which combines pot smoking and yoga, both of which are inarguably meditative.
Though cannabis has long been
associated with meditation, Dee Dussault , a yoga, tantra, and sex educator who founded Ganja Yoga, says her classes are the first to offer a blend of herb and yoga outside of India. She first started teaching the classes in Toronto in 2009, and now offers them multiple times a day in SoMa. In a
San Francisco Chronicle story today, she emphasized cannabis as a route to spiritual awakening:
“You can consume cannabis throughout your practice, as much or as little as you’d like,” said Dussault as she walked through the room, gently adjusting her students’ poses. The marijuana, she said, serves to relax her students, allowing them to reach a more spiritual state of mind.
Dussault said her philosophy is, "less is more," and that getting too baked could impair a student's ability to follow positions. In other words, there's no need to get
Star Wars-marathon level stoned for your yoga session.
"Whether you call it getting high, medicating, or sacramental use," she writes on her website, "this yoga treats cannabis as a medicine and spiritual teacher, and I offer these enhanced yogic journeys as opportunities for trippy relaxation, pain-relief, and the cultivation of inner peace."
Ganja Yoga students
partake together in the first 15 minutes of class, provided they have a legal medical marijuana card. Those without the magic card are encouraged to smoke
before class. Once stoned, the yoga positions are kept deliberately easy, Dussault said, so as to not strain your altered state of mind (or hamstrings).
So don't worry about falling over or perfecting your warrior one position: This is about getting stoned and taking it slow.
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Courtesy http://deedussault.com/
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Dee Dussault strikes a pose.
And while the herb-induced meditative practice is new to San Francisco, Dussault and others said this weed and yoga combo dates back thousands of years. As
Leafly posits, Indian and Tibetan cultures have long smoked herb, seeking new
spiritual highs.
From Leafly:
In Mahayana Buddhism, one of the two main branches of the religion, it is said that Guatama Buddha subsisted on one hemp seed a day for six years to aid in his path to enlightenment. Buddha is sometimes depicted holding a bowl of “soma” or cannabis leaves. Buddhist practitioners would often consume cannabis to facilitate meditation or heighten awareness during religious ceremonies.
For those signing up for classes,
Smell the Truth suggests these strains to get you started for your beginners yoga: Strawberry Cough, XJ-13, a sativa-y Blue Dream, Banana Kush, or Pineapple.
Check out more about Ganja Yoga at
Dussault's website, or signup directly at
Meetup.com.
[via SF Chron]
