Trauma Resolution with Cannabis and Breathwork?

We will all experience some form of trauma at some point in our lives. That’s just part of what it means to be alive. A traumatic event can range from something small, like being kicked out of a group chat because someone doesn’t like you, to having a horrific accident or incident that shatters your core identity.

I classified the “kicked out of the chat group” as traumatic because for some people a simple rejection from the group can be very painful and change the person’s identity. Ultimately, this is the impact of trauma, regardless of the perceived level of distress. A traumatic event usually has a “before” and an “after” element in relation to the victim’s behavior. For example, if you were in a car accident, you may get scared when someone drives at a certain speed. This fear response is something that prevents you from engaging in activities that involve high speed.

Similarly, being a victim of an assault or robbery can alter your behavior to make you feel anxious about leaving your home, thus limiting your choices in activities based on that fear response.

Fortunately, evidence seems to indicate that cannabis is a solid treatment for trauma. The original study, conducted in Israel, examined clinical trials of the effectiveness of cannabis as a potential treatment option.

The results of the trial were extremely positive. Notably, a number of cannabis-treated patients discontinued their doses of opioids (by 52%), antipsychotics (by 36.9%), antiepileptics (by 35.7%), and hypnotics and tranquilizers (by 35.3%). or reduced. Overall, more than two-thirds of the patients reported at least moderate improvement without serious side effects, with 90.8% of the treated PTSD patients being rated as a therapy success after six months.

SOURCE: Marijuana for trauma: report shows positive effects of medicinal cannabis – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Considering that the safety profile of cannabis is better than that of antipsychotics and opioids, cannabis may very well be the first treatment psychiatrists should consider when treating PTSD. The problem with the pharmaceutical approach to dealing with PTSD and anxiety is that the side effects of the drugs are often just as bad as the symptoms of their condition. Essentially, you’re trading one bad situation for another (hopefully) less bad situation. If cannabis is able to replace a large proportion of these pharmaceutical drugs, perhaps the road to recovery could be quicker.

However, should cannabis be the first treatment option? Personally, I believe we should have a protocol to deal with most diseases and conditions. We should always aim for the least invasive strategy first and then work our way up from there.

Start with the breath

Many people go to psychiatrists with anxiety or depression and are immediately put on benzos and antidepressants. This is the standard protocol for many medical professionals. But why is this the default?

There is empirical evidence that there are more holistic approaches that could potentially produce the “same results” as these pharmaceutical solutions. For example, breathwork is a wonderful tool for managing stress and anxiety, relieving pain, and even reducing symptoms of depression. There are many studies that have shown that when you change your breath, you change your state.

So shouldn’t we start with something as natural as breathing to deal with stress, anxiety and trauma?

Luckily today we’re going to talk a little bit about that and how you can use cannabis along with breathwork to work on your trauma.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not medical advice. If you suffer from mental health issues like PTSD, depression, etc., it is best to do these types of exercises under the supervision of a psychiatrist. While it can be difficult to find someone in your area, if you do the right research and provide the protocols, a psychologist or psychiatrist might be willing to work with you. The reason you would want someone else’s help is so that they can provide an objective analysis of your progress and help you interpret your trauma, internalize it, and let go of the pain. If you don’t have anyone to help you and this is your last resort – just proceed carefully, listen to your body…don’t push yourself too much either.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about a breathing pattern called “Transpersonal Breathwork.”

Transpersonal Breathing – (Or commonly known as Holotropic Breathing TM)

Transpersonal breathwork is a breathing technique in which you repeat a single breathing pattern over a period of time. The technique is simple—take a quick, short breath into your diaphragm, then another puff into your chest, and finally just release the air as if you’re about to sigh. People refer to this as 1-1-2 breathing. In other words, the first two breaths are short, rapid inhalations, and the exhalation takes about twice as long as the inhalation.

The link above shows you the technique with a 20 minute guided video. To release deep trauma, people typically breathe like this for an hour or more. Holotropic Breathwork – invented by Stan Grof – has sessions that last up to three hours. However, these sessions must be supervised, as there can be wild manifestations of trauma.

However, if you want to do this alone, start slowly and build up. With every session you do, you release and process trauma that is stuck in your body. This type of breathing is difficult for the first five to ten minutes, but then the body adjusts and you can breathe like this for a while.

After about 15-20 minutes something strange starts to happen – your emotions will start to run high and you might burst out laughing or cry your eyes out – but one thing is for sure, you will be grappling with your emotions in every session.

This form of therapy is gaining popularity and by mastering these types of techniques everyone has at least some sense of how to deal with traumatic events in their life – at least as a mechanism for release.

How does cannabis affect you?

Cannabis helps break negative feedback loops – it helps you not to keep repeating the traumatic event. To use this effectively with breathwork, you should regularly release the trauma through transpersonal breathing and use cannabis in the same manner that you would use anti-anxiety medication. By combining the two – cannabis and breathwork – you have amazing tools to help you explore your inner traumas and release them from your mind and body.

If you have any questions about this, you can contact me here and I’ll be happy to help as best I can.

CANNABIS AND BREATHING, READ MORE…

REDUCE ANXIETY WITH BREATHWORK AND MARIJUANA!

OR..

THE CANNAHUSASCA EXPERIENCE WITH BREATH AND WEED!