by Kayla Johnson
A growing majority of people who use cannabis and CBD products are using it to better their health in some way. Whether they battle with their mental health, or their health concerns are physical, many of these people have seen their lives dramatically change for the better in some way once they find a cannabis regimen that works for their needs.
Some beat cancer.
Others regain their lives from seizures or tremors.
Others still find pain relief that helps them become active again, or a side-effect free sleep aid.
For Amy Lee, canna-coach and owner of Boho Oils Co., cannabis was the key to not only rebuilding her life, but completely transforming it in a real and relatable way. A native of Tulsa born and raised, Lee was raised staunchly against cannabis as so many of us, and during her tenure as Miss Preteen Oklahoma 1998, even visited schools warning against the dangers of drugs. “I was really involved in the D.A.R.E. program, they had me tour different schools around the state, and I would tell all of these kids in high school or in-house suspension how terrible drugs were, and that marijuana was a gateway drug to all these horrible other things.”
With her upbringing and experience in the D.A.R.E. program, cannabis was something Lee avoided until later on in life, when one of her friends suggested she try it when she was feeling particularly overwhelmed. “One of my friends said ‘hey, I really think you need to try this, your anxiety is really high, you need to chill out.’, and at first, I was so against it! I couldn’t get over how bad I’d always thought it was, or how bad it was to smoke, but when I finally tried it, I realized I actually felt happier,” she said. “I’d self-medicated with alcohol for many years, thinking that was the answer, and all I’d done is bring myself into a worse depression, it gave me weight issues, skin issues, binge eating goes along with being drunk, so there was a lot I didn’t like about drinking. Once I started smoking, I realized how much better it was.”
Her mind changed at least in part about cannabis, Lee became a recreational user, using it regularly until she and her now-former husband began trying to start a family. “We were married in 2006, and I stopped using it in 2009 while I was trying to get pregnant, and it wasn’t until after I had my daughter that I began to really look at it as medicine.” Like so many women, Lee found herself battling postpartum depression, and credits cannabis with helping her get back on her feet. “It really helped me pull myself out of that dark hole, being a new mom, living in a different state, with my marriage falling apart all at the same time. It helped me keep my sanity.”
After her divorce, Lee found herself in a downward spiral. Her health struggles were mounting, she was dealing with weight gain, raising her daughter, and on top of it all, she and her daughter were facing homelessness. “I had no job, no car, and no place to live. I rented a car and drove me and my daughter to Oklahoma City to stay with family, and get back on my feet again.” That determination to ‘make it’ turned into a determination to thrive.
Through working with her doctor, learning about nutrition, and developing a cannabis regimen that addressed her health concerns (she was taking medication for anxiety, hypothyrodism, high blood pressure and more), her perspective became less ‘healthcare’ focused and more in tune with wellness, and what her body actually needed. “I was able to lose 125 pounds, and with the guidance of my doctor, stopped taking ten daily medications.”
It took work, and time, and effort for Lee to lose the weight and gain her health back, but it’s a process that she came to appreciate, and her new lifestyle has kept her focused on whole-self wellness, not just the physical symptoms like before. A key component of that new lifestyle is her daily cannabis regimen, and it’s something that she encourages all patients to pursue, in whatever form that takes for them, in conjunction with other wellness routines (such as fitness, nutrition, etc.)
“Cannabis offers medicinal benefits. If you’re using it for wellness, you really need to be incorporating all elements of wellness, mindfulness, spiritualness, what you’re feeding your body, what you’re feeding your environment…it all kind of goes hand in hand, and that’s why it’s so important to really take care of all of yourself.”
That passion for seeing patients achieve wellness is what encouraged her to dive into Boho Oils Company, and it’s especially meaningful for her to help those in her own home state by offering nutritional and cannabis-regimen coaching that’s one-on-one. “There’s such a need for nutritional guidance and wellness here in Oklahoma, there’s kind of a health epidemic, and I’m happy to be able to help fill that need here.”