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Category: Female

Feminine Divine – Hannah Pearl

Embracing feminine divine energy is a personal and spiritual journey that involves acknowledging and honoring the qualities and aspects associated with the feminine, such as nurturing, intuition, empathy, creativity, and receptivity.

Hannah Pearl is an Intuitive Practitioner, an Herbalist, and an Astrologer. She enjoys re-
connecting people with the natural cycles. Hannah offers services like spirit plant drawing, which is a hand-drawn art piece that attunes our frequencies to the plant kingdom to draw wisdom. Within her expertise, she offers Reiki energy healing sessions, chakra alignment and aura cleansing, which is all helpful for mental/emotional blocks. She extends her gifts to clients by offering health consultations that incorporate astrology, principles from eastern philosophy to get a deeper insight to patterns of harmony and disharmony and ways we can rebalance these energies through our daily rituals and habits.
She can help you with activating and awakening your own inner healer, understanding how
plants and herbs can improve your health and well being, the cycles of nature and how to
incorporate them for a more fulfilling life.

“The land is always speaking, we just need to get quiet enough to listen”.

Hannah is a passionate plant lady that has a dream and vision of educating and inspiring others on their spiritual/herbal awakening. She has studied Western Herbalism as well as Eastern practices since 2014 and is currently working toward being a Doctor of Natural medicine.

Ultimately, embracing feminine divine energy is about connecting with our inner wisdom,
intuition, and power, and using these qualities to create a life that is fulfilling and aligned with our true selves.

“We are energetically connected to everything, like a thread woven into a
larger quilt, or the drops of water that make up the ocean”.

I personally have had the opportunity to spend time with Hannah, as she read me my natal chart and gave me a detailed explanation of my astrology reading. I’ve always admired Hannah for her herbal concoctions and her depth of knowledge with natural medicine and her passion for the entire Universe. You can find our conversation below.

1. Hannah, tell me about how you grew up and how you were raised and what initially
sparked a joy within yourself for the outdoors, Mother Nature, and tapping into herbs,
healing and astrology?

I don’t remember having much of a consistent home until I was about 9 years old. My mom
traveled across the states with my brother and I, where we spent a lot of time outdoors. I believe that really instilled a deeply rooted love and appreciation for nature early on. My mom has always taken an alternative perspective when it comes to health preferring a more natural approach. She has been doing reiki since before I was born and she taught me the practice of meditation by the time I was 5. I took a lot of it for granted and struggled to connect, until life took my hand, or more like shoved me. I was about 16-17 years old when I developed some health issues, had already had a few traumatic life experiences, and by 19 I got hit by a car which was really the culmination point that led me down the path of integrating and aligning my mind-body-soul. It spiraled me back to the natural path and into the world of herbs and constellations. I ended up completely pivoting from trying to pursue a career as an esthetician and focusing only on the surface to diving much deeper into understanding more about my inner workings. Herbalism, nutrition, energy work and astrology are all just vehicles that have helped and continue to help me to develop a stronger connection with myself.

2. One way to embrace Feminine Divine energy is to cultivate practices that promote self-
care, self-love, and self-acceptance. In what ways do you practice these?

I practice self-love, acceptance and care through consistent conscious awareness of my inner
monologue. For a long time, I shamed myself for not doing or being enough. I was always
striving for “perfection”. If I didn’t do X,Y,Z then I was a failure. It didn’t matter what I did or didn’t do, there was always a void. I realized that the void was just calling me to come home to myself. It’s not about all the things outside of us, but what’s on the inside that counts the most. I believe that the way we speak to and treat ourselves sets the stage for the type of experiences and choices we will make in this life. When I “should” or “shouldn’t” myself, staying consistent with my practices is near impossible. It inevitably ends with self loathing. When I speak to myself with love and compassion, when I accept and sit with all of the parts of myself, even the ones that don’t feel too great, I naturally want to care for and nourish myself through healthier choices, for example doing meditation, yoga, breathwork, eating + growing + preparing nourishing foods and herbs, and whatever else feels relevant in the moment.

3. You’ve mentioned before that Mother Nature is your religion. What does this mean to
you?

I believe that we are all a part of nature, and the idea that we are separate from our environment is an illusion. As above, so below. The macrocosm and the microcosm. Everything is so deeply interconnected, we can see this physically with the root systems and the mycelial networks underground that are constantly sharing nutrients and information bridging the seemingly separate environment. We are energetically connected to everything, like a thread woven into a larger quilt, or the drops of water that make up the ocean. I personally have found the most peace, acceptance and love for all of life when I am out in nature so it only feels right that my devotion is to my body and to this land that I inhabit.

4. What types of activities bring you joy and fulfillment?

I find so much joy in communing with nature in general, more specifically though foraging,
identifying and learning more about the flora and fauna in my area, holding sacred space for my community, holding space for my body, creating art, making herbal preparations and nourishing foods for myself and my community, and being able to share all of this with my son and loved ones.

5. How do you embrace your own Feminine Divine energy?

By fully trusting myself even when on the outside it doesn’t make sense. I believe deep down I have everything that I need within me and I don’t require external validation. And that to me is where my true power lies. Placing proper boundaries that protect my peace, I no longer take responsibility for others and their emotions. If someone doesn’t resonate with what I have to say then it wasn’t for them anyways. I do not shrink myself any longer, or reserve myself to make others feel comfortable, growth is uncomfortable and if it triggers someone that is an opportunity for them to look inside of themselves and gain new perspectives that could catalyze and shift their reality, it is not up to me. My feminine divine energy is the part of me that knows that I am not here for anyone else, I am not here to please anyone, I am here to surrender to the greater unknown that lies within and to embody my authentic self in all of its essence so that I may step forward with confidence into my divine masculine or action with a solid foundation of trust.

6. What is Ethnobotany and how do you use it to understand how our ancestors used
and honored herbal medicine?

Ethnobotany is the study of plants and their traditional uses by indigenous peoples, using this information can help us to understand the deeper relationships and importance of specific plants to the land and to our ancestors. Our ancestors had an intimate relationship with plants, without needing technology to validate their importance and I think we can all at least acknowledge that, if anything, we can use our scientific understandings of the medicinal properties of plants to validate what our ancestors already instinctively knew. We too can develop deeper relationships with plants around us by connecting with the environment. The land is always speaking, we just need to get quiet enough to listen.

7. You’re an herbalist. What’s your favorite herbal blend that you recommend to use on a
daily basis and why?

It’s hard to say, everyone is so vastly different and our needs are going to vary from person to person. I will say though that living in cycle with the seasons, using what is readily available to us in our immediate environments and paying attention to the plants that are coming up around us can make a world of difference for overall health and wellbeing. Plants release certain constituents that help them to survive as well as support the ecosystem as a whole, the types and amounts of constituents that are released are based on different environmental factors, such as the temperature, sun exposure, water, soil quality, etc. We are also exposed to these factors, so we can benefit from those specific protective and preventive constituents by utilizing the plants and herbs that are growing around us. Some examples of springtime herbs are dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) and wild violet (Viola odorata). As they start to blossom, they are supportive for our bodies in different ways such as strengthening our elimination pathways, alleviating allergies, boosting our immune system, and more, so that our bodies have an easier time transitioning into summer.

8. Can you tell me about your company, Eighth Chakra Healing and what your vision is?

Eighth Chakra is a company that my mother, Virginia Underwood and I started. We provide
various tools, services, classes as well as facilitate ceremonial circles for the community with the intention of providing a space for individuals to develop a deeper connection with
themselves so they can begin to tap into the innate divine wisdom that is available to us all. We have an ultimate goal of having a regenerative retreat center, where we will steward native species and provide a place for the community to gather and integrate their wholeness by connecting with the land, themselves, and one another.

9. Being a mother amongst all of the other things you do, how do you find balance in
your work and life?

It’s a practice, every day looks different. I focus on taking it moment by moment, breath by
breath. Tuning into and prioritizing my needs helps me to find harmony with all the moving parts. I find that if my cup is full, then I am able to pour into everything else more readily.

10. Do you have any books that you’re currently reading that you really enjoy or absolutely recommend? I love to know where minds are attracted to.

There are so many books that I love, the list could go on and on but one book in particular that very much changed my life and still holds relevance to this day is called, You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter by Dr. Joe Dispenza. This book is a great example of how powerful our minds are, that what we believe about ourselves and our capabilities can determine how external influences affect us. I finished this book the day before I was hit by a car, I sustained some severe injuries and I am lucky to be here now. When I woke up 3 days later, I had a completely different perspective on life. Whereas before I was overwhelmingly depressed, I had no motivation to keep going and I was praying for something to take me out so that I could escape myself, and all of my feelings. When I awoke, I was renewed and all I could express was gratitude for being alive another day. The hospital staff was shocked at how fast my burns and bones were mending and I truly believe that my outlook, and attitude towards the situation changed the outcome. For this reason I would without reservation recommend this book.

11. If you could go back and tell your younger self anything that you needed to hear
during a time when you didn’t receive it. What would you say?

You are not responsible for anyone else’s emotions, thoughts or actions, all of which are merely reflections of the way people feel and what they believe about themselves. Keep doing you, it is okay to be misunderstood. It is okay to stand out from the crowd, you were never meant to fit in. Your unique perspectives and expressions are a blessing. Keep cultivating respect for yourself, and don’t give your power away or play small for anyone else, you do not require anyone else’s validation in order to be worthy, you are innately worthy simply by being here, that’s the only validation that you need. The only thing you can control in this life is the way you perceive it and the responses you have to it, forcing your way will only create more resistance and suffering. Trust that you are making the right decisions, there are no mistakes. What is meant for you will never miss you! I love you.

12. As a woman and everything you embody, how are you creating a life you love on your
own terms?

I am following my heart, regardless of the external “noise”. If it doesn’t feel right, then it’s not for me even if everyone else is doing it. I believe that only we as individuals know what’s truly best for ourselves, and we have the power to tap into our inner knowing by developing a deeper relationship and understanding of ourselves. Continuing to be present with and creating space for all that comes up, for all that I ever was, will ever be and all that I am.

Hannah is such a beautiful and intelligent soul. I’m sure you agree after ending up right here. I love how she’s fully embracing her inner wisdom and Feminine Divine. Her passions and drive for life, community and listening to her inner wisdom really takes her the places she wants to go and is inspiring! Our thoughts and words are extremely powerful and Hannah is here to remind you of your own innate wisdom. Don’t ever forget, no one is you and that’s your power.

You can keep up with Hannah and services she offers at www.eighth-chakra.com
You can also get to know Hannah more and find her featured on The Cannabis Hangout
Podcast, Ep. #87.

A Toke of Wellness

Delta 9 thc, commonly known as just THC, is the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. It is responsible for most, but not all, of the plant’s medicinal effects. When inhaled, ∆9 THC is absorbed directly into the bloodstream and swiftly distributed to cannabinoid receptors throughout the body. This rapid absorption means onset time is quick, but the effects aren’t as lasting as edibles. When ingested in oil form, ∆9 THC is metabolized by the liver and converted into a new compound, 11-hydroxy-THC.

11-Hydroxy-THC is more potent and longer lasting than ∆9 THC. However, in this case “more potent” and “longer lasting” don’t automatically mean “better” or “more reliable”. With 11-hydroxy-THC the onset and duration of its effects can be more unpredictable than ∆9 THC. This is because the time it takes for the liver to metabolize ∆9 THC can vary depending on the person’s metabolism, the dose consumed, and whether they ate shortly before or after.

Full-Spectrum Extract refers to extracts that contain all of the natural compounds found in cannabis plants, such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. Rather than a single compound on its own, this combination of compounds work together and rely on each other to produce a greater therapeutic effect.

BROAD-Spectrum Extract The CBD market, defines broad-spectrum cannabis extracts as a type of extract that contains a variety of terpenes, flavonoids, and cannabinoids (minus THC). However in the THC market, broad-spectrum refers to an extract that maintains a variety of cannabinoids, but no terpenes or flavonoids. While terpenes are medicinal compounds, they are volatile oils that often get destroyed in digestion and are better absorbed via inhalation.

ISOLATE Extract To obtain a single cannabinoid from the cannabis plant (like CBD or THC), an isolate extraction is utilized. In this process, all other components of the plant, such as terpenes, flavonoids, and other cannabinoids, are removed. Typically, harsh techniques, like solvents, are used to strip the targeted cannabinoid from the rest of the plant material. The end product is a highly concentrated, powdered form of the single cannabinoid. Most of the cannabis products on the market that are formulated with specific ratios of cannabinoids (1:1, 12:1, 1:1:1, etc.) typically rely on cannabis isolates to achieve these exact ratios.

CANNABIS OILS , whether they are full or broad spectrum, are highly concentrated extracts made through various extraction methods. However, when cannabis oil is consumed in an edible form, most of the therapeutic cannabis material is destroyed during digestion as oil and water do not mix, and the human body is mostly made up of water. As a result, only a small amount of the ∆9 THC in the oil can be absorbed by the body. Once absorbed, it is metabolized into 11-hydroxy-thc which is responsible for the “edible high” from oil-based edibles.

NANO EMULSIFIED / WATER SOLUBLE Cannabis oils can be made more bioavailable by emulsification. This process breaks down cannabinoids into small particles, increasing their surface area for better absorption. Nano cannabinoids can be up to 10x more bioavailable than traditional oil-based cannabinoids, thus improving their therapeutic effectiveness. Nanoemulsions keep THC from being converted to 11-hydroxy-THC, bypassing liver metabolism and entering the bloodstream directly. As a result, the effects are more predictable and consistent, reducing unexpected side effects.

NATURAL FLAVORS + COLORS Cannabis edibles can be flavored and colored with many natural ingredients. Most of them are made from essential oils, extracts, or distillates of natural ingredients: fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, minerals, and animal products (unless they’re vegan!). Natural ingredients are often preferred over artificial because they do not contain synthetic chemicals or artificial
additives.

ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS + COLORS Synthetic and artificial ingredients can pose processing challenges for the body both in the short and long term. These components have the potential to disrupt the body’s metabolic and hormonal functions. Often, artificial ingredients are derived from natural sources and chemically modified to enhance flavor or color. In contrast, certain ingredients such as Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40 are entirely synthetic.

SUGARS + SWEETENERS Edibles can be sweetened with natural or artificial options. Fruit puree contains naturally occurring simple sugars, fructose and sucrose, making it a natural choice. Allulose, found in some fruits, is a rare sugar, but not necessarily environmentally sustainable when produced at scale. High fructose corn syrup is a cheaper, commonly used sweetener, but associated with health risks such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Sugar-Free can be beneficial for some patients’ particular needs, however artificial sweeteners are often substituted in place of natural sugar to achieve a sweet sugar-free edible.

MELATONIN Sleep and wake cycles are regulated by melatonin, an essential hormone produced by the body. Supplemental melatonin can disrupt the body’s natural production and can sometimes cause unwanted side effects such as daytime drowsiness, headaches, and nausea. Reishi mushroom, which encourages the body’s own melatonin production, is a more natural sleep aid.

GELATIN is derived from collagen found in the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals, usually cows or pigs. It’s commonly used in the production of cannabis gummies to give them their shape and texture. Because gelatin is derived from animal collagen, it is high in certain amino acids that can be difficult for the gut to break down. Occasionally consuming gelatin is not harmful, but regular consumption can cause health issues such as irritating the lining of the gut, bloating, gas, and constipation.

Raise Your Highbration

Vibrational medicine is a wealth to add to anyone’s skill tree, be it a novice smoker, or a seasoned stoner! After all, just because someone’s proficient in an art doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to learn, and we all want the most holistic high we can create for ourselves, right?

Let’s begin by defining ‘vibrational medicine’.

Everything and everyone has a vibration. It’s a state of being that can be high or low depending on the stimulus on your everyday environment and how you choose to relate to it internally.

Cannabis has a vibration too, and that vibration changes the more the plant is tampered with, for example, with PGR’s (plant growth regulators) or even the disposition of the grower as its tending to budding plants.

Interestingly enough the plant, alongside carrying its own vibration acts like an enhancer for the overall current an individual carries with their vibration at the time of ingestion. So what does that mean exactly?

It could mean many things. It could mean that if you’re buzzed at a party you don’t even want to be at, but are because you’re actively people pleasing, have 89 problems on your plate and no solutions, only complaints – the weed that your deciding to ingest is going to shut you down and numb you out, or on the other end, make you panic.

Low situatons breed low results.

Alternatively, it could mean that you just took a big step for yourself in terms of self care and set a healthy boundary with a friend or family member, moreover you had a balances nourishing meal and took the time to meditate like you keep reminding yourself to do.

So when you sit back for the evening, and partake in some choice cannabis, it’s going to generally Inspire you and cradle that warmth you’ve shown yourself that day, because you matter! Great job!

Now those are two random situations, the point is if you’re surrounded and full of self love, the medicine is going to enhance that as long as you’re medicating smart for your body.

If your focus is chaotic and honed in on failure, stress, and the opinions of others before your own, your medicine will latch onto that state of ennancement and bring little benefit and more distraction.

Distraction may show auick results, but in the long term it’s not doing anyone any favors.

Now if you’re anything like me, step by step can really put it in perspective, so maybe treat it like a nightcap ritual, or a morning motivator if you have the ability! Dedicate some time just for you and your medicine.

Feminine Divine – Mel Cortez

“Living and standing in your full divine feminine truth with grace and love is something that no one can take from you”.

Meet Mel Cortez. She’s a passionate advocate for the Cannabis plant, a Cannician trainer, a mother and a part of Papa Jesus Farms here in Oklahoma. She’s always spreading the love and it’s noticed and appreciated by many in the community! From my first time ever coming into contact with Mel, and having the pleasure of seeing her at a variety of cannabis events, I’ve grown to love her and the energy she carries. Mel has all the loving mama bear energy, she cares for people and truly shines her light, with being such an easy soul to connect with. I had the pleasure to chat with Mel, as she shared her heart with me. I always enjoy digging deep with people and feel that it’s an honor when they choose to open up to me. She makes the conscious habit of expressing appreciation on a regular basis, big or small. She embodies her Feminine Divine in more ways than one.To get to know her more, you can read our chat below.

Q & A:
To get to know you a little Mel, tell me about where you grew up, how you were raised,
what life was like etc.

I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. We grew up pretty poor and lived in the projects with government assistance, until I was about 11 years old when my mom married my dad. He moved us into Scottsdale, where we lived a modest blue collar family life. I had a pretty challenging childhood to be honest. My mother was manic depressive, bipolar with borderline personality disorder, who was extremely neglectful. My biological father was an addict. I was molested at age 7, put into intensive counseling/hypnosis therapy, and have had to learn how to be a human through my parents’ mistakes. Through my childhood, I learned what not to do as a parent moving forward. I’m thankful for the rough upbringing I had, for it led me to who I am today. My step dad helped to change and save our lives, which I’ll be forever grateful for. He’s actually the only parent I still have and I talk to him and call him dad to this day.

You’re such a great follow on Instagram Mel, because of the uplifting things you say and share, with a great sense of humor. I love your vibe and social media can say a lot
about who we are. How do you follow your own intuition and remain true to yourself?

This was actually a very important thought process to me when I started my canna IG. I’ve had different ones in the past for my hair/makeup business etc, but I felt in my soul this one had to be different. I originally started Mel.purehempstress when the peak of Covid hit and we all went into lockdown. I was managing a dispensary in Claremore, and I had patient after patient coming to me worried, crying about the lockdown and not being able to see each other and connect. So I started a instagram page as a means for us to connect on some sort of level, since we couldn’t have our long daily visits and conversations anymore. I purposely put out loving and funny uplifting posts to ensure others that there was someone that loves and cares about them. I’m HUGE on mental health, and knew that isolation could potentially cause some of my patients to act out of character…by making this page it was a way to express and show love, joy, happiness and a little silliness in a time that was unsure.

What are some everyday rituals or routines you have that are sacred to you?

I immediately wake up every single day and before I open my eyes, I think and say several things I am grateful for, then I make my bed, take a morning bong rip and cuddle Aries(my cat). That is literally my ritual. I then like to journal 10 things I’ve been grateful for that has happened within the last 24 hours, ten goals I have for myself (can be realistic or not..what resonates with you will stay), followed by which one of those goals I’m going to work on that day…and/or I just release into my journal about life. This is probably the most sacred to who I am…having an attitude of gratitude mindset on the daily. It has changed who I am today.

Getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of life can be a lot and it’s up to us on if and
how we choose to slow down. How do you take the time to turn inward and feed your
inner child?

To be honest, the inner child really gives me no choice!! I had a pretty traumatic childhood that I’ve had to do a lot of healing work from. I’m extremely thankful for a therapist that has taught me many healthy coping mechanisms to help calm the inner child, when she goes rampant. I have fed the inner child by giving her something she never got enough of: LOVE, ATTENTION, & AFFECTION. Sometimes I just sit in silence and hug oneself, and tell the inner child how much she is loved and how proud I am of her. I often validate the inner child by eating cake for dinner, or going to see a late night movie at the theater alone, or grabbing up my kids and acting like kids, I dance, tell silly jokes…I act like the child I was never allowed to be growing up.

“Sometimes I just sit in silence and hug oneself, and tell the inner child how much she is loved and how proud I am of her”.

What does harnessing an ‘attitude of gratitude’ mindset look like and where do you think it takes you?

The attitude of gratitude mindset has completely changed my life!! I actually LOVE to talk about this with people! My therapist taught me this way to ‘rewire’ my mindset/brain about 4+ years ago and I’ve never looked back! I feel by truly embodying this mindset, you’re grateful for what happens no matter the circumstances. I feel grace and gratitude go hand in hand. I wake up everyday saying what I’m grateful for, and continue to do so throughout the day. At first, I kind of thought my therapist was joking…like really how will this actually work?! However, after just a few days I noticed differences in how my days went and continued to say, write or think in the constant state of gratitude which I feel has brought me to where I am in life right now.

“I feel by truly embodying this mindset, you’re grateful for what
happens no matter the circumstances”.

If there was anything you could go back and say to your younger self, that you needed at a time and didn’t receive it, what would that be?

I love this question..mostly because I love to connect with my inner child to self regulate. I would tell her, ‘Melina, I love you, please be patient’. I’ve had such a crazy life, I’ve lived life backwards in my opinion. I had neglectful parents, childhood trauma, I was a high school drop out, I had children at a young age, toxic relationships, several jobs, which made me feel lost and alone…like why am I here..why did I through all this?! Now it all makes sense. I had to learn how to be patient and love who I am (and have been) in the now. Everything makes sense now that I’ve come full circle and I’m able to relate and help so many others that have been, are, or could be in the same positions I’ve been in before. For the first time in life, I am proud of who I am and what I’m doing to impact and help others.

How do you tap into your own divine feminine power and embrace it? What does that
look like for you?

I learned several years ago that to fully embody what I feel divine feminine is: by gracefully loving yourself from the inside out, so much that you’re able to stand by your thoughts, words, and actions no matter the circumstances because they all come from a place of love. To love, honor and cherish yourself enough to set the standard and example for not only how you should be treated, but others as well. I can finally look in the mirror and say ‘I love you’ without feeling weird or crying and genuinely mean that. There is power in self love. Living and standing in your full divine feminine truth with grace and love is something that no one can take from you.

Are you a book reader? If so, please share what you’re currently reading right now! I
love to know where people’s minds go.

I’m actually a HUGE book reader!! I love, love, love to read! Fun fact: I don’t watch television! I own one for guests and kids, but I rarely turn it on. My favorite pastime since I was little has always been reading. It was a way for me to escape life. Then it became an addiction to fuel my brain with knowledge. It’s how I learned to have a healthier mindset and lifestyle. Right now I’m currently re-reading a favorite, (I do this a lot lol) The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It’s SO good! I sometimes forget to stay in full presence and by reading it again, it helps to ground who I am and reminds me that all I can do is Live in the Now.

You’re a huge Cannabis advocate. What do you cherish most about this plant?

I absolutely adore this plant and how it’s changed my life, as well as many others. The fact that we get to have the freedom to medicate with it as we please is what I truly cherish!! There are SO many variations of cannabis products these days and it’s absolutely mind blowing what we’re doing with it. I also cherish the fact that I get to help people through several avenues on the daily with plant based medicine!

Is there anyone along the way in life that has inspired you deeply to be where you’re at now?

My children. They have seen me through it all. I’m extremely thankful for the support that they’ve given me and continued to give on this journey. I’m hoping that I’m able to be a solid example for them throughout their lives. I pray/manifest that we’ll continue to be the best lights we can be to the world.

As a woman, who you are, and everything that you embody, how have you created a
life you love on your own terms?

By having time for solitude and living alone. I know that sounds crazy…but times of solitude have taught me more in this life than anything else. I learned to set boundaries, meditate, exercise, take care of myself, love who I am, I learned what I want, and most importantly what I don’t want or won’t settle for. I had a wild childhood and was thrown into adulthood early. I never got the chance to learn, nor was taught any of these things. I always wanted to be in a relationship and/or married to feel complete. Only to feel the total opposite. I finally took charge of my life and set boundaries. I’m still carving out the life I want to this day with full grace and love at the forefront of it all.

Are you glad you read until the end? What a beautiful soul! I hope you take something away from this conversation, that maybe you need or inspired you in some way!

To get to know Mel more, listen to Mel’s episode on The Cannabis Hangout Podcast, episode #168.

A Toke of Gratitude

The pace of life today is fast and stress is an inevitable part of that, but it doesn’t have to take over your daily experience. Stress can be turned into a helpful ally by cultivating a better relationship with it, thereby increasing resilience, and
improving your overall well-being. The article discusses the role of the endocannabinoid system and cannabis in addressing stress, as well as tips for reducing your stress levels and feeling more peaceful every day.

First, we need to understand how stress works in the body. When we perceive a threat, our bodies release stress hormones. This activates the Sympathetic Nervous System, preparing us to fight or flee. In order to protect us from danger, the Sympathetic Nervous System provides energy and strength to overcome the threat. When the threat subsides, the Parasympathetic Nervous System takes over. The system promotes relaxation, rejuvenation and repair. It also reduces the activity of the Sympathetic Nervous System and stimulates digestion and reproductive functions – bringing our bodies back into balance.

The key to building a resilient relationship with stress is to promote the Parasympathetic response so that it can work its magic! There are many tools that we can use to do this, including mindfulness, movement, and plant medicine.

Cannabis + Stress

Cannabis helps manage stress through its interaction with our internal endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS functions like a control center in our bodies that helps keep things balanced and working properly. It does this by using special molecules called endocannabinoids, which connect to receptors in our bodies to regulate things like our mood, hunger, sleep, and how our bodies feel pain.

Consuming cannabis is a great way to promote a Parasympathetic response, initiating our body’s healing state. Cannabis contains powerful compounds called cannabinoids (THC, CBD, CBN, etc.), which bind to our body’s endocannabinoid receptors and help calm down the nervous system, control inflammation, promote balance, and ultimately reduce stress.

Double Your Stress Support

Incorporate a gratitude practice into your cannabis consumption! By focusing on what you are grateful for, you can become more mindful and present. This shift in perspective can help to calm the mind and soothe the nervous system, reducing the effects of stress and promoting feelings of peace and contentment. We call this a “Gratitude Sesh” and here’s how you can try it for yourself

You’re Prepared to Sesh Intentionally!

At the end of the day we don’t have control over what’s happening around us, but we do have control over what happens within. By harnessing the benefits of plant medicine and promoting a positive mindset, you create a more balanced relationship to stress and can cultivate a happier, healthier, and more peaceful life.

Bridget is a practicing embodiment coach. She 
holds certifications from AFPA in holistic
nutrition, as well as specializing in herbalism
from Herbal Academy. Bridget founded Inner
Calm Co., (@innercalmco) a wellness company,
with the desire to help her clients find balance
and confidence in their wellness journeys.

A Toke of Wellness: Herbs & Intimacy

The fast pace of todays society and all of our digital distractions can contribute to a feeling of disconnection from what’s truly important in life. This sense of disconnection directly affects our ability to be vulnerable and share intimate moments with loved ones. We might crave closeness with our loved ones and ourselves, but it may be hard for some of us to get in touch with and express our deepest emotions and intentions. As humans, we are hardwired for connection. At our core we are looking to feel heard, seen and accepted for who we are without shame or judgment. Current neuroscience research shows that feelings of disconnection share the same neural pathways as physical pain. Isolation, feelings of loneliness, and a lack of intimacy can feel like a physical injury. It is vital to overall wellbeing to have healthy and stable relationships in our lives.

Humans have been in communication and relationship to the plant kingdom since our beginning. Throughout history plants have played a significant role in assisting humans in adapting to our surrounding environments. On a personal level we can continue to harness the wisdom of plant medicine to help us to grow and evolve in our modern lives by finding intentional ways to incorporate herbs in all that we do. When it comes to intimacy, we need to look inside in order to address some more personal patterns, however leaning on herbal allies can offer assistance on the journey to understanding and developing more meaningful connections in general. Whether you’re looking for more shared emotional depth with close associations, intensified physical sensation and/or an overall amplified sense of intimacy with self and others, these are herbs that can help!

Roses personify love and passion. Rose works on the heart both mentally and emotionally through it’s high content of volatile oils. These oils attach to our mucous membranes through inhalation or ingestion and this communicates to our nervous system that we are safe to relax, slowing down our heart rate and softening tense tissue. Rose has an overall anti-inflammatory effect which can aid in a calm heart and mind, making space for vulnerability.

Damiana can be traced back to the Aztecs who used it to foster connection with a greater power, and with one another. It is very well known for it’s aphrodisiac properties, so much so that the traditional name is —T. aphrodisiaca. It has an ability to stimulate the nervous system which intensifies physical sensations and desires. Damiana often produces an uplifting and euphoric feeling within the body that can help to relieve anxiety and dissolve any dense feelings.

We spend our entire lives with ourselves. This truly is our most intimate relationship. Cannabis awakens our senses, and can encourage us to surrender to the present moment. This gives us access to our innermost truth, and increases our ability to feel pleasurable sensations. Cannabis helps activate our body’s parasympathetic state, bringing us into a more stable and relaxed internal environment. Combining Cannabis with select other herbs can intensify specific desired effects.

Try Them Together! Roll one up with equal parts dried ground rose petals, damiana, and your favorite relaxing cannabis strain. Enjoy with your lover or close friends to intensify and activate rich connection. We also encourage you to enjoy a mindful session on your own. Get in touch with your emotions and deepen your relationship with yourself. It is ultimatley the quality of the relationship with ourselves that provides the wellspring from which all of our other relationships benefit. 

Hannah is a practicing herbalist, nutritionist and Reiki master. She works with patients through her own business, Sacred Nourishment. She formulates the Highest Intent products. @hannahpearl.222. This information is Intended for educational purposes only, not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. If you are on any medication please consult a doctor or qualified professional before consuming any herbs.

*Mountain Rose Herbs is our favorite online source of ethical, sustainable and organiclly grown herbs!

Feminine Divine: Bailee Bruce

Harnessing the Goddess energy that exists in all of us, through breath, movement, nature, and meditation.

Bailee is a guide, visionary, gatherer, mover, teacher, & a student of life. I’ve always admired what she’s created, the experiences she provides, through shining her light and turning inward, while listening to her own inner wisdom. Through her social media channels, she really gives you a visual insight with information on what she does through engaging Instagram captions, photos and videos that she puts her own divine touch on.

She’s a lightworker that’s all about connection. She’s paving the way for Reiki, Native Movement, natural health, and is so passionate about every aspect of it, here in Oklahoma.

Born and raised in the heart of Oklahoma, Bailee has devoted her life to studying the mind, body, spirit connection as well as the Traditional Medicine practices of her Cherokee + Choctaw ancestors. Throughout her career, she has gained professional experience in dance, yoga, energy medicine, somatic healing, natural health & more. She is a firm believer that the majority of our human suffering stems from the disconnect we have with our spiritual selves, with the land, with each other, and most importantly with the innate wisdom of our bodies.

Bailee offers regenerative healing, reiki sessions, somatic healing, native movement, private group sessions, ceremonies, trainings & retreats using these Four Pathways: Embodied Spirituality, The Fundamentals of Wholeness & Sustainability, The Sacred Language of Signs & Symbols, Connecting to the “Energy of Oneness” through the Heart for Holistic Healing and Nervous System Regulation.

Throughout her career, she has helped individuals reconnect to their own innate wisdom for healing, preventive health, vitality and well being for the mind, body and spirit.

“We are all just walking each other home” – Ram Dass

Her trauma informed approach is safe, open, gentle and nurturing. The philosophies and methodology she integrates into her offerings & teachings are rooted in & influenced by Zen & Tibetan Buddhism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Native American Spirituality.

She’s such a natural and beautiful, free moving soul. She enjoys plant and energy medicine and is always motivating, inspiring, and pouring into so many.

Whatever sparks community and connection with people, is what she lives for. While giving people tools and practices for their own well being, Bailee expressed that the exchange is so special. I got to chat with her while she shared her heart, passion, and expertise with me.

What is Native Movement and what does it embody?

Native Movement is a somatic practice centered around embodied spirituality. It is the creative force, innate and instinctual movement within each of us. It is an alchemizing, movement-based practice that helps one release or resolve stored emotions, stress, traumas & outdated beliefs in order to embody a desired state of being. One that feels like truth, safety, expansion and liberation. We use the pillars of: Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Storytelling, Somatic Resourcing, & Somatic Integration to help us connect to and embody the authentic expression of our spiritual “soul” selves. Native Movement integrates multiple techniques & therapies into one practice. (Breathwork, Meditation, Writing, Improvisational Movement, Yoga, Touch, Aroma Therapy, & Sound). These somatic tools support our efforts to realign with our wholeness, aliveness, intuition, wisdom, power, purpose, joy, unique individuality, & loving essence.

Where did your passion form? Where did it stem from?

My passion formed when I quickly realized I was a sensitive & empathetic being at a young age. I saw a need for empathy, sensitivity & healing just from the state of the world. Over the years my passion for helping others has grown the more I hav studied and learned about psycho-somatic illness and the healing modalities to support such imbalances. Now, I feel this passion has evolved into something greater than myself and I am just along for the ride, wherever it is meant to take me.

You pour into other people and show them different ways to heal. How do you fill your own cup up?

When I can intentionally spend quality time with just myself and my own energy doing the things that I love and that bring me joy & nourish me (i.e., meditation, writing, movement, plant medicine, getting out in nature, reading, eating good food, etc.,) that naturally fills up my cup and helps me stay energetically centered so I can engage with & support others without their energy influencing mine.

What is Reiki and what does this type of work look like? What are the benefits?

Reiki is an alternative relaxation therapy that uses hands-on-healing and works with the spiritually guided life-force energy within all living things. Reiki helps attune the mind, body, and emotional states of the individual to the frequency of “universal love, wholeness & oneness” or to the client’s desired intention. We are energetic beings who are alive and function because of this life-force energy. When this energy gets depleted, blocked, manipulated or imbalanced, dis-ease and illness can manifest in the body. Reiki does no harm and is a holistic therapy by nature because, in order to harmonize and align the energy of the individual, we have to work towards balancing the beliefs & thoughts in the mind, — that directly influences our emotional states and so forth. Everything is all connected! Reiki empowers the client to connect to their own inner healer within. It benefits the nervous system through regulation, strengthens one’s immunity, increases vitality, and enhances self-awareness & spiritual connection overall. It is a great therapy for preventative health & is complimentary to conventional medical treatments.

Tell me about the work you’re doing at The Integris Cancer Institute.

I am one of the Practitioners for the Mindfulness & Meditation Program that takes place at the Integris Cancer Institute in the James L. Hall Center for Mind, Body & Spirit. This new program is the very first in the state of Oklahoma to offer several alternative therapies such as reiki, yoga nidra, somatics, sound healing and more alongside the patient’s conventional cancer treatment. I just started working there in November, providing reiki to the patients undergoing cancer treatment as well as those who are in remission. The program is still very new as it just started in the fall of 2022. I look forward to seeing how this program can continue to grow and influence modern medicine. I am just beyond grateful to be a part of something so groundbreaking!

Do you have any mentors that you look up to, that have inspired you?

I have many inspirations, elders, mentors & teachers (in person, from books & online) Danielle Laporte, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Anodea Judith, Debi Dunbar Mahoney, Sun Bear, Joe Dispenza, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Sarah Blondin, and Stephanie Serafina to name a few..

Connecting to your own innate wisdom and coming home to yourself. What’s the simplest way to explain the concept of how to do this?

Anytime you can be fully present with yourself, taking some deep breaths with awareness of sensation, placing the hands gently on parts of the body that are carrying tension or moving your body in the way that it speaks to you, — are some of the simplest ways to come home to yourself & connect with one’s own inner wisdom.

Tell me about Origins of Spirit and what you have going on there & the exciting things for 2023.

Origins of Spirit is a Lifestyle Brand, Holistic Wellness Studio, Community Event Space, Eco Market & Apothecary located in Bethany, Oklahoma. Myself & my business partner, Deanna are Co-Owners & Lead Facilitators. We both offer wellness services, classes & collaborate events in the space. For 2023, we are working on building our retail space & creating the upcoming product lines for our seasonal wellness kits. These kits help to support & nourish you during the transitions of the seasons. Give us a follow to learn more! — @originsofspirit

How do you personally embody your own Divine Feminine?

I allow myself to soften more often. I allow myself to trust & surrender to the flow of life. I allow myself to be guided by my intuition vs. my analytical mind. I allow myself more opportunities for creativity & co-creation. I allow myself more time for play & rest without guilt. I allow myself to choose safety, beauty, & pleasure as my baseline over fear, comparison, & stress.

How have you created a life you love, on your own terms?

At a very young age, I was able to connect to my gifts of vision, creativity, curiosity, intuition & manifestation. I believe this life I have created thus far is because I was able to trust in and utilize those gifts early on. Sure, I also worked really hard for many years, did the corporate 9-5 thing with a side hustle while going to school part time and dancing professionally, accomplishing big dreams at a young age. I quickly became burnt out and felt disconnected from my true self & purpose. I was living my life to please others. I found myself often questioning who am I in this world and what do I want to do with this one precious life of mine? Since then, I have been on a journey to reframe the way I think of success, work, hustle culture & how I go about achieving what I desire. Creating my life will always be on my own terms and always has been. I think when we can recognize the true power we hold as humans to manifest our lives, everything shifts and we stop comparing & living for the validation of others, and we start living from the wisdom & intention of our hearts. I love my life, every aspect of it. The good, the bad, the ugly, the exceptional. I think I will forever be creating it & falling in love with it repeatedly until I take my last breath. I think the secret to truly enjoying & loving the life you are living is to feel worthy of it, slow down & be present with it, make it sacred & show gratitude for it. That keeps you in a place of receiving, divine trust and abundance no matter what life throws at you or blesses you with. I look forward to manifesting more of what speaks to my soul & makes this one fleeting life worthwhile.

If you’re a book reader, what are you currently reading and do you have any books that have been life changing that you recommend?

I’m currently reading a few books at once. The books I’ve listed below have been some of the most life changing and supportive for me over the years. I am usually always recommending them to friends, family, & clients.

1. “Heart Minded” by Sarah Blondin

2. “Eastern Body Western Mind” by Anodea Judith

3. “The Science of the Sacred” by Nicole Redvers, ND

4. “The Practice of Wholeness” by Lorena Monda

5. “Rise Sister Rise” by Rebecca Campbell

What does attending a retreat that you host look like?

My retreats can look like a lot of things, but what they feel like is connection & presence. No matter the type of retreat, what time of year it is held or where we are gathering, participants will have the opportunity to embody the energetic pillars of presence & connection. Retreat attendees get to connect to nature, to each other on a deeper level, to wellness techniques & spiritual practices that in turn connects one more fully to themselves. Retreats are a great place to “fast track” one’s innate ability to reset the mind & body, expand consciousness & self-awareness, and reconnect back to one’s wholeness.

What are some of your everyday rituals that are sacred to you?

I may not be able to do them EVERY day, (I am only human) but they are consistent enough in my life to be considered sacred rituals for daily support. Those rituals include: Breathwork, Drinking Plenty of Water, Eating Nutrient Dense Meals, Native Movement, My Skincare Regimen, Prayer or Gratitude Practice, Plant Medicine (Cannabis / Flower Essences), Self-touch (Reiki / EFT Tapping) and Aroma Therapy. Even the simplest or mundane things we do to survive & thrive here on earth can be considered sacred when done with intentionality of the heart & full presence of the mind.

What’s the most rewarding thing about getting to do what you do?

Getting to connect with others at the soul level, practicing empathy and humility, expressing my creativity & providing holistic resources to the community is so fulfilling that it goes way beyond just a job or what I “do”. I believe it is my calling, my purpose, my gift, and to be able to embody that in my own unique way that also supports my dream life is what’s most rewarding!

Always learning and evolving, Bailee finds her creativity when she’s moving and in her element, helping others find and utilize tools to heal, and tuning into her own creative expression that naturally flows throughout her body. I’m thankful for the work she’s doing in our community and how she’s changing peoples lives through different, healing approaches. This woman is a gem, making waves in Oklahoma!

To learn more and stay in the know, you can head over to her website: 

http://www.baileebruce.com

 

A Toke of Wellness

A TOKE OF WELLNESS BY ANNA WILDER 

Over the past two decades, wellness and self-care have significantly evolved. It is astonishing how many products and practices are available to us in the modern era, including plant medicineslike psychedelics and Cannabis! It might also seem a little … overwhelming? Confusing? Dare we say, sometimes, suspect? Which ultimately begs the question: How do we approach our wellness journeys in an educated, confident and intentional way?

BUILDING TRUST

Our educational sources range from nutrition and wellness experts to social media influencers and more. Realistically, consumers don’t always have the time to research these products and practices the way we would want to. What we really want is a friend who knows and has done the research – an educated guide! Someone we trust; we’re here to help you with that!

HANNAH PEARL – Herbalist + Nutritionist 

Hannah is a practicing herbalist, nutritionist and Reiki master, earning her certification from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Arizona. Hannah works with patients through her own business, Sacred Nourishment. She also
co-owns and formulates the Highest Intent products.

ANNA WILDER – Wellness Education & patient advocate

Anna is a cannabis, psychedelic and wellness educator. She researches and analyzes wellness products and practices commonly available. She and her husband founded Highest Intent with the goal to help people proactively care for
themselves through the power of plant medicine.

BRIDGET FRANCIS – Herbalist + Nutritionist 

Bridget is a practicing embodiment coach. She holds certifications from AFPA in holistic nutrition, as well as specializing in herbalism from Herbal Academy. Bridget founded Inner Calm Co., a wellness company, with the desireto help her clients find balance and confidence in their wellness journeys.

Together we make up the Highest Intent wellness education team

Highest Intent offers daily wellness tincture that combine three of nature’s most powerful medicinal plants: cannabis, functional mushrooms and ancient herbs. We wanted to make a product that we knew was 100% natural, delicious and trustworthy. With this brand, we hope to introduce others to the ongoing discourse surrounding the impact of nature’s medicines on our health. We’re thankful to Herbage that you’re reading these words, because that means we’re
achieving our goals!

Self Care vs. Wellness

Yes, wellness and self care can be different things. Self-care can exist as ensuring you’re drinking a proper amount of water each day to maintain good hydration, while wellness is knowing that purified water is devoid of the minerals our body needs to adequately process the water we are drinking. This knowledge translates to understanding that purified water will strip the body of mineral stores in order to process the water we are drinking, granting our bodies the tools to stay properly hydrated.

Wellness is educated self-care

Self care is recognizing that we need to take care of ourselves each day in order to maintain a good quality of life. Wellness is knowing that there is pivotal information to be learned andapplied in order to maximize the benefit of our self-care routines.

Our education team often discusses the fact that when we go to the doctor,we’re typically not asked about our diet, sleep habits, wellness routine, daily stressors or exercise. Meanwhile these are all of the things that are foundational to our daily health. Doctors have a wonderful intention to help their patients live healthy lives, howeverit can be hard to give singular attention and accurate proactive health advice to the 9th or 10th patient of the day! Over the coming months, we plan to introduce, educate and familiarize you with simple and accessible proactive wellness tips. We believe every person has a right to understand their bodies and feel confident in their wellness decisions and routines. We want to lend a helping hand as you cultivate your own journey!

Let’s Connect!

For regular wellness information and education from our team, make sure to follow @ highestintent2.0. We’ll see you next month with some juicy information
on cannabis, herbs and intimacy!

 

For Obvious Reasons, No Receipts

For Obvious Reasons, No Receipts

By Kathleen Barker

Oh how far we’ve come from 1986 and getting our weed through reefer Rick! Though I think many of us can agree that we’d drop a lot of cash to do a deal with Eddie Munson. But here’s my question, what kind of flower does our favorite metalhead prefer? Is he more of a sativa smoker? Or an Indica kind of guy? And what about Terps?

Let’s ask some loyal Tumblr fans what they think, aye?

Lei: “Ooh, my first instinct is to say he’d go for a sativa. He’s a high energy kind of guy, I think that he might want something that would stimulate his mind and fuel his creativity when playing guitar or writing campaigns. Though perhaps on other occasions he may want an Indica just to be able to chill out and wind down, become one with the couch so to speak. He sells it so he’s got choices you know? Options at his disposal for different needs. The terpenes that stand out to me with Eddie in mind are Limonene, Myrcene, and Pinene. Limonene for the elevated mood and anti-depression. Eddie is a naturally positive person so I think he’d appreciate added benefits here. Myrcene for the added creativity that psychoactivity brings, and Pinene for memory retention and alertness since it seems pretty clearly to me that Eddie has ADHD and would really benefit from some help in those areas!”

Johnny: “Given that he’s well-versed in alternative medicine, maybe even a damned witch doctor due to being a dungeon master, he probably smokes both, but as far as a preference goes I guess sativa. He has lots of high-yielding energy, he’s very outgoing, so I don’t see his preference leaning towards couch potato vibes which would be Indica. As far as Terpenes go? Definitely some Limonene but after that shit with Chrissy? Linalool. He needs to relax and sedate himself after all that.“

Tess: “Eddie Munson is definitely a mood smoker. Majority of the time, I see him smoking a sativa dominant hybrid. His creativity is flowing and he is Vibing like the true metal man he is. However, when he is wanting to play guitar alone in his room, I can see him appreciating an Indica. No matter which mood he was sporting that moment in the day, he is definitely lighting up something skunky, linalool, or alpha – pinene dominant.“

Becca: “So I strongly feel Eddie goes for the sativa strain. As a musician and a Dungeon Master he needs all the alertness he can get and Indicas do the total opposite. Indicas I feel are more for relaxing. As for the Terps, I see him being into limonene, Myrcene, Linalool,  Borneol, and Eucalyptol.“

Well there you have it puppet’s! Majority rules in favor of sativa for the Master of Hellfire! Personally, that was my vote as well, it just seems to make sense for our lovable metalhead. But hey, maybe Kas the bloody handed will have a different taste…dun dun DUN!!!! He’s alive dammit, there’s no convincing me otherwise. UNTIL NEXT TIME – Kat

Tarostrology | Aries Season

March 21 – April 19, 2022

by Anna Ervin

Welcome to my favorite season of the year, Aries season. Every March, whether the sun comes out or not, I crawl out of my winter slumber and come alive once again. The cards I pulled for my own placements this cycle seemed to carry an overall theme of stepping into my own power, taking time away from society’s hustle and bustle to focus on inner strength and growth, and continuing that theme, stop caring so much about what other people think. Easier said than done, right?

Remember that you can use your big four, or even the entire birth chart to give yourself a more in-depth reading. For a quick four-card spread, read your cards using the following placements:

 

Sun: Ego, the core of your being

Moon: Emotions

Ascendant: Mask, surface value

Venus: Love, intimate relationships

 

Aries – King of Swords

Mental clarity, intellectual power, authoritative thought patterns. Firm and traditional ways of thinking. 

Which comes first, the thought or the action? For most of the human race, the answer to this question is quite simple, but for Aries (myself included), it’s almost reminiscent of the old chicken-egg riddle. The king of swords, however, invites us to slow down and give a little more consideration to our thoughts. Perhaps they do come first, we’re just too hasty in our reactions to even notice them. Perhaps… they have a little more power than we realize. What can you learn this season from the role your thoughts play in dictating your actions? Could you afford to discipline the workings of your mind? Try taking control of your reality by shifting the narrative you feed yourself to one that boasts authority and power. “I am the protector of my thoughts, my goals, and dreams.” “I am in charge of the thoughts I allow to flow, the actions I allow to manifest, the reality I create.”

 

 

Taurus – Five of Wands

Conflict in energy and ideas, confusion, lack of understanding.

Something in your life isn’t quite flowing, Taurus, and it’s likely it involves the ideals of the people that surround you. This card is a clear indicator that the people and situations in your life are challenging your ideas. This could look like unsolicited opinions from those around you, opposition in the pursuit of your goals, or a sudden disruption of energy created by someone who just doesn’t understand you. It’s possible that those around you are not able to clearly communicate their feelings at this time, creating a lot of confusion around the conflict. Now, more than ever, stay true to your beliefs. If something in your life is working for you, it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks. 

 

 

Gemini – King of Wands

Leadership, strong vision, authoritative energy.

Dear Gemini, this is your season to get sh*t done. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to finally tackle that project, take off in your career, or fully embody your own entrepreneurial spirit, this is it. The king of wands is a clear indicator that you have tapped into your inner boss, and you may find that your leadership skills have been fine-tuned for the endeavors that lie ahead. The people in your life might look to you at this time for direction, and the universe is inviting you to share your unique vision with them. Right now, you have the determination and foundation to not only follow through but to create opportunities for those around you. 

 

 

Cancer – Ace of Swords

Blessings in the form of intellect, a new perspective, mindfulness.

Have you ever heard the quote, “change your thoughts, change your world?” The ace of swords reminds my sweet Cancer friends of the empowerment they can find through mindfulness. New perspectives and thought patterns should flow into your life with ease at this time, inviting you to shift the narrative of your external reality as well. The only challenge here is asking yourself what kind of perspective and thought patterns you’re willing to entertain. What are those patterns trying to teach you? What sort of new information becomes available to you when you’re able to shift your perspective? There is something to be learned from everything right now. Keep your eyes and ears (and mind) open. 

 

 

Leo – Queen of Swords

Boundaries, independence, intuition.

The queen of swords’ quiet, cold nature may not feel the most natural for fiery Leos, but I’ve never known a lion to back down from a challenge. This season brings lessons in the responsibility you carry to honor your limitations. While being the warm, inviting, happy-go-lucky character in everyone’s life has always been your pride and joy, you are now being called to take a look at the standards you hold yourself to. If you’ve been feeling taken advantage of, depleted, or overwhelmed, it may be time to reinforce some of the boundaries you hold within your relationships, home life, and career. 

 

 

Virgo – Nine of Pentacles

Material abundance, success in home and career through spiritual awareness.

This month is all about enjoying the fruits of your labors, Virgo. We all know you’ve worked hard to earn the abundance that now flows into the areas of your life that earth signs covet the most: home and career. The nine of pentacles can also indicate success correlated to spiritual awareness and growth. If this has been a season of enlightenment for you, that newfound relationship with the Divine could be playing a beneficial role in your material world. 

 

 

Libra – Ten of Pentacles

Wealth, inheritance, support through family

The ten of pentacles is always a good indicator for your material well-being. This month should bring financial blessings and abundance into your life, Libra. Sometimes an indicator that these valuable resources could come through your family or community, you can certainly expect to see you, and those in your life, finding a bit more comfort within the home when this card comes up. At the same time, you may feel a responsibility to help those in your life or give back to your community. You worked hard to achieve this success, Libra, and in my opinion, you’ve earned the right to share it however you choose. Never let anyone tell you what to do with that big heart of yours. 

 

 

Scorpio – The Hermit

Solitude, stepping away from society, quiet

The hermit is a card that should feel familiar to many Scorpio placements. Stepping outside of society’s norms, taking time off for the sake of self-improvement and growth, and keeping a quiet, reserved attitude when necessary can be your greatest strengths. This month delivers an ideal time for you to step into a season of solitude and self-reflection, in order to improve yourself and your state of life. It’s okay to take some time for yourself, just don’t get too cozy in self-isolation. This is just a season. 

 

 

Sagittarius – Six of Pentacles

Community, giving back

Fiery Sagittarius, the cards this month place emphasis on your community work or the energy you give to others. If you’re someone who always looks out for others and plays a major role in giving back to the community, are you ensuring that the scales are balanced? On the other hand, if you’re someone who hasn’t invested much time or resources in others, can you find a cause that piques your interest? Energy (time, resources, money) works best when it finds a healthy flow, so take a step back and ask yourself if any of these areas in your life have become stagnant. 

 

 

Capricorn – Four of Swords

Meditation, reflection

Sometimes we get so involved with the thoughts and worries occupying our minds, that we find ourselves overwhelmed and anxious. The four of swords reminds Capricorn placements that a little bit of quiet reflection can go a long way. Take a step back if you’ve been trying to tackle everything at once, and try to take it one step at a time. Practicing intention with your thoughts will help you build strong intellectual foundations that help you process and handle the hurdles life throws your way. 

 

 

Aquarius – Four of Cups

Discontent, closed-heart, stubborn

Aquarius, the universe is offering you blessings in your love life and relationships, but you’re refusing to see them for what they are. If you’ve been praying for one specific outcome to happen, try to detach yourself and open your heart to new possibilities. These blessings may not look quite as appealing at first, but they offer important lessons and growth in love, intimacy, and emotional connection nonetheless. Perhaps the love or connection you seek can be found within you, rather than from others.  Of course, it’s okay to expect and strive to achieve more in your relationships, just make sure you are still practicing gratitude for the little things you receive and learn about yourself along the way. 

 

 

Pisces – The Chariot

Clear direction, intention, willpower

Sweet Pisces, this month the chariot invites a season of progress and potentially great success. Now, more than usual, your energy is perfectly focused and your vision is clear. Pair this wave of intention and determination with your natural ability to dream big and you’ll be unstoppable. This is a good time to really charge forward with your goals and plans, take action on a new project or life path, and trust your vision. The chariot reminds us that direction, discipline, and follow-through can help you build momentum and set you up for success. 

 

 

 

Read more by @cannabanana__

 

The Budtender Diaries- An Introduction, by Anna Ervin
Tarostrology | Pisces Season

The Feminine Divine, Healing with Plants and Crystals: Utopic Vibes

The Feminine Divine, Healing with Plants and Crystals: Utopic Vibes

 by Veronica Castillo 

Both recognized as “alternative medicine” (which is crazy because both are natural, coming directly from earth; whereas man made lab pills are considered actual medicine), cannabis and crystals are utilized and consumed for multiple healing reasons: mind, body, and soul. 

In the western hemisphere, which is where The United States of America is, we generally weren’t, and still are not taught about healing with crystals. And I suppose in a country that wants man made pills to be the main source of “medicine”, why would they?

But as I learned from Kristine D. Carlos, in her thesis: Crystal Healing Practices in the Western World and Beyond: 

“Humans have been using crystals for various healing and ritual reasons for centuries. Both geographically and culturally, a diverse range of groups have turned to crystals and gemstones to address diverse needs over the millennia. While the oldest legends of crystal magic date back to the mythical ancient continent of Atlantis, whose people allegedly used crystals for telepathic communication, it is believed that the crystal customs continued to perpetuate in Egypt, South America, and Tibet over subsequent centuries.”

Usually, America doesn’t recognize anything from earth as medicine. You see, crystals come from earth. Millions of years ago, liquid rock inside the earth cooled and hardened, and this is how crystals formed at the twinkling center of the earth. And like cannabis, a plant that grew wild centuries ago, and still could if earth wasn’t being destroyed as I type; are forms of healing that have been here since before humans. 

Holistically and in history, both have been utilized and consumed for healing, today, both are making their way into mainstream society; and there is a company that is offering both in one purchase: Utopic Vibes.

About Uptopic Vibes, Products with a Purpose

Utopic highs and crystal vibes, Utopic Vibes is an Oklahoma based medical marijuana processing facility that seeks to bring patients the best of both cannabis flower and healing crystals. Their focus is on uplifting the vibration of their patients through intention based healing. Owned by Kimberly Provance and Tonya Carone, this company believes that: “Caring for the mind, body, and soul is of the utmost importance for a healthy and happy life.”

Kimberly and Tomya encourage Oklahoma patients to “catch the Utopic vibe” by consuming their line of intentional healing products with names like: chill, heal, create, passion, and uplift. Their intention with providing a product that incorporates earth into healing is to offer:

“Peace and tranquility. This is something everyone deserves in this life, and we are confident that our products will help you change your frequency to align with these states of being.”

Hear from the Owners of Utopic Vibes, Kimberly and Tonya

I just want to say that I absolutely love the concept, the message, and the intention of Utopic Vibes; what led you here to its launch?

“We wanted to provide the patients of Oklahoma with a higher quality experience that can be used  with intention. We both love crystals and appreciate the healing energies they can provide and wanted to share with others how crystals can complement and work together with cannabis for various experiences. The market was lacking a premium pre roll and we wanted to provide the best of everything for the patient from including high testing full flower, genuine crystal, custom cones for an even burn and an educational card for the strain and the crystal. We call our packs experience packs for that reason, it allows for a full experience of enjoying the high quality of the joint while learning about the product and also connecting with the crystal.”  

Please tell me about the team— who are they and what does each person do? 

 

“The team is Kimberly Provance and Tonya Carone, we met in Bartlesville in May 2020, at the start of the pandemic. Kim was visiting family and looking for alternatives to help her husband who is a cancer survivor. Tonya was working at a dispensary, had so much knowledge to share on terpenes and the healing components of the plant, and was genuinely interested in helping make sure the right products were recommended.

Kim’s background is in corporate America with 30 years in technology sales and sales management where she has always been motivated by helping people achieve their goal through products she has sold and represented. Kim sets the standard of ethical business practices, sources, cleanses, and charges every crystal Utopic vibes uses. 

Tonya’s background is in sales, organic farming, essential oils, as well as petitioning for SQ788. She has helped patients get their cards and then educated patients in dispensaries. We met and bonded over how the earth truly gives us what we need in our lives in both crystals and cannabis. Tonya handles all the sourcing of the product with the various grows, and she insists on high terpenes and quality. She also handles the production and quality control. Tonya’s Role: source growers and strains aligned with our 5 vibes.”  

Before launch, did you find that people overall loved, weren’t sure of, and/or didn’t understand your concept?

“Unsure. Being two women in this industry coming to the market with this intention based approach with crystals and holistic healing; we were told many times it was a lot to ask of Oklahoma patients. But we stayed true to our beliefs that we could change the lives of patients and so, we launched and Oklahoma has welcomed us with open arms to help set the standard of true room based medicating.  

Generally, we get this question from men: “what’s with the rock?”  At first we were like “hey, that’s not a rock it’s a beautiful crystal!” It’s fun now because we have been able to educate so many people from various backgrounds on the benefits of working with crystals. Men also like to purchase them as they give the crystals to their wife or girlfriend, and they get big brownie points for that in addition to a premium joint to enjoy.   

People really like to collect the cards too, they appreciate the information and seeing the various strains and how we change it up.”  

What are your top 3 favorite crystals and why? 

“That’s a hard one that’s like which kid is your favorite 😅. All of our crystals are our favorite depending on what we need in our lives at that moment. Trends with our patients have been our citrine and amethyst. Citrine for its abundance and inspiration and Amethyst is for encouragement of tranquility. 

As women we gravitate toward pink for love so the Rose Quartz is a favorite. Blue lace for positive vibes; this one’s fun to work with and lift your spirits and uplift your energies. Clear Quartz MASTER HEALER applifies energies, protects balances, and acts as a spiritual healer.”

Can you talk about the inclusion of a crystal with your 5 packs?

“Both cannabis and crystals come from our earth naturally, meaning the nutrients we get from plants that we use everyday and also in cannabis, create the crystals over thousands of years; so how can they not come together?

We wanted to give the patient something other than a matchstick or lighter, we wanted to share the experience of the crystal with them in hopes of them achieving the highest level of whatever intention they are manifesting. 

We love to see how our patients use the crystals (each come with a hole drilled) in making jewelry or other ways of carrying them. Some people like to bless others with their crystals. It gives the patient something positive to experience with each pack. That is our goal.”  

Which of the 5 options in your 5 packs is your best seller?

“Create and Chill, lots of people like Heal too; we source really good 50/50 blends for that consistently. Create pleasantly surprised us and is currently our best seller.” 

Where can cannabis patients in Oklahoma find Utopic Vibes products?

“We are in over 50 dispensaries now in the state, please find a dispensary near you on our website.”

How do you all source the crystals and cannabis provided in your products/product packs?

“We get our crystals from Arizona and Arkansas currently.”  

In Closing

I asked Kimberly and Tonya for their recommendations:

For someone that isn’t familiar with crystals and consuming cannabis for healing other than chronic pain, which strain do you recommend they try first?  

“They should start with the vibe that they are feeling… they may be going on a date that night and passion will do the trick as it’s a nice hybrid. If they need a positive boost, we recommend our Uplift. They all really hold the power of intention, so we recommend you start with what you consciously lead you to.”

The Feminine Divine with Woman Cultivator, Heidi Allen with Higher Flower Garden

The Feminine Divine with Woman Cultivator, Heidi Allen with Higher Flower Garden

by Veronica Castillo

“Like most kids growing up in the 70’s and 80’s I learned that Cannabis and anything related to it was just plain bad and bad for you.”- Heidi Allen 

From death row guard, to professional truck driver, to cannabis cultivator; Heidi Allen, who grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, turned to plants to heal herself and others. In this series, we highlight women cultivators in Oklahoma and in this interview, Heidi lets us into her life as a child, the trauma’s she has experienced, and lessons learned in and from the cannabis industry. 

Through all of that, Higher Flower Garden was born, which seems to have been born from Heidi’s passion: 

“I got into the industry about three years ago hoping to turn my love of growing things and my belief in the healing power of nature, into a viable way to make a living. I got into cultivation because I love to grow things. I have always loved plants and have had a long time interest in studying how things grow and what makes them grow.”

Learn more about Heidi’s journey to the Higher Flower Garden below.

Q&A with Heidi Allen of Higher Flower Garden

Did you work in another industry pre-cannabis? What?

“I worked for a while as a guard on death row in Huntsville, Texas, but as soon as I was old enough I began driving a truck over the road.  My last job was driving for the World Champion: AMA Motorcycle Racing Team.”

Did you graduate college? If so, what was your major?

“I was pursuing a degree in criminal justice but didn’t finish as I began my trucking career instead.”

Can you describe your journey to the launch of Higher Flower Garden?

“Rocky! Things never seem to turn out as planned. We were made a lot of promises by a lot of people that never materialized and because of this, I simply had to learn my trade and put it into practice to make things work.”  

Tell me about your team.

“My team is small; it’s me and a friend of mine named Jen. We handle all the day to day activities of the grow from cloning to harvesting. We have a couple of investors who have been very supportive as well.”  

What’s one thing you love and one thing you wish to see changed- industry wise?

“I just love the plants and seeing them grow and getting the finished product from them. I really wish OMMA would be more active in enforcing the regulations, and keep out of state products and illegal grows from making it so tough on smaller boutique setups like ours.”

What’s your favorite strain to grow? Consume?

“As far as consuming, I like the old strains with Skunk #1 being my favorite. Where growing is concerned, I like growing the real Sativa strains. I love to grow beautiful flowers from top of the line genetics. We have set ourselves apart by cultivating via a hydroponics system and producing a high quality connoisseur grade product.” 

Any mentors you’d like to mention? 

“Unfortunately I really haven’t had any mentors to speak of in this field.  I have essentially had to learn on my own. A lot of times I feel like I’m on an island in the industry, but I have made a few friends that are encouraging and helpful.”  

Any advice for young women aspiring to become cultivators?

“It’s a man’s industry. Be ready to not be taken seriously or listened to because you’re a woman.  You have to have thick skin and know that most men aren’t going to give you credit for what you do or become very jealous at any success you have. Trust yourself and when you know your product is good, don’t let anyone sell you short. 

All photo credit: Higher Flower Garden

The Feminine Divine Highlights, Woman Owned and Operated: Pro Gro Farms

The Feminine Divine Highlights, Woman Owned and Operated: Pro Gro Farms

by Veronica Castillo

“Maintaining a small-batch standard by taking extra measures at each step to preserve quality and isolated control on a plant by plant basis.”

Founded by woman, operated by woman, cannabis grown by woman, Pro Gro Farms is an indoor cultivation growing cannabis in a controlled environment, while maintaining a naturalist philosophy. Pro Gro Farms offers legally compliant  cannabis to dispensaries and processors within the state of Oklahoma.

Founder and Led Cultivator Kalli Keith, says she fell in love with gardening in her twenties after a breakup, and growing plants healed her. But before that, she has the experience of being raised in farming and ranching: “I spent time at the stockyards, at barrel races, even strapped to a pony on cattle drives before we evolved to using ATVs.”

Recently, I had the opportunity to connect with and interview Pro Gro Farms owner, Kalli Keith. Hear from her below.

Portrait of Kalli Keith

Q & A With Kalli Keith, Founder of Pro Gro Farms

Tell me about the woman owned and operated team at Pro Gro- was growing a passion and/or career goal?

“After the breakup, I started gardening and dreamed that I would give produce to all my neighbors in my small apartment complex. Gardening healed me more than it fed my neighbors, and I found myself obsessed with the whys and hows of plant life (and bug life), and I continued to adopt ‘em and read about each one of them. I eventually had serious square footage staked in this parking lot due to my expanding collection, and decided it needed a border to keep cars in check. I acquired bricks from a building demolition in my neighborhood and borrowed my neighbors skateboard to roll them all to my garden in these toe-smashing stacks. Then neighbors started leaving me flower pots, naturally I had to fill them with more plants, and I think I am still in that cycle somehow today.”

What was your childhood life like?

“We always had a garden growing up so the farm-to-table thing was kind of just the way of life. Nostalgia creates a deep connection with the land for me. I grew up in a farming and ranching family and spent years trying to escape it. I was always irritated about why conversations at the dinner table had to evolve around horses and cows and land. I was set on moving to NYC to become a world-renowned hairdresser. I already completed my licensing during high school and after graduation, but I started college 15 minutes away in Norman instead. I made it to 19 and was deflated by still being in a small town when I was scouted to model through a Facebook message. I changed my major as soon as that semester had ended and relocated to Miami, FL to follow a new dream for the next 10 years under my parents warning it was only acceptable if I finished school. I made it to NYC after all, then Los Angeles, and finally Dallas for a more comfortable last few years.”

Please tell me about the journey to build and launch the Pro Gro cultivation facility?

“I think it was 2017 when I started working toward being a part of the emerging hemp industry in Oklahoma. I worked to be included in the pilot program and cheered along the 2018 farm bill finally legalizing production. My trajectory had shifted somewhere in the meantime before seeing that through. I feared a lack of infrastructure for hemp when it came to harvesting through going to market and another lovely little thing had happened in the meantime which was the movement and passage of SQ788. 

I redirected my efforts into a very small scale operation to see if I could even grow plants indoors! I had toured a fabulous and well-funded commercial grow in southern Colorado, but that was the limit of my experience in commercial gardening. It might have been the craziest or the coolest thing I ever did, but I wiped out my savings, developed an additional funding and repayment strategy and took a big ass borrowed trailer to Home Depot. That is when it set in that I really wasn’t turning back, the space was leased and half the building materials purchased so I was in this for real now.

With the help of my dad, other family, and friends, we were able to get about 1000 square feet built out.”

Portrait of Kalli Keith

Do you all have a passion for cultivating indoors?

“I have a passion for the sun and the soil, actually. I have a passion for regenerative agriculture, and plans including and expanding from Pro Gro. I grow indoors, because frankly I am a perfectionist and a weed snob since back before I ever became interested in farming or growing cannabis. I want to be able to experiment with various cultivars in a controlled setting.

In my garden, I have the ability to formally trial side-by-side, more control for research, and development, and the advantage of getting to monitor everything that comes in contact with the end product from a sanitation perspective. 

I know indoor cultivation is not as sustainable as other methods and that does weigh on me, but I do my best to compensate by constantly making small changes: reusable products, water filtration modifications, electricity pull at off-hours, etc.”

What’s your favorite strain to grow and consume?

“I certainly don’t have a favorite for either. My main obsession with cannabis comes from variety and what range internal and external factors can allow it to span. My quick answer would be something like a chem or diesel cross to consume and to grow would be simply anything beautiful!”

How many plants do you all grow at once?

“I flower 80 at a time.”

Any mentors in the industry?

“Not really, no. If I did have a mentor, I am the type to ask then secretly not trust their answer anyways and go try my idea instead. I only learn the hard way and it’s a curse.”

Any partnerships or collaborations coming?

Pro Gro is collaborating with Bear Essentials on a rosin release. I feel like it’s a milestone for Pro Gro to not only branch into rosin, but to be noticed by respected hash artists. I can claim I’m a “weed snob” all day, but these solventless people are drop dead serious about what flowers they will and won’t work with.”

What has been the hardest lesson learned so far?

“You can’t do everything by yourself. I am deeply independent and thought if I would just build a micro grow small enough that I could manage it entirely myself, then I could just listen to my audiobooks all day and grind out some stanky danky flowers. I thought  I’d snap some pics and send some emails and could stay hidden in the garden, and people would learn it was great and be waiting to buy it. WRONG!

It takes help from reliable teammates to guarantee product consistency, it takes cherry picking the hand trimmers that manicure bud to perfection, it takes relationships with your clients that develop into friendships, it takes giving up control and learning to delegate tasks to others to better your business overall, humility to consult with other growers and giving free advice to the next guy in return for the good deeds done to you, it takes patients demanding your flower at their favorite shop over and over again, and friends and family understanding why you fell off the map a couple years ago and miss important events.”

Where can customers find you and what Pro Gro Farms grown strain is highest in demand?

Safe bets for a good selection would be: Likewise Craft OKC, Likewise Broadway in Edmond, Top Notch Medz in Shawnee, and/or Pharm788 in Roland. 

Feel free to DM or email me and ask, because there are single strains or rotating stores that might be closer to where you live. 

Our highest demand has been for the Blueberry Mandarin Cookies #14. It’s a happy all day strain with an easy THC level and a woodsy, bready terp profile. If you catch me out and about, it’s the strain I almost always have on me. I think a close contender is the MP3 pheno of Mandarin Punch, but she just hasn’t been around my garden as long to challenge the BMC popularity.”

Portrait of Kalli Keith

What are 3 tips you have for aspiring women cultivators?

“My advice would be to stop acting like men are against you because you’re a woman in a male dominated industry. I am often asked, “what’s it like?” to which I say ‘pretty much like every other industry’. I have actually felt more judged or disliked by other women than men in this industry, and we have a tendency to kind of lift other women up as long and were still standing on her dress hem. 

Men are excited to meet a woman running a garden, because it’s refreshing to not have the same bros or hired hot girls coming in to sell weed all day. Sure, we experience weird advances and mansplaining, but these types of bizarre exchanges happen outside of cannabis too, because weird people are weird people no matter who dominantes your line of work.

Don’t hide the fact you’re a female stepping onto the scene. I spent a long time not stating that I was woman-owned and operated, because I didn’t want people to care. I had a false idea that purchasing managers would think I was some growers girlfriend he sent in. I wanted my product to speak for itself no matter who grew it. My guy friends actually encouraged me to add more personality to my brand and let people know who is behind it and I am so glad that I did. 

I have had a mom-and-daughter store reach out to me wanting to buy from other women or others. I get messages like ‘Love to see it, I’m a girl and I grow too’, from as far away as South Africa!

Being woman owned isn’t going to compensate for bad weed, (at least it shouldn’t) so it doesn’t hurt to put it out there and let people know who you are and what you’re proud of accomplishing when it’s against a statistic.”

Universal Cannabis 101: The History pt.2 

Universal Cannabis 101 

The History pt.2 

by Jasmine Harvey

HERBAGE MAGAZINE

 

Who knew the Cannabis Sativa plant had such a rich history!? With this lovely lady being at the forefront for many medicinal uses and spiritual practices there is no wonder why it has remained a staple in many cultures. 

 

According to a Chinese legend, the emperor Shen Nung, considered the Father of Chinese medicine, discovered cannabis’ healing properties during the Han dynasty. With the wide growing awareness of cannabis fast forwarding to 1563 when Hemp was highly sought after, Queen Elizabeth required everyone with more than 60 acres of land to grow Hemp. 

In 1890 Queen Victoria was prescribed Cannabis by her physician to treat the pain from period cramps. Cannabis became an important crop for many due to its many uses and value. With the ever growing knowledge on Cannabis there started to be more experiments to test all the different uses for Cannabis/Hemp. In 1942 Henry Ford constructed an entire vehicle made out of hemp and soybeans that ran on a hemp-soybean mixture for fuel.

 

As you can see we are just scratching the surface for the many uses of the Cannabis Sativa plant. Coming up next are the complexes of the Cannabis Sativa plant.

 

Let’s dive deeper into the vast universe of Cannabis, until next time!

Cosmic Review 

Life Of Katz

Cosmic Review 

By Kathy Long-Barker

Author pictured

Suuuper casual start here, 

So, remember in school when we’d come back from summer break and they would review us on what we learned last semester before they catapulted (hehe) us into the new stuff? Well it turns out adulting works the same way. 

 

For a little context, in 2019 I was a passenger in a pretty gnarly car accident that gifted me with an upper Cervical sprain, a bulged disk, and just a whole slew of issues mainly on my left side. In the midst of all that, I was steeping in some pretty heavy polarity tea involving my Mother. She resurrected some old wounds that I hadn’t transmuted yet. 

 

Fast forward to current events. I’m a passenger once more, traveling at 60mph towards a museum.

Quintessentially, it all happened so fast. A glance, a gasp, and then I was hit in the face by my airbag. My neck was screaming along with my ears as Johnny asked me over and over “Baby, Baby, are you ok?”

Artwork by Author

Later that week I kept hearing through different spiritual communities that many were experiencing ascension symptoms by way of their left side. I noticed that even though I was on the right side of the car, it was my entire left side that ached with no reprieve. 

“Did I really need a car accident to tap into the collective’s ascending experience!?” I asked over the message boards saltily. 

A kind woman replied “the left side is associated with divine feminine and we’re currently purging as a planet. Do you have any female figures in your life that you need to forgive?”

‘Dammit.’ My eyes narrowed at the screen as I felt the ego begin to prickle. 

“NO” It wanted me to say. Alas the truth of the matter was, two years had passed and my mother and I once again found ourselves disharmonic. And eerily enough, for similar reasons as the years before. 

A wild pattern has appeared!!

 

 The woman on the message boards could have said anything. How’d she pinpoint the biggest aggravation on my mind? 

I sighed at that thought knowing why. Like me, she too was the universe, a fractal of source. Everyone on the outside is a mirror regarding what needs to be addressed on the inside, and I needed to hear this. 

 

The very next day I sat down and  began a practice known as ‘Ho’oponopono’ 

 

Step 1: Repentance – say: I’m sorry.

Step 2: Request Forgiveness – say: Please forgive me.

Step 3: Gratitude – Say : Thank you. 

Step 4: Love – Say: I love you. 

 

The accident didn’t feel as heavy. Neither did my relationship with Mom. Something even weirder…my neck loosened up a little bit and then I got a call from my chiropractor saying my entire treatment had been anonymously paid for… 

 

The way you relate to your world is they way it will relate to you. Keep that in mind my dudes. 

Fairfarren.

 

Universe With Jaz 

Universe With Jaz 

by Jasmine Harvey 

HERBAGE MAGAZINE 

Hiya Star Shines! 

I am Jasmine Harvey. Thank you all for coming along the ride of my life.  My story will consist of grief, anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Author pictured with Father and paternal Grandfather

As a child I was relatively happy. I was always well taken care of, and my mother is to thank for that also my aunts. When I say relatively happy, meaning I’ve always had some form of anxiety since I could remember. I have been through quite a bit as a young child. I remember the nights when my mother and dad would have disagreements and me hiding from the noise. Which formed a sense of “on guard” mentality most of my life. I did not start seeing  a therapist until I was 27 (which I am a huge advocate for.) My therapist states that a lot of my deep rooted self guard comes from my childhood which has now translated into my adulthood.

At the age of seven I lost my father to a house fire. Losing a parent at such a young age was my first experience with death and it was difficult to fully process. I did not truly know he was gone until he was not there any longer and I caught myself missing him and being jealous of those around me that still had their father. My thoughts were that of “why and how could this happen to me? Why does he have to be gone?”. Of course these questions are not answered as a child because no one ever had the right answer or one at all. 

Author pictured with Mother
Author pictured with Mother

Which brings me to mental health within the black community. It has always been frowned upon to show weakness within the black community; you would be chastised for it even by your own peers. I so desperately needed therapy or counseling as a child. My mother just did not have the resources to provide that for me; it simply was never given or just the fear of losing your child because “the need for help” was expressed. Could you imagine not only losing your husband but also in fear of losing your child to a system that is unfair and unjust? That was my mother’s fear. So, no outside help has ever played a part in helping me sort out my feelings as a child. I just bucked up and carried on as did my mother.

   

Losing my father was merely the tip of my emotional iceberg. It has now been over 20 years since his loss. I’ve started to notice little things here and there. Hypersensitive to how people interact with me which made me very timid.

(Author pictured on left with head turned to Maternal Grandmother and pictured on the right with locs hanging in front of face)

 During school years all through both elementary and middle school I was bullied. Bullied to the point I would cry everyday and didn’t see the point of living. Can you imagine a child being bullied and the thoughts they have are that of suicide? SUICIDE! At the age of 10. That’s when it started to become too much. Too much for me to handle. All the bullying and the constant trying to fit in. It became worse in middle school. Losing my grandmother who I was dearly close to brought more depression and anxiety. Not only dealing with grief but also dealing with those who thought it was cool to be cruel to another. That’s when my self harm started to manifest. If I could hurt myself then when others hurt me it wouldn’t be as bad. This also started my night terrors. Dreams that feel so real and all you want is relief. This is something that I still struggle with to this day. 

Author pictured as a teenager

High school was my relief from the cruelty but it still left deep scars. I over analyzed (still do) everything and felt everyone around me was somehow upset with me. Wanting constant reassurance and navigating my way through my teenage years. It was rough. Rough to the point, again, became too much for me to handle. This came to be more self harm. Sitting in my room staring at a knife wanting to slit my own wrist. Make it all go away. I have done half-assed attempts of suicide. By half-assed I mean not fully going through with it but hurting myself enough to where it warranted attention. This is most certainly not to say to others “do this for attention”. No. This is not the way to go about it, but for some it may feel it is their only way to call for help when no one is listening. There is always another way. There is always someone there to listen. Moving along through my teenage years, that’s when I started to drink. My suppressor. I always had fun when I could drink no matter where it came from or who. It was a slippery slope. I managed to keep sliding through it. When I reached 19 (by this time I was already hanging out with those who were much older than I).  I met David. 

Author pictured with David

David became my outlet. We clicked. We clicked so well we became more than just “hanging out”. He was battling with a lot from his previous marriage so, we both wanted a breath of fresh air. It was just that. We became each other’s rock. We were ride or die in every sense of the meaning. No relationship is perfect and there were times where I reverted back to self harm to fix the feelings I had or feelings that were had towards me in our relationship. That was very early on when I did not know how to properly express myself. I became better. Moving onward after being through everything with each other for six years we married. The most exceptional day I could ever ask for. At this time I still battled with depressive episodes, anxiety and night terrors but he loved me through and through as I did for him.

We were at our most high. Newlyweds, starting a family of our own, becoming financially stable. We were at such a good spot he was at his happiest and I was as well. That year of marriage was the closest we have ever been. We both love cannabis and all it’s benefits which brought us to our trip in April of 2018. We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in Colorado. We were on cloud 9 with our love. Then came May 16th, 2018 a part of my life that is not completely known to the public. 

Author with Husband David Portrait by Isa-B Photography

 

On this day it played out as a little normal but I woke up with a huge sense of anxiety. An impending doom if you will.  David was not home from an overnight job that he went straight to after working the normal 9-5 the same day. He kissed me goodbye the night before but was nowhere to be seen the morning after. I called and called, nothing till I got a call back from him stating how busy he was. I love you and goodbyes were said.  Then came the afternoon I spoke to him once more at this point he worked non stop over 24 hours. I rushed home after work to surprise him with something that I bought.

 I get home and he’s already there. 

I pushed the door open and he was presumably asleep on the couch.  I discovered that my husband died by gunshot that day. Events play out. A year of marriage and seven years together, was now gone. All that we built. Gone. I had to start completely new. I never want to explain in detail these events that have happened so please refrain from EVER asking me, just know it’s a huge source of trauma for me.

Losing David was the rest of the iceberg, hidden in plain sight and incredibly damaging. I have now lost 3 very important men in my life: my dad, my grandpa, and now my husband. After my husband’s death I sat and thought how easy it’d be to end it and be with him, from all the drugs I was prescribed.  

 

Author with late husband David

From David’s death I developed ptsd. The sight of a gun in person makes me go into a panic attack. Shooting of the face or head on any form of media I have an instant panic attack. Music is a huge trigger for me as well. I’ve had panic attacks before throughout my life but now they are way more intense. 

I have been put on Xanax, trazodone, hydroxyzine, klonopin, and antidepressants. None of those work as well as cannabis does for me. Cannabis has helped me get away from most of those drugs. I can no longer function without some type of aide. Every time I go to sleep it’s a night terror. Every time I wake it’s pure anxiety. Cannabis helps all of that with a combination of certain medications. I have pinpointed certain terpenes that work well for different times. For example, during the day I’d need something that has the terpene Limonene and Ocimene within it for anxiety and tiredness. For a relaxing evening and to sleep I need something with Linalool and Beta-Caryophyllene in it. A terpene I avoid is Terpenoline, it makes my heart race and puts me in panic mode. I am still learning all the benefits of cannabis for myself and others through my Cannacian level 3 certification as well as being a graduate from Oaksterdam University.  

I am a work in progress and I dedicate how strong and resilient I am from reaching out to a therapist after my husband’s death, my huge support system and cannabis. I am so grateful to be here today. I know there were many times that I thought I would not be.

I am in a good place now forever working on my mental well being. I now have someone by my side who supports me wholeheartedly knowing all that I have been through and makes me feel deserving of love once again even though I felt like I was not.

 

.                 

(Author pictured on left in middle with Aunts. Author pictured on right with significant other Jared.)

This journey is challenging but so worth it. Keep pushing and your path will shine brightly as the day is long.

I am starting a nonprofit called What The Widow!? for young widows and widowers and for those who are grieving here in Oklahoma. It is a completely unbiased peer to peer support group currently. The non-profit status will open up more doors to better help those in need. If you’d like more info please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

Thank you for taking this life journey with me.

Reach out:

Universewithjaz@gmail.com

 FB & IG: @universewithjaz

For donations for What The Widow!?: Jharveyportrait.com 

The Feminine Divine; Raw, Real, and Bare in Oklahoma

The Feminine Divine; Raw, Real, and Bare in Oklahoma

Nothing to hide behind, exposed, and real with Wendy Elena, The Naked Grower

 By Veronica Castillo

Born in the tropical state of Florida, and raised by Panamanian born and raised parents, cannabis cultivator Wendy Elena, keeps it raw, real, and truthful about her experience with cannabis. As she travels throughout the state of Oklahoma to mentor and inspire other cultivators, she took the time to chat with Herbage Magazine, about her journey into the world of cannabis consumption and cultivation.

 

About Wendy’s Childhood in the South

 

Wendy describes her childhood as: “I grew up in the tropical climate of Florida! My family immigrated to The United States from Panama during the late 80’s when the drug war was at its peak. My mother wanted a life with more options for my two sisters and I”.

I grew up in Florida, with Puerto Rican parents, and so I wondered how Wendy learned of cannabis and what cannabis was described as in her household. Wendy states:

 

“My parents were closet stoners, they didn’t share with me at all the medicinal value of cannabis. It was rather the opposite, I was deterred from any “toxin” intake in my youth. Given the chaos my mother grew up around due to the “drug and narco violence”, to her keeping us away from everything was safer than attempting to explain the uniqueness of cannabis.

 

I never drank or smoked cannabis until adulthood, 21 to be exact. What my parents did do, rather successfully I might add, is prepare me for a life as a functional pothead. All of my good habits, my process driven lifestyle, and my “doer” mentality was derived and fed by my parents.

 

I had no idea cannabis was present or so prominent in my family’s history, including the practice of natural medicine in Panama (healing), or the fact that my parents even smoked until adulthood”.

 

Wendy’s Journey in Cannabis Consumption and Cultivation

 

When Wendy started consuming cannabis at the age of 21, she found healing and said: “ I knew I had to work with cannabis. I needed the space to teach other young ladies and people in general about life, happiness, spirituality, self-sustainability, self worth, and so much more”.

 

Wendy’s journey in life, led her to cannabis, cannabis cultivation, and so much more:

 

“The journey that has led me to cultivating cannabis with so many amazing growers. It has been an incredibly long and grueling path, like much others in the industry still endure daily. My navigation has led me to experience almost every aspect of the industry, small and corporate level large. Through this I’ve developed several avenues of reaching out to the community”.

 

In the cannabis industry, you can find Wendy leading/being involved in/with:

 

  • Dispensary consultation
  • CRM and POS consultations
  • Sharing in local marketing networks
  • Cultivation
  • Cultivation consultation
  • Business Management Consultation
  • Seed to sale software (W.E.N.D.Y)
  • Software management consultation
  • A future platform for cultivation networking

 

Wendy’s Favorite Strain and About: W.E.N.D.Y

 

I always ask cultivators about their favorite strain to consume and grow. Wendy said:

 

“My favorite strain is Tropicanna Cookies byOni Seed Co, but I think it may originate from  Bloom Seed Co.! I love to grow this and equally love to smoke it! The terpene profile is so good for the biology of my body. No matter my tolerance level, or the time of day, Tropicanna Cookies hugs me with a beautiful experience tailored by the terpenes, the stars of the show.”

 

In regards to hardest and easiest strain to grow, Wendy provided the following insight:

 

“The strains haven’t been the difficulty, so much as making due in environments that were not ideal ! I’ve had to veg in the tiniest spaces and flower in rooms that have were shorter ceilings than you’d like., and a lot more in th 150ces It is true that each strain is different, but as long as the environment and the watering is locked in, you can really have fun with any!

 

Wendy’s Goals in the Cannabis Industry

 

Wendy is on a mission to do amazing things in this industry. I asked her what her goals are:

 

“The point behind all of this is very simple. Keep it local. This level of business only seems to be conducted by large corporate interests. My goal has always been and will always be, to empower the farmer. I travel all over the state of Oklahoma, on top of maintaining my own personal crops, to help other farmers pioneer their way into this industry. Oklahoma has an incredible local economy, it shouldn’t be any different with cannabis.

I dedicate my life to the plant and the farmer, giving as much information as I can so people can sustain their businesses on the cultivation end, and the system management end.  There isn’t a ‘big secret’ to growing weed. As a community it’s our responsibility to take care of eachother, by sharing the things we learn along the way.

 

I want to create a sustainable network of local farmers, processors, and retail stores in Oklahoma. With this powerful network, we can survive any potential industry takeover with federal legalization, and keep Oklahoma’s market strong!”

 

The Seed to Sale Software named W.E.N.D.Y

 

The software is inspired by a lack of functionality in existing software on the market. Wendy says:

 

“The mission is an ease of use from grower, to key administrator, to ultimately reporting and data collection. Streamlining cultivation facilities has never been more accessible. The goal of it all is to take the mystery out of growing and operating a cultivation facility, and facilitate in building the next generation of farmers!”

 

Wendy’s Idols, Mentors, Inspiration

 

Wendy names a woman cultivator and her mom as her idol and muse:

 

“Miss Rad Reefer is a huge female grower inspiration! She shares literally everything on instagram, all her knowledge and real life plant and crop practices. It’s so bold that she’s willing to give all her information away. It really shows her confidence in her own ability, and her personality to want others to rise with her in life.

 

My mother is my muse. She is a resilient, and incredible woman. As an American I know I could never understand what it was like in Panama from birth to age 28 for my mother, but I know the values and principles she carried with her to America made me who I am today. Without her, I would be nothing”.

Final Words

 

Wendy said that being a named grower is more than being physically naked:

 

“I’m sure everyone has had a naked day or two in the garden. For me, the word naked means so much more than that. It means raw, real, and bare. Nothing to hide behind, exposed and real.

 

I try to fulfill all of those core values, every day in my own garden and with clients. Like I said before, there is no secret! Humans, fellow Americans, and fellow Oklahomans need to learn to be self sustainable, that’s the naked growing. The real growing”.

 

Women in cannabis rock! I asked Wendy what it’s like being a woman cultivator in Oklahoma’s legal industry, she said:

 

“I try to maintain my femininity, without it being the basis of who I am. Like many others, I didn’t choose my meat suit. I do the best with what I was given. So in short, it can be difficult at times. People will try to put you in a box, label you, or disqualify you.

 

Tenacity is the qualifying attribute for a female in ANY INDUSTRY. I try to let the things I cannot control roll off my back like water, and do my best to steward what’s within my control well!

 

I look forward to the day that people view others as amazing individuals, and less off the basis of sex”.

 

As for advice for aspiring cultivators, Wendy said this:

 

“Don’t be afraid to even begin!”

 

 

 

You Twitchy Witch

You Twitchy Witch

By James Bridges

HERBAGE MAGAZINE

Pencils are very cheap.  You could probably find a few under your stash box right now.  Paper’s not so bad either.  So when you put the two together and you tell someone they can draw and they scribble something down, that doesn’t make them the next Keith Haring.

 

It’s the same with every art form.  The cream rises and it’s better damnit.  It’s just better…

 

Catie Hubbert was enrolled at Oklahoma State University with the full intention of becoming something that society had told her she would probably need to do in order to make it. By happenstance she enrolled into her first “formal” art instruction. That’s when she found love in the form of art.

Growth
By James Bridges

She walked away from that Aggie school with a bonafide BFA and now it’s time to do Catie the way Catie wants to do Catie.

 

“It’s a really wonderful and fulfilling place to be. It’s hard to make it in the art world and make a name for yourself to the point where people recognize your work or come to you requesting a piece. It’s a really cool thing to experience.”  Catie’s eyes were wide open.

By Catie Hubbert

I called Catie a few days before meeting with her.  I noticed something inside of her artwork that made me stop.  I wanted to know more about the person that created this brilliant combination of color and design.  I noticed a touch of magic and design that not many have the talent to match. I asked her what she attributed to her beginning success.

 

“I think a lot of it is forcing myself to be uncomfortable. I put myself out there consistently now. I’m naturally a very shy person. I’m very awkward. I kind of made a pact with myself a couple years ago to do all of the things that I’m afraid of doing, all of the things that make me uncomfortable. So one of those things is music. Putting that out there for the world to see.. That’s been a huge milestone every time I post a video or something like that. It works the same with my art. I just consistently put my work out there without tearing myself down or telling myself that this isn’t good enough.  I try not to worry if others are better. Just getting past that and sitting in that discomfort for a little while..It’s really paid off because people see my work now and it gets recognized.”

 

Living and working around artists myself I have recognized when some artists go under the influence of wondering whether or not people like them as people or they really enjoy their work.  It’s a hard spot.  I asked Catie if she had had her turn with that emotion.

  1. By Catie Hubbert

“I like creating work for strangers and I am to the point now, like I said, where I will have strangers come to me and ask for art. When it’s people that you know it’s kind of difficult and there is a little voice in my head that always says they’re just doing me a favor or they’re just doing this because they want to support me. Without having people other than friends and family  coming to you requesting work, it’s really easy to let that voice win. You  just have to continue with your craft without listening to that voice. You must consistently do the best you can. And people either take it or leave it.” Catie reassured me that she is on the correct path, which is her path.

 

An artist can feel the fire of other people actually liking their work. They of course get a little bit of a boost. A personal boost that says I can do this. I most certainly can and that, my friends, is a wonderful feeling. To accomplish this as an artist without it actually being a popularity contest is rare and it is something that Catie is forever grateful for.

 

 

“It’s hard to build a name for yourself in the art world. It is very, very intimidating especially for someone who’s really bashful. Oh gosh I’ve been doing this full time for so long.  For about nine years. I’m just now to the point where people are starting to recognize my work. So it takes a lot of bad art to get to the good. But art is about finding out who you are as a person and letting that shine through on the canvas. People are going to recognize you and they see your voice and your personality in each piece. So they can go hand-in-hand. Figuring out who you are or what your style is, what your taste is, what is your signature thing. Self-discovery. I think it’s all a very big important part of success. I really do think they go hand-in-hand.”

 

“I did hyper-realistic portraits. Paintings that look just like the person. I did that for the longest time. Not really because I ever advertised it or wanted to do it. Someone just asked me once because a loved one had passed away and they wanted a commemorative piece. It turns out I was really good at it. More people started asking so I did that for a long time. Finally I got to a financial place where I felt like I could do what I wanted and paint in my own style rather than, you know, commissions and specialty pieces that people wanted. So I started painting this show called Oklahome-Sweet-Home. It’s kind of a mix of mysticism and Oklahoma landscapes and whimsical things. It’s the world that I live in. I see it in Technicolor and there are so many beautiful things that we miss every day right here in Oklahoma.

 

The collection has gotten a lot of attention. I’ve had people reach out and put my buffalo paintings on t-shirts. I sold a lot of those. I’ve had people reach out and ask me to recreate some of my pieces. I have a few of those. So it’s been really great and like I said I’m to the point now where business is coming to me. It’s been a whole lot of fun just to do me. It feels really, really good.”

 

“I know it seems totally different…but I’d actually like to get into animation. The reason why I started hitting it really hard with my art and my daytime job is that I’m saving up to buy the proper equipment.  I’d like to get heavily into animation once I can buy all the software.  I want to transition over and see what happens.”

 

“I have a lot of health issues. I have had some neurological issues. You’ll notice I twitch. I’ve had that since I was little. It’s because I have a severe OCD. I get overwhelmed and it comes out in twitches. In college I got very sick and was hospitalized. I was diagnosed with lupus and I was on all the medicines for all the years and just felt miserable. I felt like there was no room to be me because all of my energy was consumed by just being sick.”

 

“Then I found cannabis and replaced all my medicines. I started microdosing and building my way up and it was just like the whole world opened up to me because I didn’t have to worry about all that other stuff. I could just be Catie. It’s just been so life-changing and my journey into self-discovery owes so much to cannabis. It played a major part in me learning to love myself and having space to finally become my best self. There’s no way I would be where I am without it.  I would still be miserable and missing out on life.  I would be watching it go by feeling like I can’t do all those things I want to do. So I feel like it would be a mistake if I did not thank cannabis itself.”

 

“It’s because of cannabis I was able to see all the shit in my life that doesn’t matter and toss it away.  I learned that life is about connection and love and seeing the beauty in all the things. All the stuff that I was worried about and all the things that continuously made me miserable..I learned that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. All of the anxiety, all of the fear. It was  just stopping me from showing all the colors that are inside of me.”.

 

When I say things similar to Catie or I listen to others say them I imagine angry foolish bad people that once had control now crumbling because they are pissed off that it doesn’t matter any longer.  A smile rises every time.  The green wave is real and will never subside.  At least I hope it doesn’t while I’m still around.  It’s people with vision and the ability to step away from the norm that will keep it flowing.

 

“It’s a full out of body thing you need to experience in order to heal. I think you have to look at it as ‘everything is connected’ and you can’t just heal the physical and get better. You need to heal your emotions. You need to heal your soul, your mind, your body, all of it. And cannabis can reach all of those components. It’s like it reaches across barriers and can pull out what you need to see and show you the areas where you need to do some work”

 

Catie Hubbert and her mixture of music art and whimsical imagination can be found online at:

Facebook @Catie Hubbert – Instagram @TwitchyWitchCreative – TikTok @TwitchyWitchCreative

Focusing on Wellness

by Tab Moura

It’s the way the wind blows while I’m dabbing the Ambrosia. It’s the caryophyllene scented sunset after a sweaty day’s work. It’s the smell of limonene while I watch the mist rise off of the pond… it’s not just a medicine, it’s more than a medicine. It’s part of the backdrop of my life.

 

Cannabis therapy is a relatively old concept; this plant has evolved some over time, but the power of the plant has remained consistent. For me, using this medicine has become second nature, and like many of you, I feel it’s medicine and generally enjoyable as well.

I was sitting with my best friend yesterday, comparing terp profiles, sampling each other’s grams and chilling on my porch. Where is the line between recreation and medicine? I used to think I knew, but now I’m not sure it even exists. The plant we call cannabis is beneficial for the body, whether we use it strategically or not… so while I do believe that our intentions matter, the term “recreational” cannabis is honestly insulting to the plant. One of my mentors, Dr Regina Nelson (ECS Therapy Center) explained how she prefers to use the terms “casual use” and “focused use.”

 

Why do these distinctions matter in the grand scheme of things? We know that unlike recreational vs medicinal uses of other controlled substances, cannabis is always therapeutic due to how it directly supports the Endocannabinoid system. I cannot speak for synthetic products, or products that are sometimes paired with cannabis, but I can tell you that overstimulation of the Endocannabinoid system is not lethal, though I know it’s very uncomfortable.

 

And that just brings me back to recreational vs medicinal, and how it just doesn’t seem to be in anyone’s best interest, except those who wish to perpetuate the narrative that cannabis is still a big baddie. I prefer the terms casual and focused, because I believe it’s ok to enjoy a substance that supports your wellness. This is how I feel about food, and this is how I feel about cannabis. Just because I learned how to cook well, making my food delicious *and* healthy, doesn’t mean it’s nutrition doesn’t count… and why are we so ok talking about food this way also, healthy food and junk food— as though food should be anything BUT nutritious for us.

 

I’m an advocate for easy access to information, and

freedom to weigh that information as we see fit. And I believe that if we truly taught health, we wouldn’t see such disparities: “recreational vs medicinal”, or ”healthy food vs junk food…” Speaking as someone with a ton of food sensitivities and allergies, I still manage to eat treats (hello ice cream and brownies), and I refuse to call them junk… because their ingredients aren’t junk. Just like how I recommend becoming familiar with lab testing for cannabis, I am a big advocate for reading your ingredient labels. Know what you’re eating, and if you don’t know what it is… it’s time to find out. Wellness is a scale, and every choice, whether it’s beneficial or not, is carried with us. The things we keep around us become part of the fabric of our lives, literally and metaphorically.

What is a Seizure?

by Tab Moura

What is a seizure?

A seizure is when one or more of your neurons suddenly depolarize, before rapidly re-polarizing, causing an event (a seizure). Put simply, a seizure is when your brain cells are overreacting to stimuli, which leads to a power surge. What causes the sudden spike in brain cell drama? Well, that’s different for everyone; some people cannot handle lemons or sugar, for others the cause may never be narrowed down. After 3 years of managing my epilepsy, I’ve learned a few of my stressors. While cannabis has been a significant support for my pain and epilepsy, medication was not my biggest game changer. Two of my primary epilepsy stressors are electronics and corn. We learned this with trial and error, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. I did try meds, and they gave me seizures too. “Officially” my Epilepsy is intractable; unofficially I’m healthier than I’ve ever been pharma-free, because the seizure meds have ingredients I cannot handle.

Let me be frank, I tried eliminating so many things. I was in a low place, and that powerlessness made me humble. I wouldn’t have called myself a natural person back then, but I got crunchy in a hurry. My youngest was a year old, the neurological symptoms probably increased after her birth. I wasn’t crazy, I was dying inside, slowly losing my mind. I was living my life, like everyone else, and suddenly it wasn’t working anymore. If it wasn’t oxygen or water, I was willing to part with it… I just wanted to be alive.

 

So I don’t play video games anymore, I hardly watch the screen when the TV is on. And I cut out Corn, and it’s children Ethanol, Maltodextrin, Popcorn, Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, etc… because it helped. I share all of this, because I’m not special, I’m just one of those people who asked themselves the question we all wonder at one time or another while pursuing wellness… “will this make a difference?” And I just didn’t stop asking. We are all different; different ethnicities, different ancestors, different genetics.

As it turns out, I’m photosensitive and very allergic to corn. Not everyone is like me, but I’m sure there is something that gives you trouble, or gives you relief, that is unique to you as well. I don’t focus on what I’m missing, corn just isn’t a food to me anymore. What a gift that our bodies are able to communicate these things to us.

 

Cutting out so many food products taught me a lot about perspective. While my food world had to get smaller in order to become healthier, I did get healthier. If it’s not meant for you, it’s just not meant for you… take it from me, popcorn can be replaced…but you cannot.

It’s Just A Season

by Tab Moura

Over the last few years I have changed in a very deep way. Honestly, if I hadn’t lived it myself, I don’t know if I would believe such a shift was possible. I don’t usually appreciate it when people say “it’s just a season.” In my experience, it’s rarely my close friends who make these remarks; because empathetic people try to anticipate when it’s ok to make comments like these.

 

For argument’s sake… Perhaps my chapters from hell were “just a season,” but they changed me. They scarred me. They’ve stuck with me. If poorly placed, this season analogy feels like a comparison between the agony of abuse, and wishing it were warmer outside.

 

“Listen, I hear they are gaslighting you at work, but don’t worry… with time, those toxic people who are threatening your income will stop. This too shall pass.” The truth is, they didn’t stop until I quit my job— no justice. No comfort. Time didn’t set me up for success. It didn’t “pass,” and if I had believed it would pass, things would have escalated. I would have been fired, or even arrested, over their allegations. Things went from summer to winter, and it stayed that way for a long time. I got a few write ups for things I didn’t do, and eventually I was over it. I was raised to prove my dedication, my parents taught me to have hard conversations. I was told that employers would value my integrity. That “season” of my life still mostly serves as a painful memory, though it doesn’t define me like it once did. I still believe in integrity and hard work, I just realize now that not everyone else does.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people enjoy struggle analogies. Calling something that we cannot control a “season” helps us remember that there is more to life. “Seasons” allow us to entertain the concept of endurance and resilience, but I don’t feel it’s a gentle thing to say to everyone out there. In some cases the hardest part is realizing that things aren’t as they seem, and you need to get the heck out of that “season” as fast as possible. We don’t always have to therapize ourselves, or “find the value…” sometimes we just need to trust our guts.

REGULAR SESSION OF OKLAHOMA’S 2021 LEGISLATURE HAS ENDED: WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE MMJ BILLS?

by Sarah Lee Gossett Parrish, Cannabis Lawyer

 

Earlier this year I provided an introduction to some of the more substantive bills filed in the Oklahoma House and Senate pertaining to Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana Program, and this spring I wrote about highlights concerning the more important bills that were passed by the legislative body in which they originated, and were referred to legislative committees in the other, non-originating legislative body at the time of my writing.

 

The regular session of Oklahoma’s 2021 Legislature ended on Thursday, May 27, 2021. The House and Senate adjourned after each passed last-minute bills that, should Governor Stitt sign one or both of them, would make minor changes to Oklahoma’s medical marijuana system. The Legislature passed several bills that the Governor has signed into law, which concern the MMJ program. Below are highlights.

 

House Bill 2272

 

HB 2272 is 7 pages long and becomes effective on July 1, 2021.

 

The most publicized aspect of this legislation concerned its original language that implemented a 2-year cap on any new OMMA commercial business licenses. This language was deleted from the bill as amended and passed. Thus, there remains no license cap in the State of Oklahoma.

 

HB 2272 does contain some provisions of which you should be aware, including the following:

 

1.HB 2272 addresses and requires the disclosure of foreign financial interests in MMJ business operations and includes new provisions concerning on-site “assessments” of a licensee or applicant to determine compliance, as well as limitations on inspections to twice per calendar year with 24-hours advance notice, unless OMMA determines an additional inspection “is necessary due to a violation or noncompliance”.

 

2.HB2272 codifies OMMA’s right to review relevant records and allows OMMA to interview persons affiliated with MMJ businesses, provided they are given time to secure legal counsel.

 

3.HB 2272 sets out circumstances under which disciplinary actions may be imposed on a MMJ business licensee, and monetary penalties for violations. It sets out what persons or entities may request a hearing to contest an action proposed or taken by OMMA, in accord with Oklahoma’s Administrative Procedures Act. In other words, OMMA will now be creating the framework for its administrative procedures.

 

4.HB 2272 provides that OMMA will begin scheduling on-site meetings and compliance inspections of your business starting September 1, 2021, for the primary purpose of confirming that you are “actively operating” or “working towards operational status.” If neither applies, then you will have a 180-day grace period to become operational. OMMA is authorized to grant one additional, 180-day grace period if needed.

 

Additional Bills Passed and Signed by the Governor, To Date

 

Additionally, the Legislature passed and Governor Stitt signed House Bill 2646, which is 90 pages long and becomes effective November 1, 2021. This legislation clarifies OMMA’s duties, among many other matters, and its provisions are simply too lengthy to discuss here.

 

Another notable bill signed but amended prior to its passage by both chambers is House Bill 2674, which is 16 pages long and becomes effective immediately under an emergency provision. Notably, the amended version of HB2674 does not impact Oklahoma’s MMJ system because a provision in earlier drafts of this bill that would have transferred OMMA from the Department of Health to the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission was removed, prior to passage of the final version which Governor Stitt signed.

 

What’s the take-away?

Be alert as these new laws become effective in the coming months.

 

Liberate & Celebrate

by Jasmine Harvey

 

Without truly knowing Juneteenth as a child,  I was enthralled with the love and camaraderie during my first celebration of this historic and recently declared “national holiday.”  Now as an  adult I wanted to know more.

 

On September 22nd, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves from their bonds in the United States. Word of this proclamation reached the ears of former slaves over two years later, on June 19th, 1865.

 

It was the driving force of the late Senator Maxine Horner and Senator Penny Williams who brought Juneteenth to Tulsa in 1988. Senator Horner and Senator Williams created the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame to help push it forward. Senator Horner wanted black culture to have a voice – one that brings awareness to the trials and tribulations of the Black Community, and local & international talent gave voice and celebration to Juneteenth. 

Senator Maxine Horner at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame 1993. Source: Tulsa World

It was in 1994 that Juneteenth became a known holiday in the state of Oklahoma. 

I was recently given the opportunity to sit down and speak with two of the organizers of the inaugural Tulsa Juneteenth: Connie Holt-Fisher and renowned Soul Singer and Producer Charles “Chuck” Cissel. 

Connie was very excited to announce Senators Maxine and Penny didn’t have many hurdles during the festival preparations as everything was provided by very generous sponsors.

With Chuck pioneering jazz, blues, gospel and local artists to perform. Most of them were national and in some cases international artists. An Induction Banquet Gala as well with an award ceremony for the artists. 

Maxine went for help to get the legislature passed and funding secured for Juneteenth celebrations. After getting sponsored by the state legislature the process became easier. Maxine was able to raise about $200k to get started from legislation. 

Chuck was the CEO of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. He was heavily involved with putting the programs together for the celebrations. “I brought in talent such as Dave Brubeck,  Ramsey Lewis to Wynton Marsalis, Maryln May, Taj Mahal and Eddie Palmieri, a Latin artist. A number of great talents have come through to celebrate with us at Juneteenth and the Induction Banquet Gala.”

Charles “Chuck” Cissel source: Discography

I had the opportunity to ask Chuck about his biggest triumphs when Juneteenth came to be here in Oklahoma. He felt it was a “triumphant undertaking and experience for here in North Tulsa. Opportunity for Black folk to celebrate themselves. Juneteenth was when the slaves were freed and the Texas area got the news late. Two years later. That was our Fourth of July. When Connie and I were children we would go to Mohawk park in Tulsa, OK to celebrate Juneteenth.”

“We had to bring what our families made because we could not buy things then. In our lifetime we still couldn’t buy things in certain areas. It was a celebration of African American-hood. That for me was triumphant. I grew up here and we couldn’t even go Downtown.” Chuck and Connie were recalling.

 They both concurred that Tulsa at that time was very segregated and for the most part felt they were unaccepted in the downtown area.

I was taken back while listening. It seemed as if it were just yesterday when members of the black community were discouraged to say the least from venturing into downtown for celebrations or a simple visit. 

Chuck reminds us to read about what Juneteenth really is. “Learn your history. It’s important for us to know where we have come from in order to know where we are going.” 

“Because they will not teach it,” Connie added.

For many of our families still alive today they have witnessed and been on the receiving end of oppression and segregation blatantly by those around them. As an African American Woman, I have personally witnessed this myself. 

I have learned so much from my elders and am forever grateful for those who have paved the way for us today. As I listen to them speak of their past and current experiences, I will continue to strive for more knowledge about our history. 

Photo by Author

Juneteenth has long since been a celebration in the black community and allies alike. If you want to get involved or simply want to learn more about this historic time, research or reach out. With Juneteenth now marked as a National Holiday in the United States in 2021, I hope this is the step in the right direction for many more things to come. Hopefully for the better. 

 

Today I celebrate! 

 

Celebrate your heritage or if it’s not your heritage join in anyway. 

 

Know why you celebrate.

 

Happy Juneteenth! 

 

The 50 Year Anniversary of Nixon’s Attack on Black and Brown People Through the Initiation of the War on Drugs

 by Veronica Castillo 

Photo by Author

In 1971, the lives of black and brown people received another threat. In this threat, the government focused on changing an entire nation’s law just to keep black and brown people suppressed and oppressed. In 1971, President Nixon, with an ugly, disgusting, racist soul- officially declared a “War on drugs”, loosely translated: a “war on black and brown people”. Because in America at the time, freedom was a focus. And whenever the nation moves even an inch closer, the fear of leaders and supporters of white supremacy start to rage.

 

For in America, the freedom of the black and brown people is the biggest fear of a white supremacist and their supporters. Nixon decided that this couldn’t happen and so,terror continued. Black and brown lives in this country never have mattered much. Sure we have “all lives matter” chanting and protesting but- that chant and protest wouldn’t be needed if “all lives matter” were really the case in America.

 

The History of Plants Being on Schedules

 

In 1970, President Nixon, in all of his rage, signed the CSA into American law ruining thousands of lives- not all lives- but mostly black and brown. The Controlled Substance Act officially prohibited cannabis and placed the plant on schedule 1- as a very dangerous drug.

 

But it started in 1937 with the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, where cannabis became taxable. This happened because of racism and prejudice against Mexicans who were coming to American with their medicinal herb, Marihuana. This act didn’t outlaw cannabis, just made accessibility harder. At that time, marijuana was not classed as a major drug like opium and heroin, which were prohibited under the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914.

 

Harry Anslinger, another disgusting, worse than vomit individual who was the Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner, helped pass the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act through his campaign against cannabis- not just marijuana, but the whole plant. For 5 presidents, over a 30+ year career, Harry terrorized the lives of black and brown people. Check out the movie: The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Photo by Author

In 1970 when cannabis was outlawed completely, the government rang the bell and just like that, black and brown lives were under a new attack.

 

The Controlled Substance Act and Its Schedules

Photo by Author

In 1970, Harry and his goons, known as the federal government, declared marijuana more dangerous than cocaine, meth, oxycodone, and fentanyl; a plant, an herb, like tea; a plant with 5000 years of healing proof. According to the government, schedule I drugs have the highest potential for abuse and the potential to create psychological and/or physical dependence (do you notice the decision made off of “potential” not “proof”?).

The American government is evil and twisted as heck. I mean- they have marijuna listed as more dangerous than Cocaine! Codeine! Meth! All of the plants that can heal- are on schedule 1:

Schedule I:

 

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are:

 

  • Heroin
  • Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
  • Marijuana (cannabis)
  • 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy)
  • Methaqualone
  • Peyote (cactus)
  • Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms)

 

Schedule II

 

Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are also considered dangerous. Some examples of Schedule II drugs are:

 

  • Combination products with less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per dosage unit (Vicodin)
  • Cocaine
  • Methamphetamine
  • Methadone
  • Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
  • Meperidine (Demerol)
  • Oxycodone (OxyContin)
  • Fentanyl
  • Dexedrine
  • Adderall
  • Ritalin

 

Schedule 3:

 

Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a low to moderate potential for physical and psychological dependence. Some examples of Schedule III drugs are:

 

  • Tylenol with codeine
  • Ketamine
  • Anabolic steroids
  • Testosterone

 

Schedule 4:

 

Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a low probability for misuse and abuse.Some examples of Schedule IVdrugs are:

 

  • Xanax
  • Soma
  • Darvocet
  • Valium
  • Ambien

 

Dear American Government, You Got it Wrong

 

All of the information on the schedules are B*LLSH*T! We know that from the huge opioid epidemic in this country and many others! We know that all the plants that heal are outlawed because the government can careless about actual healing- just control!

 

Hear from Americans about what you did to our country with your control, greed, and hatred due to fear and jealousy, of black and brown people:

 

“The government definitely got it wrong and created more harm than good starting with Harry Anslinger(Head of FBN). Anslinger denounced any positive research and prosecuted 3,000+ American Medical Association doctors who prescribed narcotic drugs through 1939. Anslinger testified before Congress saying, “Marijuana is the most violent-causing drug in the history of mankind”, and used Gore Files-often racist, horror stories over-hyped with cannabis as the cause of violence, but in 1948-1950, Anslinger contradicted himself claiming that cannabis did NOT make users violent, but pacifistic. Congress would vote to continue restrictions against cannabis, but this time for the exact OPPOSITE reasons. It doesn’t make sense!!! Just like Nixon signing the Controlled Substance Act in 1970 and putting cannabis on the Schedule 1 list doesn’t make sense”. – Cheryl Clements with House of Weird Perfection

 

“The War on Drugs has mutated and still lingers over the Chicago southside communities like a dark cloud over our Windy City. Something unnoticed in the 182 pages of the Illinois’ Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act is that consumers can still be given a ticket and fined if seen smoking on their porch or backyard, which was echoed by the Chicago Police Department in a video released to Youtube.Though the legalization of marijuana is evidence of a significant cultural shift in mores and legal standards, I am historically and observantly not convinced that Black Americans will be granted that autonomy.”- Victoria Sockwell- Writer and Researcher

 

“I’m going to speak directly to the government. When you started the “War on drugs,” you didn’t anticipate pushback from the citizens that you were voted in to represent. We voted for you because we thought you had our best interest in mind. You spread the lie that Cannabis is a gateway drug using your religious leader puppets. You spread the lies of the black and brown community stating that cannabis makes black men “violate their women”, You created that lie that resulted in targets on our backs. It’s time to legalize Cannabis, stop the lies, and be the leaders you were voted in to be. Listen to the people!” – Terry Byas- Writer

 

“Growing up in the heart of the drug war, The Emerald Triangle,  I didn’t understand that running from helicopters, hiding from cocked guns, kidnapping, rape, and overall oppression was not normal. By the time I was 16 I had experienced all of this, and all of it had gotten swept under the rug. The drug war has created a huge rug for millions of atrocities to get swept under. When we aknowledge natural medicines with senseible policies we can begin to address the real issues such human trafficking, drug addiction, food insecurtiy, homelssness, racism, and the other many inequities oppressive systems create. As we unravel the traumas  we can heal the impacts. It’s time for our country to end the war so we can heal. As long as natural medicines are criminalized, the true atrocities of the world will have rugs to get swept under. I am ready to beat some rugs!” – Lelehnia DuBois- Humboldt Grace

 

“The War on Drugs is a huge failure in this country. It has had negative impacts on millions of people by persecution and criminalizing the habitual users. Which is important to note that people who are users are not criminals, they are actually victims. The government’s agenda has led to mass incarceration of millions of people, increased white collar crimes, and has led to systemic human rights abuses. All of these dynamics are more while still fueling the powerful drug cartels. Let’s think of, “The Balloon Effect.” As the Government showcases their efforts of dismantling drug production or major routes, the supply for the end user is not reduced. Let’s take crystal meth for an example. The US government stated that they regulated the sale of chemicals used to manufacture the drug. So although most major big meth manufacturers went out of business,  thousands of small-scale operations sprung up all over the country, using chemicals that weren’t regulated. The U.S has a drug enforcement budget of $30 billion a year but the success rate is about 1%. Let that sink in. In the 80’s, Switzerland was heading towards the same direction but decided to Institute the War on Drugs as a Health crisis. They got it right, instead America has intentionally created an unachievable goal while creating human misery and bulldozing human rights”.- Samuel Johnson- Black Men in Suits Urban Nation

 

In Closing

 

U.S Customs and Border Protection- Department of Homeland Security knows that lethal drugs are let into the country by other government organizations- heck- they may even organize it. They say this:

 

“Just prior to the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, the Customs Agency Service compiled a Narcotics Manual that reported: “Marihuana may be cultivated or grown wild in almost any locality. Inasmuch as this drug is so readily obtained in the United States, it is not believed to be the subject of much organized smuggling from other countries.” Today, however, marijuana trafficking is a major concern of CBP, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration”.

 

The war was vicious, not necessary, and lost. The people spoke and continue to speak.

 

 

Fact check:

 

https://www.vox.com/2014/9/25/6842187/drug-schedule-list-marijuana

 

https://deamuseum.org/anslinger/in-charge/

 

https://www.cbp.gov/about/history/did-you-know/marijuana#:~:text=His%20campaign%20against%20Cannabis%20led,an%20annual%20tax%20of%20%2424.

 

https://www.history.com/topics/crime/the-war-on-drugs

 

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/prescription-drugs/classifications

 

 

Stitched Together With Cannabis

by Tab Moura

When I first began using plant medicine, the high was indescribable… I didn’t know how to adequately convey how relieving it felt. It was a wonder drug apparently, and I wanted to get it into every nook and cranny of my Elastagirl-body. I have a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, traditionally this is described as a connective tissue disorder. That is to say, the fundamental glue of my body is faulty, to put it plainly. I wasn’t sure, at that time, if cannabis could help with something like EDS, but I was pretty darn eager to try.

 

At first, I winged it. I tried inhaling cannabis: I tried vaping, I tried flower, I tried smoking pre-rolls, and while all of it felt relieving for a time, I still did not feel like it was working to help me heal. I already felt safer using cannabis than any of the pills I was prescribed. I knew the reputation of cannabis, the fact that it was able to do more than numb pain, but I didn’t know how that would apply to my situation. Eventually I tried oils, capsules, edibles, and topicals… all helped some, but something was missing.

 

I began wondering what would help me to build stronger connective tissue, I researched Collagen supplements, but I never felt better taking them. So I began looking at the stuff out there that supports growth and healing. I looked at what fats you should eat to focus on your joints and ligaments. I looked at what healing oils can cross and rebuild the blood brain barrier (which is also made of connective tissue) while taking the cannabis with it. I wanted to do more than *feel* relief, I wanted long term results.

 

No single diet is a match for everyone, so I began building my own. I took the best from Keto, veganism, whole30, carnivore, and beyond… I have several allergies to contend with, so freeing myself from trying to stick to a single diet literally changed my life. And the best part, cannabis has been involved the whole way, from day one. From helping me with my anxiety while cutting out my allergens and doing research, to helping me get restorative sleep to properly heal while sleeping. It’s been here to reduce my pain while managing dislocations and subluxations, as my connective tissue has continued to strengthen.

 

The truth is that our ancestors came from all over, so we may need to be pretty creative with our solutions. My Irish, Italian, German and French ancestors probably had diverse diets from one another, so I gave myself permission to play around and figure out what makes ME feel better. I am just so glad I was right… I just needed to give myself permission to think outside the box. It’s helped my cannabis therapy, and it’s helped my overall health. I didn’t know this level of mobility was possible… and all it took was a little creativity.

Farming: If The Work Boots Fit

by Tab Moura

In March, during the ice storm, my husband and I made a decision to sell our home in Tulsa. We knew the market would be tough, but we really needed change. Between my health issues and the systems we use to support our kids’ developmental needs, moving further out of Tulsa was the goal. I did not expect to go out and literally buy a farm… yet here we are, two months later. Living on a farm.

 

Together with my in-laws, we bought 70+ acres west of Tulsa, inheriting a lifetime of adventures. While we feel such immense joy with this family-culture-change, it’s also come with a significant amount of adjusting. If you don’t follow me on Instagram, you’re missing out on fun day to day stories from the farm. Like how I killed a big Water Moccasin with a pool net and a shovel (on day one), and the time I found a brand new calf right outside my window. But above all of those adventures, the thing I am most excited about on this farm is having the chance to be immersed in many more plant medicines.

 

Before cannabis, essential oils were the only natural medicine I was familiar with. I was still constantly inflamed, constantly having neurological symptoms and a few drops of oil wasn’t going to change that. So I overhauled my diet, again and again, until we found my answer. With a diet that was gentler to my body, I then began learning how to use plant medicines to heal the years of damage that had inadvertently occurred in my body. Now as I enter this new season, it’s my intention to expand my knowledge in these areas and eventually support others as I go. I’m looking forward to seeing where this road takes me. While the work is hard… it feels so natural. If the work-boots fit, I guess I’ll wear them.

Spring Cleaning Is Never Too Late

by Kathy Long-Barker

Jaw tight and tongue firmly against the roof of your mouth, you notice your hands are shaking. Your brow is tinged with sweat and though no particular words can be deciphered from your intense and abrupt exclamation, the air around you seems to be swirling with the anxious notes of a strange led violin. 

Howligree, who just previously had lulled into a meditative state, un-crisscrossed her legs and rocked forward onto her knees to take your hands in a firm but comforting grasp. 

“Woah, woah! Slow down, it’s a lot to take in!” She soothed. 

“Okay, okay let’s maybe give you some basic tools before we proceed, I’ve got just the thing,” she assured before turning and leaning half way over the table to rummage through more stacks no doubt.  A gulp can be heard from you and the cat snickers. 

“Not to worry, mate. This is going to ease your nerves” 

She leaned back up and hands you a blue envelope littered with stars on the front. 

What Did You Call Me!? by Kathy Long-Barker

—-

 

Dearest daring divine,

 

I intend this finds you well, and if you are not, may these accounts empower you to become so. 

 

I find this place to be breeding ground for energy entrapment. Everyone here is going about their lives so quickly that they don’t always carry out deeds and tasks with intention or mindfulness. They just….do things. 

For example, a basic example at that, I have been staying with a family for some time now and as the months emerge and depart it has occurred to me that the more clutter their house encompassed Over time, the more clutter their minds created within their head! It’s a microcosm and a macrocosm before their very eyes! Before they know it their bickering and snapping at one another like some sort of anxious nest! It’s absurd! What’s even more fascinating is the matter of their blindness to the issue!! They haven’t an inkling!

Basically we have to remember spring cleaning isn’t only for the hearth, but also for our heart. Our body is a house for our heart, just as the wood, bricks, and sheet rock are are home to our bodies. 

 

So how do we apply this knowledge in in the now?  Let’s start with our body 

✨BREATHE✨

The foundation, the very best place to start is with our breath, the essence of our personal life force. DO NOT breathe from the chest. If your shoulders are moving, you are being counterproductive to the goal of cleansing the body and mind. Breathing from the chest has been proven to encourage cortisol (the stress chemical) which lowers the immune system! 

 

When we inhale, we should count to four and our stomachs should distend.  – Hold for a count of three. – When we exhale we should focus our belly button back toward the spine for a count of seven. Furthermore, as we are breathing out, our breath shouldn’t be able to disturb the flame of a candle. If it does, your releasing your breath too quickly and too harshly.

The reason we want our breath to be that gentle is because it encourages mindfulness. You aren’t just going through a motion, but rather being forced to think about how you do it. You are in control of your breath and your response. Not the other way around. 

 

If you can manage to breathe like this for ten to fifteen minutes it’s just as potent as taking an anti anxiety pill. But far more healthy. 

Each experience is highly personal, but I can tell you from my experience, my racing thoughts calmed and continue to calm with each  belly breathing session. My peace ripples like a gentle wave and I have removed myself from the shackles of being a victim. I don’t react as I once did. I respond. 

 

Continuing in the realms of breath we move to the aura, or energy field that surrounds us, when we take a moment to smoke that bowl of flower, be it hemp or cannabis, I have found setting an intention before medicating is highly beneficial. You can cleanse your energetic field and your physical body if you mean to. 

When you speak words, it’s magic. That’s why they call it spelling! 

Example: thank you for the lessons of this day, thank you for this cleansing flower. May it help to relieve and re center my perspective of the current challenge before me.

 

Now moving towards and working with cleaning your outer or physical environment can be approached in several ways as well, but to begin I would suggest tidying up your space. Because as I said in my example, if your space is cluttered, it is a reflection of your mind.  You don’t have to clean your entire space all at once and overwhelm yourself. You could start with wiping down your counters. The more you do, the more momentum you build, and it will reflect within your energetic body. You will feel cleaner. Less cluttered and frazzled. 

 

If you are generally not a cluttered person, I would suggest using a sage smudge stick. 

Light the end and get a nice smoke going. Go through your house, particularly at any threshold, window and door alike and speak your intentions. 

Example: “I cleanse this house and banish any energy that does not serve my highest timeline or my highest good” 

Say this or what intuitively comes to you. TRUST yourself, you know what your doing, even if you don’t remember that fact in this now moment. 

 

Now take a deep breath dear one, we’ve got this. I promise.

My First Equestrian Client

When they told us we could “have” their horse… we had no idea what to expect. My husband and I are novice farmers, I can confidently say that owning a farm is a whole new ballgame. When it comes to the farm animals, my Father In Law is the authority, and I’m the second in charge. I may be new to all of this, but I’m definitely a dirt-under-my-nails type (look at me, Mom!)

 

Tomato Masterpiece by Tab Moura

The first time we visited the farm was shortly after the Ice Storms in March. We had to walk past a dozen cows, acres of ticks, and a very antisocial horse… a horse that I nicknamed “Cranky.” The week we moved to the farm, my in-laws had to make a trip to the west coast… so second-in-command-Tab was cow-sitting. I was outside one day, about to take the girls for a walk, when the horse entered the small yard in front of our barn, and began bucking and neighing loudly! It was just so dang random that it had to be intentional. At this point we hadn’t even tried to approach the horse yet… it was just letting us know how it felt about all of this change. I totally understood how it must have been feeling. Animals may be messy, but they can be quite perceptive at times. We were new. So we gave her space.

 

After a few incidents where my kids’ screaming startled the horse, I began wondering if maybe it was dealing with pain or anxiety. If it were up to me, ’Cranky’ would have a home here regardless of her behavior, but as a mom, I know it just wouldn’t work out if she couldn’t calm down. In all of my cannabis training, I heard positive things about using CBD with horses. With talk of rehoming her, I really wanted to give her a chance to show me something different… but at that moment, she wouldn’t even share a pasture with us.

 

After 10 days of going for walks and casually standing closer and closer… On my birthday I was able to approach her and pet her for the first time. It was brief, she flinched constantly when I touched her. Was she in pain? Was she nervous? I don’t know… but I knew CBD could help either way. So the next day I brought out oats and full spectrum hemp CBD oil. After a little trial and error— she took a lot of convincing and a lot of oats… I was able to get a dropper of oil into her. I have repeated this daily, and we have already seen some major changes!

 

First, I noticed that she couldn’t hide her enthusiasm about the oats. I scored points.

 

Secondly, she didn’t mind the taste of the oil. She licked the bowl.

 

Third, now that she has a consistent amount of oil in her system, she seems to actually look at me, expects my touches, has hugged me and is otherwise pleasant.

 

With so much progress, we’re about to begin introducing a lead rope and halter and if she’s going to come around more, she needs a better name than “Cranky.” I’ve decided to call her Amelia, after Amelia Earhart.

 

I’m excited to share more stories about our newest patient as I continue to watch Amelia’s progress. Do you have questions about cannabis and animals? Feel free to reach out! And if you want to hear regular updates about how she’s doing, you can follow me @tabmoura on Instagram.

Terror In The Night

by Tab Moura

The sweat, the adrenaline, the nightmares, the shame spirals and paranoia. Panic is an old friend of mine. My first panic inducing nightmare was when I was 5. I dreamt that I was being chased down a dark alley by a man in a trench coat who was holding a gun. It’s interesting how I have lost so many memories due to my Epilepsy, but I can remember all of the times I feared for my life. Fear is a loud, intrusive teacher, but it is a teacher nonetheless.

Romance and Strong Character By Tab Moura

I’ve spent many hours in therapists’ chairs, I’ve attended programs that lasted for days; pouring over my stressors, my triggers, my sins and faults. It was too much to look at sometimes, but they also showed me the strengths that helped me survive, endure and recover. It was addressing my weakness that helped me chip away at the sludge that paralyzed me so often.

When I began using cannabis, I was mostly focused on treating my pain and visible health issues. You know, the “real” pain. But the anxiety was always there, riding on the back of my self doubt and self hate…

“this medicine is too expensive, you don’t deserve to feel relief like this…” “If you just ate better (and better and better) this wouldn’t be an issue,” “people will never respect you as long as you are dependent on medicine,” “church people will reject you,”

“people won’t let you babysit…”
“you’re gonna lose your kids if you advocate for this plant…”

This is the censored version… I can promise you that my inner-anxiety-voice is crueler and colder to me than anyone in my life has ever been.

But I have learned to identify these comments as what they are… anxiety. A valid concern occasionally bubbles up; the anxiety voice is not balanced— but it’s not always wrong. For example, I did need to eat *differently*, but demonizing food was not the right way to handle that. And the truth is that not everyone supports my choice to use cannabis, but I have found support in some of the most “unlikely” places. My anxiety just wants to keep me safe… but it’s not a genius. So I’ve learned to ask “how is this true, and how is this false?” Sometimes the best I can do is just ask it to hang on a moment… but no matter what, I don’t own it’s voice as my own anymore.

Change

by Anna Ervin

When I first started learning about Tarot, cards like Death and the Ten of Swords scared me the most. Today, they are two of my favorite cards in the deck, but only after a little soul searching allowed me to realize their true definitions. The purpose of these cards is not to make you dread or fear your life, and they do not often show up when everything is sunshine and rainbows, only to crash your party with forecasts of doom and gloom.

Foraging in Tulsa with Justin Hope By Anna Ervin

The Ten of Swords usually reveals itself when you are already feeling like you’ve hit rock bottom. It’s actually a reminder that you’ve endured more than you ever thought possible, and through those experiences you’ve managed to learn something about yourself, or your situation, that will soon help you step into a healthier reality. It’s a symbol that not only are you stronger than you imagined, but that the discomfort you feel right now is only temporary.

Death, on the other hand, could show up any time you are facing a major change in your life. 99.9% of the time, this card does not mean that someone is going to die (although, if you’ve recently lost someone, it may show up to help you process that). Because of this, it’s easier for me to refer to this card as “Change.” It’s not the only indicator of change in the Tarot deck, but it is certainly the card that taught me the most valuable lesson on the topic.

Why does change scare us so much? That’s a lot to unpack, but when some aspect of your personality, your routine, or your external reality must die in order for something new to emerge in its place, the uncertainty regarding what will come next can be debilitating.

Venturing into the unknown, leaving everything you know and are familiar with behind, and grieving the loss of those comforts can be a lot to process at once. It can feel overwhelming, but if you’ve ever been dealt this card (either literally or figuratively), the only thing you can do from that point is move forward.

I’ve been thinking a lot about change lately, as my life has recently endured a series of major shifts. I think change has always appeared to come easily for me, and I have my stubborn refusal to focus on anything but the positive to thank for that. However, only looking for the good in every situation, or in some cases, leaving the whole situation behind in search of something a little more uplifting can be both a blessing and a curse.

I think sometimes I’m so focused on looking for that positive underlying message, that I glaze right over the more difficult lessons that were meant to be processed along the way. Of course, I’m not suggesting that we should dwell on or bask in the things that bring us discomfort. But, we’re always going to have to deal with detours and sharp corners on this journey through life, and I don’t think we’re meant to speed right through them just to find ourselves back on a more comfortable path.

Maybe sometimes it’s okay to slow down and take stock of the things that challenge us to dig deeper, or to shift into a new perspective as our external world shifts around us.

 

Romance and Strong Character

By Tab Moura

My memories that come to mind, when I reflect on my rougher chronic illness years, are often bitter sweet. Early in my marriage my husband and I endured incredibly painful seasons of debt, unemployment, the push-and-pull of checking out, and angry words shared… but these were years that truly taught us to love.

 

We Bought A Farm By Tab Moura

When it comes to chronic illness, sometimes we hear romantic stories about a dedicated spouse becoming a caregiver, and we imagine the indescribable strength it takes to support a spouse in that way. And as romantic and powerful as these stories are, I don’t believe that their romance is the point. Romanticizing sickness creates a perception that is not realistic- life is not a Nicholas Sparks movie.

 

The truth is, I once fell into this category, my husband was the strong one for me when I needed it most. It brought us closer together, but I confess it was much messier than it sounds. My husband would help lift me out of bed when my cervical instability was at its worst, he’s brought me my coffee in bed more days than I can count, and he’s helped me medicate when my arms were weak following seizures. My husband has also experienced burnout. He has worked a 9-5 and had to drop everything to come home and help me. He has listened to me yell and scream due to my brain inflammation overwhelming my body. He has helped me off the floor when I collapsed after accidentally breathing in a chemical (I am allergic to many chemicals). And he’s gone without intimacy and affection for long stents of time, due to how empty I felt from my seizures. Is he my hero? No. He’s something much cooler than that, he’s my husband.

 

Any decent human being would help someone when they were symptomatic like I was, but who would choose to live with it? I once read that a person with strong character is honest, resilient and dependable… that is exactly how I would describe my husband. People with strong character stick around— it’s not because it’s romantic.

 

I know this, because there were 6 months when my husband and I switched roles. It was me who was becoming healthy and fit, and his health hit a rough patch. I watched him lay in bed for days during a flair, and there were times that he was so miserable he would say ugly things to me. I watched as he would become emotionally closed off and hardly eat. Biological hormone imbalances are brutal, y’all; it’s not just mental health that is affected. He was in physical pain, suffering, and it splashed on all of us. When he was sick he didn’t want me around, but I stuck around anyway. Because he deserved it. He later told me that my actions saved our marriage… but I believe it’s simpler than that. When I consider our history, his hard work, his dedication to our family, the way he supports what I love- and yes, how he took care of me on my sickest days… The choice was simple: stick around.

 

I believe that the healthiest marriages aren’t the ones that have weekly date nights, or weekend getaways— These things can be great, but we haven’t done those things in years due to poor health. Specific activities don’t save taxed marriages like ours— character does.

We Bought a Farm

By Tab Moura

I’m taking it all in. I’m laying on the floor in my living room, boxes to my right, bong to my left… I just need a minute. I have been in the middle of a huge transition for the last 2 months: two months of repairs, boxes, and making every corner of our old house shine for realtors and prospective buyers. Then 2 weeks in a camper, and what an adventure that was.

 

Storms, Stress and The Brain By Tab Moura

Now I’m here, I’m just sitting here. Making smoke donuts.

Have you ever felt so plowed over by life that even the good things feel a bit like taking too big of a hit from your favorite bong? I’m there. Sitting on the floor of my own personal farmhouse, just completely exhausted. Moving houses has its challenges, naturally, but we just majorly changed our family culture AND our housing. Moving with older kids is significantly different than when they were babies. Now they have questions.

They test limits, as they always have, but testing limits on .33 acres in the city is a far cry from testing limits out here in the wild. I have used the word “penis” more often than ever before, because we are cattle farmers and my daughters are learning to identify bulls. My oldest daughter went from having never touched an insect before, in her life, to collecting caterpillars and letting them crawl all over her arms. On the farm, kids get in trouble for leaving the porch without boots on— Guys, I killed a 3.5 ft Water Moccasin.

It’s been a very full few weeks, packed with a million questions a day (just ball parking it,) and plenty of late nights hitting the pillow, knowing I would be up with the sun to do it again.

I say, “This is the beginning.”

“Of what?” My husband asks childishly, already knowing what I am gonna say…

“This is the beginning of whatever we want.”

Foraging in Tulsa with Justin Hope

by Anna Ervin

When I was younger, I used to think Oklahoma’s landscapes were so bland. My family traveled a lot through the years, and I remember visiting states with clear blue ocean waters, or mountains blanketed in aspens and evergreens. I would think, why can’t I live somewhere like this. Somewhere that flaunts such beautiful sceneries within an hour’s drive of my home.

Not Your Mama’s Potato Soup By Anna Ervin & Dondi Cobb

Each time our family would return to Oklahoma, I found myself scowling at the red dirt, or rolling my eyes at the never-ending span of wheat fields and the vast horizons that boasted no oceans or mountains or even hills, really. I carried this mindset with me for years, but I recently had an experience that allowed me to see my sweet home state through a fresh pair of eyes.

Justin Hope is Oklahoma’s very own weed pimp, volunteer trail guide, and one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. I was lucky enough to meet up with him for one of the most breathtaking hikes I’ve ever seen, through Keystone Ancient Forest.

Located in Northeastern Oklahoma, KAF is a small portion of the Crosstimbers area. With over 1,300 acres of forest containing oak and cedar that have been standing for at least up to 500 years, this virgin land might just be one of Oklahoma’s best kept secrets, and Justin was giving me the VIP tour.

As we started our journey down the Frank Trail, I could tell that this area meant a lot to Justin, and that he had a deep-seeded respect for the forest surrounding us. “I used to run these woods as a kid,” he boasted. “I grew up on the other side of the river, just a few miles away. I always knew this area as the Eagle Reserve. There’s definitely a lot of history trapped out here.”

Indeed, what makes Keystone Ancient Forest such a rare gem in our state is that the land has hardly been disturbed by developers, due to it’s rough terrain, proximity to the lake, and various other landscape-related roadblocks. Lucky for us, aside from a few oil wells that went up several years ago, this patch of raw Oklahoma beauty has been primarily untapped by the industrial world. This is what allows “history” to hold such strong roots in the area (literally).

“They call this a virgin forest,” Hope continued. “The environment here preserves itself, as long as man doesn’t destroy it. We try to encourage people to stay on the trail.” I noticed as we hiked, that one thing that really set this park apart from others I’ve seen was the cleanliness. Aside from the clearly marked trail, there didn’t seem to be any waste left by other hikers. And, in the off chance that we did stumble upon a cigarette butt, or granola bar wrapper, Justin would quietly pick it up and add it to a plastic bag that he kept in his backpack.

“City folk,” he chuckled at one point, “throwin’ trash down.” He collected the leftover item. “Thank goodness there’s more of us, who want to clean up. It’s easy to do, really. If people would just think about it.”

When we found ourselves halfway into the 2.8 mile trek, we decided to pause for a break. The trail had brought us to an overlook of Keystone lake. I think each of us had the same idea in mind as we returned from our backpacks bearing joints and edibles.

Justin has a long history with cannabis, and thoroughly believes in it’s medicinal qualities. Cannabis helped him get off of a sleuth of pharmaceuticals that had been prescribed to him. Pills that felt like they were killing him, rather than healing.

As the smoke began to settle and we geared up to head back onto the trail, I suddenly became hyper-aware of my surroundings. I had not medicated before the hike, and up until that point I had felt like I was simply an observer of the beauty that surrounded us. Now, was fully immersed in it. Had the trees been this alive and green the whole time? Were the birds just now waking up to sing the soundtrack of our hike, or had I just not noticed them before?

I began to feel so small, like a tiny molecule in this massive, living, breathing organism that surrounded us. Picking up on my quiet observations, Justin commented, “If you think about it, you’re just a grain of rice in this bowl. Just a pebble out here in this world.”

He would slow down every now and then to point out the peculiar way the trees seemed to grow. Some appeared to actually grow through the large stones on the ground, while a few of them had trunks that curved to form a near perfect right angle, as if they had been markers set up by travelers long before our time.

Two trees in particular had seemingly wrapped themselves around each other, winding their trunks around the other in a spiraling motion. I sensed that this was not the work of man, only the divine force of nature could create something so pure and beautiful. “They’re holding each other until the day they die,” Hope observed, before excitedly changing the topic. “Have you heard about Cornnabis? Or Cannacorn?”

I was intrigued. “One of my plants started showing half white-yellow, half green on the leaf,” he continued. “It showed signs of mutation. And a couple of weeks later, I find that there’s corn growing right next to it. The plants, kind of like the trees that were holding hands, they grew up together.”

I admired his unique perspective on nature, and the ways of the universe, and realized that they were not much different from my own. Everything on this floating rock we occupy is so divinely connected. Nature has a way of supporting itself for survival, but in a holistic way.

Certain species of trees that are considered invasive, might compete with the other plant species surrounding them. Occasionally, however, when you find something like those intertwined tree trunks, or Justin’s Cannacorn, you realize that two organisms supporting each other can result in something so pure and beautiful.

Imagine what the world would look like if humans supported each other, or the environment, in those ways, building stronger foundations, lifting each other up.

We approached the Wilson trailhead. “Are you allergic to any poison ivy or poison oak?” Justin asked. “This is a little different from the other trail. We have these tapes up so people don’t get lost.”

I knew things were about to get a little more intense, so I packed up my camera and set off to follow him down a slightly rougher and much narrower path. It was difficult to focus on anything other than the ground in front of me, and Justin seemed to move through these woods like he had done it a million times before, and had rehearsed every step. “I’ve got that Indian lightfoot,” he had told me earlier, referring to his Native blood.

I began to slide into a meditative state as we trekked forward, feeling my heart rate increase as the trail became increasingly more challenging. It had been cold that morning, but the sun was beginning to peak through the canopy of trees overhead, and before long I felt a small bead of sweat work it’s way down the back of my neck.

The Frank trail had felt like a walk in the park compared to this, and I was loving every step of our new path. This was the kind of hiking I had been missing in Oklahoma– slight changes in elevation, challenging routes that forced me to carefully plan every step, and that satisfying feeling of being deep in a forest, far away from society and all its noise.

We paused for a break as I caught my breath and took in the scene around us. It was unlike anything the forest had offered so far. Cliffs of oddly shaped rocks towered over us on one side, a waterfall blanketed in dead leaves trickled nearby, and trees upon trees upon trees were scattered around us in every direction.

I wanted to climb the rocks, hike into the trees, and dust the leaves off that waterfall and run my hands through the stream. Then I remembered Justin’s comment about staying on the trail, and I realized that the reason this park had been so well preserved, was that people like Justin had enough respect for the environment to protect and preserve it. So, I set my “Jungle Book” fantasies aside and inhaled another deep breath of crisp, cool air.

We rounded out the Wilson Trail and headed back to our starting point. On the way, we began to discuss our thoughts on the universe and spirituality. I had previously mentioned the recent new moon to my guide, and, bringing it back up, he asked me if I was sensitive to the moon. I dove a little bit into my views on divinity, and how this hike had shown me the way everything in the universe seems so interconnected, but I was more interested in hearing Justin’s ideals on the topic.

“It is all somehow related,” he told me. “I’ve got the red blood in me, the Indian ways, the ways of One. I’m a true flatliner, so I do believe there’s a reason I’m still here.”

I wanted to tell him that maybe this was that reason, helping people realize the healing power of cannabis and nature, that the earth provides us with every single thing we need to survive, but I had a gut feeling he already knew that.

 

Follow Justin Hope on Instagram (@skunktail_pharms) for a glimpse at the history and beauty encapsulated by Keystone Ancient Forest, or better yet, plan a visit to the park today. www.sandspringsok.org

 

 

 

Storms, Stress and The Brain

By Tab Moura

 

I’m sitting here at the table listening to an Oklahoma thunderstorm, thinking about the meaning of life and the ice cream in my freezer. As you know, I have three amazing little girls who just so happen to use our favorite plant medicine, cannabis. Cannabis has been incredibly powerful in helping my daughters articulate how they are feeling while we transition to a new house. Cannabis has also been helpful in reducing the intensity of their anxiety, to be able to use more mental health tools with them.

 

Tonight as the sirens began to sound, my oldest was (and always is) the first one to notice. So I dropped the box I was holding and ran across the house to be the first one to say “time to remember storm safety!” Traditions are important, not just for community, but for safety. Our brains have special traditions for everyday life as well, remembering how to get from A to B like we always have… even the stressful stuff like tonight. We are very sensitive to storm anxiety in our home, because I’ve been through some bad storms in my life. This is also why I respond so quickly. We can be prepared, and confident at the same time.

Weed Like To Talk About Yarrow By Tab Moura

Our brains are designed to quickly sort through information when we are stressed, but not all information. When we encounter stress, our hypothalamus is the first to respond, waking up the pituitary gland, a small structure with a big job. The pituitary gland sends signals to the adrenal glands on the kidneys, which then releases adrenaline. So before we even have a chance to critically process the stress we are experiencing, we already have adrenaline pumping through our bodies— this is how we were designed to respond, you aren’t getting ahead of yourself if your heart races during stress. Your body’s ability to survive relies on its ability to be alert.

 

Adrenaline = alert.

 

Sometimes we perceive this as anxiety if we don’t know how to respond. How we see ourselves while we’re handling stress makes a big difference in the grand scheme of things, this is where instinct meets critical thinking. After the adrenaline is released, the amygdala is alerted. The amygdala has stress sensors, it doesn’t know the difference between physical and emotional stress, because the only thing it can confirm is that it senses adrenaline. That’s where the prefrontal cortex comes in. The prefrontal cortex is where we assign emotions to our biological response. The prefrontal cortex is here to assess the threat and decide if it needs a greater or lesser response from us… it’s this part of my oldest that I am speaking to when I say “time to remember storm safety!” Just in time for her to decide if her body’s adrenaline means she’s in danger, or if she’s prepared.

 

This is an anomaly called Social Buffering. Researchers did a study that measured the effect of mother and child proximity on stress. It showed that young children, who were in close proximity to their mothers while processing stress, had less activity in their amygdala’s, and more in their prefrontal cortex.

 

What a magic trick right? Hah! None of this is a surprise; mother’s have known how important co-regulation is for centuries. Responding to our children allows them to regulate their responses, and it helps them to learn and retain the plans that keep them safe. Holding space with our children prepares them to process and manage all of life’s storms— real and metaphorical.

 

My daughter is a quick talker when she becomes anxious, so I began spitting out facts about storms, which prompted her to ask more questions. An active mind is an alert mind. “Is it windy? Is there any hail?” Her prefrontal cortex was able to judge for itself if she was safe— she just had to remember what to focus on.

Weed Like To Talk About Yarrow

By Tab Moura

Yarrow’s genus name is Achillea Milleforium, after Achilles (Greek mythology) who used Yarrow to treat his soldiers’ wounds.

 

Bee Responsible, Grow Weed By Tab Moura

If you have collected Yarrow and would like to know how to ingest it, I have a few tips. I am by no means an expert, but I rely on natural methods like these, out of necessity, and they haven’t let me down yet. Yarrow is most known for its healing properties, but first… business.

 

If you’re new to using herbal medicine, here’s what you need to know… never— I repeat, never eat plants that have been sprayed with chemicals. If you don’t know for sure, just pretend it’s poisonous. Secondly, Yarrow has a doppelgänger, Poison Hemlock. So again, if you don’t know for sure, don’t eat it. If you don’t want to attempt harvesting it yourself, you can find a herbalist to order it from.

 

 

Like many plants you can identify it most easily by its leaves. Yarrow and Hemlock both have white flowers, but the leaves of the Yarrow plant are more spiny than the Hemlock leaves, and the Hemlock leaves are fuller and flat. Medicinal Uses of Yarrow:

Historically, Yarrow has been used to make poultices (fresh) to heal flesh wounds in battle. In more recent observations it has reduced heavy menstrual bleeding and cramping (has been used during childbirth to stop hemorrhages), can reduce blood pressure, resolves coronary and cranial thromboses, even helps with varicose veins. Yarrow can even help with many digestive disorders. Lowers fevers, decongests, induces sweating (which is part of detoxing), and is perfect for daily ingestion while recovering from a major illness.

 

In case you want to make teas or tinctures, here’s where to begin. Start by cutting what you need and hanging it upside down for a time to dry. If you prefer a quicker pace, you may dry them in a food-grade dehumidifier or on low heat in the oven.

 

Tea – making Yarrow tea is very simple, if you have a preferred way of drinking loose leaf tea, you should be able to steep your tea once it’s dry. If you are unfamiliar with loose leaf teas, I recommend finding a tea bag option that you like. There are disposable bags you can’t fill yourself, some use an organic fabric pouch to wash afterward. Personally I prefer tea balls, which are metal and encase the herb, and it’s reusable.

 

Tincture – if you’re already familiar with making tinctures for cannabis, you may already have a preferred method. For those just getting started, there are a few options. You can use Glycerin (non alcoholic option), Everclear, Vodka, or any other you’re comfortable with that’s at least 80 proof. You may want to use 5oz of alcohol for every ounce of plant you harvest, and you’ll steep the plant in a dark place for 6-8 weeks. Finally, once it’s time, you will strain the contents with cheese cloth or a coffee filter and store in a dark bottle.

 

Topically – if you’re looking to use Yarrow on your skin, you can do this a few ways. First used on battlefields, Yarrow can be used fresh, chopped up, chewed or broken up in some way, and placed on a wound. You can also use some of your tincture to mix with a homemade lotion, like in a Beeswax, Shea Butter or Tallow mixture. I recommend practicing mixing a lotion you like before adding herbs in.

 

I’m enjoying working on this series, writing about common weeds and how they can support our bodies. The last year has taught me that we need to begin digging deeper into wellness, and we have to work together! Do you have a weed you’d like me to write about? Find me on Insta, @tabmoura. I’ll add your request to my list!

Do Your Best

By Taylor Brophy

 

My daughter begged me to sign her up for Cub Scouts. There were girls on the flyer, and it honestly looked like something she would be into so I said, “Why not? Let’s go!”

She was over the moon excited, and because she was so happy my momma heart was smiling. The sign-up station was outside, (because, yah know, Covid) and so of course Emma was running around trying to find as many bugs, birds, frogs, and other lifeforms as she could. I was halfway through  filling out the registration form when I noticed there were no other little girls around, so I asked, “What is Cub Scouts?” The designated parent that was there for sign-up day explained the basics of what the kids do in the program. I listened and nodded, trying to muster up the courage to ask, “So is this Boy Scouts?” The parent laughed and said, “Well kind of.” They explained that in first grade you aren’t considered a “Boy Scout” yet.

You have to be a little older to be an actual member of the troop. Emma would be a Cub, or more specifically a Tiger. I laughed, and explained that I had no idea that Cub Scouts was a lead up to Boy Scouts because the flyer the school sent home showed lots of girls. I knew it wasn’t Girl Scouts, but I had honestly thought that maybe this was some sort of Hybrid. I felt the need to explain that we were not trying to take over Boy Scouts, and that my daughter is simply in love with nature and begged me to sign her up. They reassured me that she was welcome, but the pessimist inside of me was still waiting for the fallout from my baby girl’s decision to become a part of this organization that, for the majority of its existence, has been all boys.

I have been trying to think about what I was expecting from our Cub Scouts experience. I have arrived at the conclusion that I had no idea what we were getting into. I knew very little about the program when we started. If you have never been a part of Scouts, you might not realize how much parent involvement goes into it. I know for a fact that if I had known how much I would be participating I would not have signed Emma up. I will say that not knowing ended up being a major blessing. While I won’t pretend that I enjoyed Scouts from the very first meeting, I will admit that it grew on me. Cub Scouts brought me joy for many reasons. The most obvious being how much my daughter enjoyed it. There is just something about seeing your child happy and excited about an activity that automatically makes you a little more excited to participate yourself. Her excitement is what got us to meetings every week, but what convinced me to sign her up for another year is more complicated.

Cub Scouts put Emma right in her element. I watched her bloom in ways that I did not realize she could bloom. I watched her learn the Scout motto, the pledge, the oath. I watched her become serious during the presentation of the flags. I watched her become part of something bigger than herself, and thrive within it. I also watched myself gradually become more willing to get involved. Each meeting saw me come out of my shell a little more. I began talking to the other parents. I got to know them as people. I became more open to forming friendships with them, something that is not a small accomplishment for me. Letting people in is not something I would describe as easy. My perception changed from, “This is Emma’s thing. I’m only here because she wants to do this, and it is my duty to support her”, to being genuinely excited to go on the end of year camp out. I can’t pinpoint when exactly this shift came for me, but I do know that Cub Scouts has had an effect on more than just Emma.

On May 7th, I watched my child graduate from a Tiger to a Wolf. The amount of pride I felt is indescribable, and was unexpected to be honest. I felt so much happiness in my heart, not just for Emma and the progress she made, but for myself as well. Emma and I had achieved so much together on this journey. We showed up to every meeting. We went to extra activities with our den. We learned rules and guidelines that we had not previously needed to learn. We went camping overnight in a place we had never been. We learned how to play marbles, and how to make a bag to hold them. We met new people whom we might not have met if it were not for Cub Scouts. We became part of an organization that I would have never imagined being a part of. All of this because my little girl wanted to learn about nature and all life that inhabits it.

I was not anticipating the guidance my daughter would get through this program. I knew there would be people there to teach her things, but the overwhelming support was unexpected. The day following our end of year camp out was filled with a lot of new experiences. Emma learned how to shoot a bow and arrow. She actually hit the target a few times too. Her and I both shot a BB gun for the first time. It was unexpectedly empowering, and something I would like to do again. She watched as an older scout worked to make a fire using twigs and dryer lint. By the time we got to the wrist rockets, or as you may know them: slingshots, Emma was exhausted and hungry.

When she wasn’t able to make the wrist rocket work on the first try, she became frustrated. She said, “I can’t do it. It’s too hard.” I went into mom mode automatically. I encouraged her. I told her to keep trying. I explained that most people are not able to learn a new skill on the first try. None of my encouragement or brave words worked. She became more and more upset and frustrated until there were literal tears rolling down her cheeks. I had no intention of letting her walk away from the slingshot station until she had at least completed the task once, but I’ll admit, I was starting to get frustrated with her and her tears. Just when I was about to lose my “nice mom” tone of voice the instructor swooped in. He had a calming presence about him. For whatever reason he was able to get Emma to a state of mind that would allow her to give it another go. Patience radiated from him as he gave her tips and encouragement. Finally, she shot the target.

As we walked back to the meeting area together, I put my arm around her. She was still exhausted and tired, but now she had a sense of accomplishment that comes with completing something you previously thought impossible. As she ran to meet back up with the rest of her den, she shouted, “Guys I did it. I hit the target!” The instructor had given my daughter ten extra minutes of his time, but she left with a lesson that is not always organically learned. He made her promise to never say “I can’t” again, and reminded her that the Cub Scouts motto is “Do Your Best!” Would she have learned to persevere in some other stage of her life? Absolutely, but what Cub Scouts has given us is another opportunity to learn that lesson, and to establish it as a foundational skill for the rest of her life.

I often think about how much of a blessing being Emma’s mom is. She has taught me so much just by being in my life. The love I feel for her is overwhelming. I have truly seen how much I am capable of just through the experience of motherhood. What is surprising to me is how she is able to get me out of my comfort zone so effortlessly. If it wasn’t for her desire to sign up, I would have never given a second thought to Scouts. I am so thankful for the opportunities we have been presented with through this organization, and can honestly say I am excited to see what next year has in store for my little Wolf. I am looking forward to watching her grow more and more with each year.

 

Bee Responsible, Grow Weed

By Tab Moura

There’s been a lot of buzz around Cannabis lately, and I’m not just talking about legalization. So we know that Cannabis is beneficial, it’s been known to treat numerous health conditions, head to toe, from Glaucoma to Plantar Fasciitis… but what if our beloved Devil’s Lettuce is also capable of saving the bees?

The Brain: Mind and Body
The Brain: Mind and Body By Tab Moura

I was reading a post about dwindling bee populations this morning, and it was just so unBEElievable, that I had to google this further. I, for one, tend to look at everything through a “what are my options” filter… so I decided to put on my researcher-hat and answer my own question: what are our options to help save the bees? This led me down an interesting rabbit hole. Many humanitarian projects can take years to produce results, so I didn’t just look for ways to “save” them, but ways to attract them- ways to feed them.

An article out of Environmental Entomology stood out– as did their solution.
So we already know that the Cannabis plants are nutrient dense, despite being famous for their psychoactive benefits, because it’s also beneficial in its raw form. Now, take humans out of the equation, and think of the Cannabis plant as a crop with flowers. The plant is so powerful that it’s pollen rich flowers have been found to draw up to 16 different bee species, including the Honey bee. And they also found that the taller your cannabis or hemp plant is, and the more you plant, you can see an increase of up to 17x more bees visiting your crop.

The most interesting part of this study is that Bees do not have an endocannabinoid system, thus they do not directly benefit from the plant’s medicinal properties. Also, this isn’t like traditional flowers, because it
lacks a nectar taste and is not the usual amber color they prefer. Scientists admit they don’t completely understand what draws Bees to cannabis plants, only that they have observed bees visiting these sites in growing numbers. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that bees prefer flowering male plants, over their
female counterparts, but their presence in your community will increase pollination among all outdoor plants.

Did you ever imagine you could help save the planet by growing your own weed? Uncle Sam might not be easy to admit it, but we weren’t exactly waiting for their permission anyway.

Let’s grow weed and save the bees.

The Brain: Mind and Body

by Tab Moura

I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2019. I was 29, married, a mother, and I dabbled in MLMs and influencing. I’ve always loved writing, but those days I felt like I was slipping into oblivion and It felt so comfortable that I didn’t even think to stop it anymore.

Plant Medicine for Change, by Tab Moura

I was hosting one of those online parties for the book company I worked with, where you have images in a queue, and you post them at specific intervals, actively answer questions, share product links, etc. You aren’t just watching the minutes, you’re watching the seconds. It goes fast. When I was a few minutes into a party, I felt tired, but that didn’t feel like a good excuse to interrupt things. I powered through. 

 

I thought, “I’ll just navigate over to this tab and grab that link I need to give Jane, and then–” 

*poof* 

What was I doing? 

*buffering* 

Oh my goodness, I have so many notifications. 

Oh my gosh, where did those 3 minutes go? 

 

And then 5 minutes later I stood up to grab a power cord, and as I stepped into the hall it happened again. 

 

*poof* What was I doing? 

 

Sun-Kissed Wellness, by Tab Moura

I didn’t have the mental capacity to understand that I was having seizures. I finished my party, it wasn’t amazing (not that I can remember anyway), and then I passed out on the couch watching a show.. I woke up the next day, barely able to move my right side. We thought it was a stroke, so I saw a doctor. MRI was clear. When we reflected on the day of my party, with my doctor, we could tell I’d had a few other events as well, but they seemed like seizures. If I’d known then what I know now, I would have canceled my whole evening. It took months to get an EEG, but we eventually found that I had right frontal and right temporal lobe seizures, secondary generalized as well. These are lobes associated with personality, impulse control, perfectionism, depression and emotionality, etc… you know, all of my buddies. So things were beginning to make more sense.

When I reflected, I could trace back memories of these sensations to when I was 5. I was homeschooled, we didn’t have a strict schedule, no bells, no anxiety to get from A to B independently. I never would have known if I was missing time, what was time? My seizures have never been fully convulsive, some as innocent looking as daydreaming or fidgeting.

I still experience compulsive and intrusive thoughts when I am early-seizure, but it tells me when something is wrong. It used to be impossible to get me out of a compulsive process, now I am able to break away to medicate. If I push my brain too hard, it eventually crashes; even doing things I enjoy, like puzzles or cleaning. This is why I can only do these things while medicated. I have nights where all of the trains of thought are moving at the same time, it’s so busy and startling, as though being slapped in the head from the inside, with no point. I understand now why I just thought this was normal. I am an excellent example of how there is a lot we don’t know about the cross-over between neurological disorders and psychological ones…but we do know that they both (frequently) enjoy cannabis. Without my mental health awareness, I wouldn’t be able to break my cycle and grab my medicine… but without cannabis, I wouldn’t be able to escape for more than a few moments. Same organ, same team.

The Canna-Closet

by Tab Moura

It’s time we unpack my cannabis origins… I did not have a positive relationship with cannabis until 2016. In fact, I was anti-cannabis until life put me in my place.

Compassionate IND Program, by Tab Moura

My husband broke a bone in his back, a few bones in his hand, and bruised his hip when he fell from his motorcycle. Thankfully he was wearing his gear, otherwise we know he would have fractured his skull and additional bones in his back. His helmet, coat and backpack were trashed. We followed his care instructions, but ultimately his pain was so severe that his prescription couldn’t keep up, and with a history of addiction in his family, we didn’t want to experiment with more pills. I was unable to lift him myself, and he was having trouble getting around, so he stayed with his parents for a few days while I focused on our girls. While there, my brother in law gave him some cannabis, and within a few moments my husband was feeling relief. It was so little… and yet, it was everything.

Before, while I was still watching him writhe in pain, it made me wonder. If the prescription isn’t working, and if addiction is such a slippery slope… then what else can people do? Even if something OTC, like Ibuprofen, could help with that degree of injury, it’s not like it goes without affecting you in other ways. In big and small ways, he has dealt with lingering pain from that accident for almost 5 years… if we had relied on pills, I already know what his trajectory would have looked like. I told myself that I would rather we ‘play-chicken’ with cannabis, than with pills.

In that time, our family has grown from 4, to 5. He’s daddy to three sweet mini-hims; our youngest is 3. I was terrified to go down this road, because I believed what they said about weed… being toxic. How it makes people’s brains shrink= makes people dumber. I grew up where cannabis was this big, ugly topic that we never spoke of, and I didn’t want my children exposed to it. Little did I know that cannabis would answer many, many questions that I would have over the course of the next few years.

I prayed about it. I researched it. I took classes. I met with growers and processors. I spoke with people who know and respect the cannabis plant. I dove in, because I knew this was very serious for us. I wanted to know if there were any skeletons in the canna-closet… but the truth is, all I found were Stoners hot-boxing. So I joined them.

The Smoking Section

by Tab Moura

My husband is a first-generation American, his family came here from Portugal. Their family gatherings aren’t so different from anyone else’s, but there is such variety in this family- such acceptance. They yell during soccer. They are bilingual. They make Portuguese foods from old family recipes. They tell stories of life before immigrating, and they celebrate every major holiday with food and hours of laughter. I remember the first time I heard about their “smoking section.” Smoking herb, or smoking tobacco, they don’t judge… they make room for it.

Earth Day: The Good I Can Do, by Tab Moura

I grew up moving around a lot, I never felt like I had much of a “root system” to speak of; I have cousins, but we’ve never been close. I don’t have a favorite sports team, or university. Almost every member of my immediate family has lived in a foreign country for significant lengths of time, so I don’t have deep patriotic roots when I watch the World Cup. Before 2020 our way of life was pretty uncommon… we are nomads, and we were using Video Chat before video chat was cool. When I began dating my husband, I felt as strange to him as he felt to me. He could have been as traditional as they come, it still would have been weird for me. My husband has so many cousins, and his cousins have tons of kids, these family gatherings are big… and yet, everyone is still close. 

When I was growing up I believed that all smoking was wrong, especially cannabis, so I wasn’t in favor of accommodating such habits. When I began attending my husband’s family events, there was always a group of cousins who would disappear. I assumed they were sneaking off to drink beer, but then I realized that no one else snuck off to drink beer. They drank it at the table. But I didn’t ask… I had a feeling that if I had to ask where everyone was off to, they probably wouldn’t tell me. 

A few years later I joined the medical cannabis community and inadvertently joined the family smoking section. Suddenly I was getting “the nod” and going for walks after dinner. This past Sunday I sat in the shade and shared a few dabs with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and a cousin. Yeah. They’re my cousin now, too. It’s funny how sharing moments like these bring such peace. The smoking section is for lightening up… and lighting up.

 

Hot Flash!

by Dondi Cobb  | Two Twisted Girls

Just a few months ago, the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) released exciting results from a new study of menopausal women and their treatment of choice for their worse symptoms. It seems women today are choosing, more often, to relieve the harsh symptoms of menopause with cannabis than other, more traditional ways, such as hormone replacement therapy. One in four, to be exact. But that wasn’t the biggest surprise I found while researching this story.

While testing as post-menopausal, I personally have never experienced any symptoms of menopause. I don’t know why. I consider some of the trauma that occurred in my life during those years.  Maybe I just got a pass. I dealt with the death of my mother and husband.  I suffered two heart attacks.  I was not sitting around waiting for a hot flash.

When asked to write this story, considering this part of life had been a blur, I started scouring the web for the symptoms of menopause, figuring I would see potential uses for cannabis in these ailments.

The list was fairly well known to me, hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, body aches, vaginal dryness, loss of sex drive and, well, pretty much the common signs of aging. I could definitely see how cannabis could help with all except the biggie, hot flashes. The most common complaint I’ve heard concerning menopause is hot flashes. How could cannabis possibly help here?

To understand how cannabis helps with hot flashes, we must first understand our endocannabinoid system, which I know very little about. However, I do know that each of us possess one.  Apparently, estrogen is a part of our endocannabinoid system (ECS). Somewhere along the line, God must have thought, I’ll throw this one in for the ladies. Thank you!

We all have estrogen, and my understanding is, as we age and go through menopause, our estrogen levels lower. So, our ECS, that is scattered throughout our bodies and holds estrogen, has receptors that THC binds to, or seems to recharge. It’s complicated. So complicated, that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of the potential health benefits of this healing plant. But it’s certain, something is going on.

For over two years, I‘ve moonlighted at a medical marijuana doctor’s clinic, Skyping with doctors, meeting and uploading patients. I’ve met a fair representation of Oklahoma patients and the majority are aging, educated and looking for less harmful alternatives to their growing list of pharmaceuticals.  When applying cannabis to the symptoms of menopause, it seems we have most covered and the majority of health experts agree that a combination of cannabis and hormone therapy may be even better. One thing is certain, every woman is different and the secret to discovering the magic mixture that works best for you is trial and error.

It’s very well known that the most common uses for cannabis are pain and insomnia. Therefore, it would be reasonable to believe cannabis would be beneficial for these menopausal symptoms. Cannabis is also commonly used for the treatment of depression and anxiety, mood swings. Topicals work in a different way but are a wonderful option to help with vaginal dryness. I make a secret potion that, when used correctly, will light your fire, ladies. It is seriously Viagra for women. And, now that I’ve learned the secret to unleashing natural estrogen in my body, hot flashes can be addressed. Whether you choose to smoke or use other forms, menopause symptoms are very easily and successfully treated with cannabis.

If your health care provider cannot see the benefits and recommend cannabis as a safe, alternative option, find someone who is educated on the wonderful benefits of this amazing plant.

Trust the Process

by Anna Ervin

So often I find myself frustrated in the beginning phases of writing a story. I’ll throw my hands up and curse the laptop because the words on my screen aren’t painting the picture that I want them to. You can blame my Aries sun sign for this, patience has never been one of my strengths. In the past, I’ve picked up so many projects only to put them back down because I didn’t get it right the first time around.

But for the first time in my life, I have a job that makes me want to do whatever it takes, however many times it takes, to excel. Because of this, I have learned that when I push through the frustration and put in the real work (the inner work), the end result is so much more rewarding.

So, what does that inner work look like?

To start, it looks like facing your negative emotions head-on, asking yourself, “why do I feel this way and what can I do to work through those feelings?” But that’s a lot easier said than done, right? Changing your habits and the way you react to emotions doesn’t happen overnight. It requires intention, focus, and patience.

So, if a fiery, fast-paced Aries like me can learn to slow down and trust herself, I’m positive that you can too. I’ll leave you with few tips that have continuously helped me better understand my fears, angers, and frustrations, and ultimately work past them:

  • Take a step back. If you’re stuck in a negative headspace and you can’t get out, don’t force it. Take a break, read a chapter in your favorite book, eat a meal, or do something nice for yourself. Sometimes we just need to take a little space from whatever is causing us to feel distressed, in order to gain a little perspective and clarity.

 

  • Breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Visualize your breath traveling down into your belly, doing a little somersault, then climbing back up your spine and out through your mouth. This is something I learned through yoga, but it helps me so much on a day-to-day basis. We hold all of this tension in our bodies, and sometimes that’s where a lot of our emotions stem from. Breathe into and through those areas to allow that energy to flow a little more freely.

 

  • Smoke a bowl. Find a strain that uplifts your mood and calms your heart. I respond to a lot of strains differently than most, but Purple Punch seems to really do it for me. Find that strain for you, and have it handy for those moments when you’re feeling the weight of everything.

 

  • Trust the process. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your problems aren’t going to go away overnight. Trust that whatever you are feeling or going through right now is playing an important role in your journey. It doesn’t always make sense right away, but I promise that someday you’ll be able to look back and see a much bigger picture.

My Road To 40

by Tab Moura

I read once that 40 years old is when most women truly reach a point in their lives where they don’t care as much what other people think. It’s when they begin living more authentically and surround themselves with friendships that are more energizing.

In 2021 I will be turning 32, and I’ve decided that it’s never too early to stop giving a crap. This year I’ve begun to make some changes.

Plant Medicine for Spring, by Tab Moura
Enjoy BEING More

We’ve seen the world melt around us, 2020 helped me to acknowledge that the world really will get over if I cannot, or will not, sacrifice my sanity to make things happen. My memories of my children are just as important as my children’s memories of me… for all of our sakes, I will defend our special days from perfectionism and comparison, so we can all relax a little. 

Eat Well

So this is a double edge sword. I believe it’s equally important that we eat nutritiously, and also that every woman deserves at least one treat that is never shared. I’m an early bloomer, so I’ve already been rehearsing this one. Right now it’s organic mint chip ice cream. However, I’m not actually 40 yet, so I have time to try a few more treats before I’ll ultimately do whatever I wanna do anyway. 

Do it
Stoner, by Tab Moura

By this point in your life, I’m sure there has been at least one big thing that you “just aren’t brave enough to try.” Or maybe it’s financial and you just don’t see how you can justify the expense… I’m here to tell you, it’s time to do it. If it’s a matter of bravery, then it’s time to smoke a bowl and ask your bestie to help you follow through. If it’s truly just about money, it’s time to make a budget. Write it down. Look those numbers in the eye, then call your bestie to brainstorm how to raise the money. I know it can wait… it always can— but this is the season we start living authentically, remember? 

Hawt Stuff

If you don’t own a sexy outfit, now is the time. I don’t care if you never go anywhere. I don’t care if you’re single. I don’t care if your sexy outfit isn’t a dress… it’s a right of passage. If you don’t own an outfit that makes you feel attractive, don’t feel pressure to spend money on it. This is about authenticity after all. Perhaps the real goal is to reach a point where only your own voice is what determines your self-image— and that it’s important to surround yourself with loving people who appreciate your beauty.

I’m looking forward to adding to this list as I continue my journey to 40. Maybe you’d like to share some of the rights of passage you have come across as you’ve reached these milestones. You can find me on Insta @tabmoura feel free to tag me and tell me what wisdom you’ve gained while growing and shedding expectations. 

Sophia Massad

by Anna Ervin

If you have yet to tune into the locally produced Play It Loud series by award-winning independent filmmaker Adam Hampton, it’s time to indulge. Play It Loud is sponsored by our friends at Grand Casino and was the topic of discussion between my boss and I when the name Sophia Massad came up.

Sophia is one of the most recent artists to join the series, but I had been seeing her name pop up long before this interview was released. You see, when I first started working for Herbage, I was eager to make more friends in the cannabis industry. So, like any millennial would do, I turned to Instagram.

It was hard to scroll past Sophia’s colorful, sparkly images that came up under geotag Oklahoma City. I loved the way she was breaking stigmas about the use of medicinal cannabis by, well, glamourizing it. Looking at her content, you might never imagine that Sophia, like so many of us, has a history of health issues. The focus of her brand lies not on her disabilities, but rather the capabilities that using cannabis has given back to her.

This inspired me, and I think that was apparent to my boss. It was only a matter of time before he worked his magic and I found myself sitting across from @the_dope_soph herself.

I was a little nervous. Sophia has not only worked tirelessly to create a sound that she is proud of, but also uses her music and her platform to educate and inspire the public about the benefits of cannabis. And she does it with so much fire. I decided to be upfront about how intimidating this meeting was for me, and boy am I glad I did. After bonding over our mutual enemy, anxiety (and laughing at our own fears), we dove right into one of the best conversations I’ve had in a long time.

I couldn’t possibly include every little thing we touched on (I’m not kidding when I say I had to cut over 11,000 words from this story), but I did my best to focus on the topics that highlight the most colorful pieces of Sophia’s journey. I hope that by the time you finish reading this, you’ll see the same shining light that initially inspired me to seek out her story.

 

Photography by Austin Edwards

Anna: So, I really wanted to talk about your journey with cannabis, and why you are so passionate about using your platform to break the stigma.

Sophia: Well, I was the queen of ‘weed is terrible, and nobody should ever have it. It will ruin your life and then you’ll do heroin.’ After I got my card, I realized that it literally is medicine. I really fell in love with like the fact that it can help you; it got rid of my anxiety, I was able to sleep, and creatively it sparked so much in me. It helped me get over a lot of social anxiety. Because I was homeschooled, I never learned how to interact with people, but when I started smoking it was like, ‘I’m just going to be myself. Fuck it. I’m going to do whatever I want.’

I don’t know if you’ve watched my Play It Loud interview, but now that I’ve said ‘I have Tourette Syndrome, and I’m also a normal person.’ And that I tried to kill myself, and I’m also a normal person. I just love the idea of normal people coming out, and saying ‘Hey, this is what I’ve done, now everybody knows that life is…’ I don’t know-

Anna: I get what you’re saying. You’re not just breaking stigmas about cannabis use. You’re breaking stigmas about mental health and wellness.

Sophia: I’m trying to. I just, so much want people to say, ‘I will stop taking this prescription medicine, because now I have gummies every morning.’ That’s how I feel because I was taking Ibuprofen all the time before cannabis. I was just always in pain. When I first applied for my card I had just gotten in a car accident where I rear ended someone. My head was real messed up, my back was really bad, and cannabis literally saved my life after that.

Yeah, it puts me in a better mood and it makes me think things are funnier, but why would that ever be bad? People say that it’s a bad thing, but I wasn’t a laugher before, and I think things are funnier now.

Like today, I had a busy day and I hadn’t smoked. I was just like, ‘Man, everything sucks. Everything sucks and I don’t want to do anything, and I’m not worth this. Why does anybody care about taking pictures of me, or talking about me, blah, blah blah.’ Then I took a hit of my pen, which is Green Crack, and it’s the best, if you have a Green Crack pen.

Anna: Green Crack is one of my favorite strains!

Photography by Austin Edwards

Sophia: Yes! It just makes me so creative. So, I had a hit of it, and ten minutes later I was like, ‘Dude, you’re a badass. Okay. I know what I’m doing. I got this. I trust myself.’ It was giving me that confidence to do more. I feel like I can sometimes look at things from an outside perspective when I’m high.

Where I kind of got started in wanting to be more of a cannabis advocate was through following Jessi Murray and Ãnna Frost of The Dope Girls (@thedopegrls). I was like, ‘Oh shit. I smoke weed, and I’m so scared of it.’ But I realized they are so successful and active. And then I was like, ‘well, I just have to accept it, let people know who I am, and show that I’m active.’ I’m not hiding the fact that I smoke weed all the time. It’s normal.

I feel like 2020 was a big year for me to say, ‘Okay. It’s do or die. I’m always going to do music, no matter what. And I can also be passionate about things like cannabis.’

Anna: Okay, I have to ask. What’s your zodiac sign?

Sophia: I’m a Virgo. Double Virgo. My birthday is two days before Amy Winehouse’s, and I feel really connected to that for some reason. I feel like we have the same emotions. I love her.

My 12th and 11th houses are in Leo, as well as my Venus and Mars alignments. Everyone is like, ‘How can you be a Virgo, and also be a performer?’ Because I’m kind of Leo, and with that I have always had a strong drive to create and perform.

 

Anna: So tell me about your journey into making music. Who or what were some of your major influences?

Sophia: My family is really musical, we’re all creatives. At a really young age I realized I could sing. When I was like eight or nine, I remember learning how to belt for the first time, and my parents were like, ‘alright. I see you.’ So, they got me vocal lessons.

I was the kind of person that would just turn on the music, and lay on the ground, and think about life. I remember listening to Kid Cudi and thinking that I want to connect with someone as much as Kid Cudi is connecting with me through his music. I just couldn’t see me getting through that part of my life without him.

I also loved Eminem. One of his song lyrics talks about wanting to do this just to reach people that had similar issues, even if it’s just one person. And I remember thinking, ‘Yeah. I just want to reach one person that has similar issues to me and show them that it’s okay. That I’m here for them and that they can get through.’

Sophia: I always grew up with The Beatles because my dad is so obsessed with them. I’ve seen all their movies. I’ve literally listened to The Beatles everyday, and there would be seasons of my life where I would fall in love with their different albums. Their lyrics are, in my mind and in my world at least, the pillars of song lyrics.

I remember those moments really sparking me to say, ‘this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to write music.’ I started writing really young. My dad taught me how to play guitar and my older sister taught me how to play piano. It was kind of the only thing that I cared about. Listening to music, and then making music.

 

Anna: What does your creative process look like when it comes to songwriting? Does Cannabis play a role in that?

Sophia: I don’t ever think that I’m making music. I think it’s just music that is coming through me.

One of my new favorite things ever is to listen to Lo-Fi music when I clean. While it’s playing I will write a song to the beat. Then I will take that and make my own beat, change the key, and make a song out of that, which has been really fun. It mostly happens when I’m smoking, I hardly ever clean if I’m not smoking. But I just kind of allow it to flow out of me.

Sometimes I’ll sit down and play an old song or a cover to get started. But sometimes I’ll just find some pretty cords and try to make that into a song. That’s mostly how my songs come about is sometimes I’ll hit a cord and be like, ‘Here’s the song. We got it.’

Other times it won’t happen at all. Most of my life I have really hated that, and I tried to force things. But at this point I’ve realized I’m not really in charge. A lot of people believe that waiting for the magic song writing orb to come amongst you is a terrible way to live, and it’s lazy I guess to some people. But I think it’s real.

Anna: It’s almost like you’re manifesting it.

Sophia: Yeah! But sometimes it comes to me at the worst times. I wrote Alone at Night on my notes and my recorder on my phone when I was teaching at a VBS for a church that I sang for. We had a break and I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is a really good song inside my head.’ So I’m making this song in my head talking about not being alone at night in the church that I’m working at. But it just had to happen then.

My creative process is truly all over the place. But if I’m ever in a block in the middle of writing a song I’ll smoke, or I’ll smoke more. And that will really allow it to just become a song.

Over quarantine I just chilled at home all the time, making music, and I wrote maybe 100 songs, and I just wrote a song a day for most of 2020, just for fun. I remember so many times I would get frustrated and be like, ‘This song is going nowhere. I’m doing nothing. Nothing is worth anything, and I’m quitting music.’ And then I would go smoke a joint and come back and be like, ‘I am amazing, and this song is great, and this is how it’s going to go.’

Anna: I’m laughing because I can relate so much with my writing. I do the same thing. At the end of the day you just have to trust the process. Cannabis really helps with that. 

Sophia: Yeah, it just makes me so much more relaxed and able to notice what’s actually happening in life. I’m such a people-pleaser, and such an over thinker, but cannabis just makes me an artist. It allows me to just do art. So, to answer your question, I don’t have a solid creative process. It is more of a creative creative process.

 

Anna: If you could give yourself one piece of advice when you first started writing and recording songs, what would that be? 

Sophia: You know, on the Play It Loud Interview I was like, ‘Trust yourself. Trust yourself always.’ And I’ve really been thinking about that because I don’t always trust myself now, as an adult.

Basically, I spent my childhood writing these songs and I recorded them around age 16, releasing them around that time as well. I spent all of my graduation money on the album. And I was just so afraid of other people not loving it.

I guess everything I was afraid of happened. I still have probably 500 albums in my garage of my EP. I was so afraid of what people were going to think of me and I was so afraid of it not being the best thing in the world. But in the end music isn’t about being famous or popular and if it is then it’s probably not the right kind of music.

You should be making music for yourself. It is your own kind of therapy. It is basically journaling out loud. Just doing it is enough. I wish that I had known that making an album was enough. It didn’t have to be a perfect album for everyone. Why would I want to be famous based on an album that I didn’t personally love?

 

 

Check out Sophia’s music on Spotify and stay up to date with the latest from her Instagram pages @sophiamassad @the_dope_soph

 

Plant Medicine for Spring

by Tab Moura

This may not come as a surprise to you, but I’ve become known for my creativity with natural medicine. While I do enjoy making natural choices, my use of natural products is truly out of necessity due to my health disorders.  The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that it’s not easy to cut things out—but it is easy to trade them out. Just like many of you, I get colds and seasonal allergies, and my allergy to corn has yet to prevent me from finding relief.

Stoner, by Tab Moura

The plant medicine sphere is quite a marvel to me, we invest a lot of faith in this plant, and it doesn’t disappoint us. I feel this way toward all plant medicine. As an epileptic, I’ve utilized its benefits in ways that big pharma probably doesn’t want you to believe are possible, and I know dozens of cannabis patients who can say the same. 

Plant medicines are powerful, but they work better paired with conscious food choices and active lifestyle choices. That said, even if you aren’t where you want to be yet, plant medicine can be an important first step to changing other habits. I love to study the relationship between terpenes and essential oils, this is perhaps the easiest plant medicine tool to adopt. Depending on your diet and pre-existing health issues, these may not replace serious daily prescriptions but can be a gentle addition to your self-care routine. (NOTE: not all essential oil brands are made for ingestion, always verify this when choosing an essential oil product.) 

Essential Oil Blends for Spring:

My favorite daily go-to for Spring is my Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint essential oil blend in a capsule with RSO. I’m familiar with getting yearly sinus infections around this time, so I began fighting back. If I do get sick, I like to add oregano and cinnamon to the blend.  Your breath won’t be very flattering, but one of these bad boys will certainly help move the congestion around. Other good options are things like dandelion, milk thistle, and probiotics. There are many brands out there, so as a rule, I recommend consulting with someone more knowledgeable than yourself when you are trying something new.

If you want to experiment with the essential oils, but prefer to inhale your terpenes, I recommend finding a product or strain that contains terps like Linalool, Limonene, Caryophyllene, and Ocimene. I recently tried THC Bomb by LITS, and it tasted great with my allergy oil blend as well.

Natural medicine may be a bio-safe choice for health and wellness, but without a basic understanding and respect for these methods, you will likely struggle to see results. This is why I always recommend researching or finding a consultant/health advocate of some kind to meet with you. The journey into natural medicine is unlike any of my experiences with allopathic medicine up to this point, it requires us to respect and understand it— but it leaves us in charge of our results, and it’s that freedom that has healed my body.

Stoner

by Tab Moura

“So you’re saying, yes, Cannabis improves your overall symptoms?” I laughed, what a loaded question… and yet, the answer was so simple, “Absolutely.”

Finding the Words, by Tab Moura

I scheduled this appointment a few weeks ago, I am a mom and epileptic, I don’t trust myself to “just remember” things anymore. As I waited in line, my mind wandered to 2 years ago, when I applied for my first medical card. I got to the clinic a little late, due to ice, and I was terrified I missed my chance. I always roll my eyes a little when people assume that being late, and using marijuana, walk hand in hand. I had some harsh self-judgements bouncing around my skull that day… “Shocker, the Stoner missed their appointment?” But that couldn’t be further from how I was treated.

Oh, I’m sure it happens; Cannabis can make us a little forgetful, but you wanna know a secret? Apparently we Stoners are pretty good at overcoming our attention challenges, because as of February 7th, 2021, over 370,570 Oklahoman’s have become medical cannabis patients. (I heard there would have been more, but they are driving 5mph in a parking lot somewhere *wink wink*.)

I wouldn’t be upright without this medicine. We aren’t talking minor leagues here, this is medical cannabis. This is our quality of life, and in many cases, life itself is in the balance. We have families; we are mothers, daughters, husbands and sons, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We are business owners, hard workers, students, friends and neighbors. We are fiercely protective of our lives and health freedoms, for ourselves and to honor those who made this possible.

Stoners? Sure, call us stoners. The people who would uproot their lives, crossing state borders, to save their kid’s life? Or do you mean the woman who has weaned herself off of 12 pharmaceutical drugs? Or the little boy who had 100 seizures a day, and now doesn’t? How about the speech delay that disappeared, or the insomnia that went away, or the diabetic who learned to manage their sugars without insulin? We’re pretty proud of those stoner stories.

And we haven’t even gotten to the science! Did you know that everyone has an endocannabinoid system? Did you know that human breastmilk produces anandamide, a naturally occurring supplement for the endocannabinoid system? Did you know that you produce anandamide when you exercise? Did you know that chronic illness is a sign that your endocannabinoid system is out of homeostasis? Did you know that the cannabis plant is the most potent source of supplemental cannabinoids? Did you know that cannabis is a vital food nutrient, as essential as other vitamins and minerals the body needs? Did you know that even if you use cannabis recreationally, it helps your body medicinally?

We want cannabis skeptics to ask their questions… the truth doesn’t need our protection. Even if you don’t choose to use this plant, can you say you considered it objectively?

As I wrapped up my renewal recommendation appointment, I sighed in relief. “Two more years of YES.” Sometimes it feels too good to be true, and sometimes I feel restless. So many out there have yet to get this chance. I pray that someday soon, anyone who wishes to use this medicine would be able to do so without threat of punishment. Now that I know what I know, I just don’t think that’s too much to ask.

What is Your Cannabis Routine?

by Amy Lee | Boho Health Consulting

As a Certified Cannabis Wellness Coach and owner of Boho Health Consulting, a cannabis coaching and education company, I have hosted well over one-hundred potential client wellness consultations since I opened my doors in 2019. Throughout these conversations I began to notice a pattern with my clients seeking cannabis coaching. The most common issue is proper dosing followed by proper medicating methods.

Immune System Love, by Amy Lee

Many clients do not know what a proper cannabis dose is for their ailments or how to dose throughout the day for wellness. Because of this many cannabis patients are not achieving the level of wellness they desire through the current methods of cannabis medicating. When a client describes their cannabis struggles it’s important for me to understand their current medicating routine. The most common routine is to be medicated only as needed throughout the day when symptoms appear. This method of medicating is considered “on-demand”.

Medicating “on-demand” may be problematic for some clients who seek daily balanced wellness from their cannabis medicine. When symptoms are treated “on demand” the body may experience a dip in endocannabinoid support which can cause an episode or flare-up to become more frequent. When the endocannabinoid system is medicated at low doses daily the body is supported and has less potential for an episode or flare-up.

When coaching my clients to medicate for daily wellness, they tend to experience less “high-alert” episodes or flare-ups. This is due to simply supporting the endocannabinoid system with low doses of cannabinoids daily through multiple layering techniques. When a flare-up does occur it is usually not as severe or the client is well prepared with the knowledge of proper dosing and medicating methods.

Habit Change, by Amy Lee

Implementing a balanced cannabis routine can reduce the symptoms of disease for these common inflammatory ailments, endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome, chrohns, sinusitis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, alzheimers, parkinsons, cancer, chronic pain more.

A daily cannabis routine helps the patient establish their personal wellness dose, provides consistent support of the endocannabinoid system for whole body wellness, supports the immune system on a cellular level, consistent dosing means proper dosing measurement, and as a client you begin to take accountability for your wellness journey.

To discover your best dosing routine I recommend beginning with a list of ailments you seek to treat and the symptoms you wish to relieve. Begin each day with a low dose of full spectrum cannabidiol tincture or capsule. This will activate and stimulate the endocannabinoid system, to support balance. Discovering your personal cannabinoid milligram requires journaling and charting your symptoms daily. Usually after three weeks of journaling and charting a routine can be developed that works well for the clients wellness.

To learn more visit www.TheBohoHealthCoach.com or on Facebook for free webinars, resources and coaching programs!

Amy Lee
Cannabis and Wellness Coach, Boho Health Consulting
833.264.6457
www.TheBohoHealthCoach.com

Finding the Words

by Tab Moura

I usually realize I’m feeling this way when the clock reads 12am and I’m still staring at the cursor. Just waiting for the right glimmer of an idea to hit me. It’s not very complicated really, writing isn’t the problem… it’s the symptom.

Cannabis – Crossing the Barrier, by Tab Moura

I’ve shared about my insomnia before. While so much of my issue is managed with exercise and cannabis, there is this other side that’s truly just psychological, and honestly is probably a little neurotic… I can’t sleep, because I have more to say. 

When I’m in writing mode, I toss around ideas in my mind first. I mostly imagine pictures, or songs, or funny things I heard that day, and I debate what feelings those things give me… is it happiness? Nah, that word tastes a little too vanilla. Maybe it’s joy? Mmm, too pure. Nostalgia. That’s the word. Inside jokes. Grandma’s secret recipe. Favorite hiking spots. Flipping through a yearbook. Nostalgia. Finding the right word can feel so satisfying.

How does one choose between words that so many people use interchangeably? Writers deal with this all of the time, people write blogs on writing blogs. It’s a universal struggle; From deep wells of synonyms— to nada. There is no in-between. While we love writing so much that we cannot sleep, we can also be so disconnected from our work that we cannot put our words into sentences for months.

I don’t know which struggle I’ll have on any given day, but I guess that’s just how it goes when you write. Maybe you like to write, but writer’s block feels so hard to get past. Find your process. Start simple. Describe a feeling, as accurately as possible, or paint a picture in your mind and try to describe it. Write the cheesiest love poem you can think of… but don’t stop staring at that cursor. What if writer’s block isn’t real, it just sometimes takes a few hours, or months, to find the right words— and that’s part of what makes you a writer.

Cannabis: Crossing the Barrier

by Tab Moura

Imagine being in a large facility, you know that it contains a wealth of knowledge, riches, and untold technological advancements… but you don’t have electricity in all of the rooms. So, you know what’s there, you just cannot analyze it. This is my experience with Epilepsy. My seizures affect my ability to smoothly access various parts of my brain. 

Dab Love, by Tab Moura

It’s difficult to talk about this with people who have known me the longest because there was no single moment where we noticed my seizures begin. But what we do know is that my personality, speech, and memory are affected when my seizures are close together. My EEG indicated that I have partial seizures in my right frontal and right temporal lobes, as well as secondary generalized seizures, where there’s a kind of ripple effect through my entire brain. 

The brain is such a delicate organ, and as much as I have researched it, and have met with a handful of neurologists, I can confidently say that our day-to-day choices directly affect our brains more than we realize. 

The brain and its cerebral spinal fluid are encased in three protective layers, made up of connective tissue. Unique to the brain, it has a beautiful system for nutrient delivery and toxin removal… You may know of this as the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

The word “barrier” makes it sound tougher than it really is… the truth is, more things get past that barrier than we like to admit. Fat-soluble vitamins pass easily into the brain, but so do many medications, caffeine, sugars, several chemicals, and virtually anything that can be nanotized.

Ready to Regulate, by Tab Moura

Cannabis is fat-soluble, it passes easily into the brain and is received by the endocannabinoid system as God created it to. So not only does it pass through like so many other things, it has a welcoming committee that’s happy to see it. Cannabis is a vital food nutrient, and unlike other fat-soluble ingredients that can cross the BBB, there isn’t a toxic dose of cannabis. 

I’ve had a handful of people ask me, “are you not worried about the long-term effects of cannabis on development, or aging?” My honest answer? ”I’m pretty excited about them actually.” 

I lost the second and third languages that I worked for years to learn; they slipped away from me. I lost childhood memories. I lost my mental health. I lost my ability to create art and write poetry… and you wanna know what is helping me retrieve those parts of my brain again? Cannabis. 

If you want my advice, I recommend being a lot more concerned with the ingredients that cross the BBB, but aren’t beneficial… don’t take my word for it, do the research. You won’t regret it.

Dab Love

by Tab Moura

I have yet to find something that touches my nerve pain quite like dabs do, I think I’m in love. Have y’all dabbed recently? Oh my gosh, I am coming back from a dab sabbatical and it’s as reliable as ever.

Ready to Regulate, by Tab Moura

My first dab is a fuzzy memory. I was with my best friend/business partner and our cannabis mentor, Dr. Nelson, and that’s pretty much all I remember. My first experience inhaling flower is also a blurry experience; and edibles, and oils, and topicals… it’s pretty much all a blur. And to be honest, I did it wrong. (I don’t even want to talk about how I messed up with the lotion…) The point is, medicating with cannabis is very hands-on, and there is no substitution for practice. Learning your comfort level, learning your tolerance level, learning the methods that will best support your complaints… it’s a lot.

I didn’t originally want to try Concentrates. My brain fog was already so bad, I needed every fragment of a brain cell I could muster. My body was suffering, if I was honest with myself, I didn’t want to function… functioning hurts. But I needed to lay better groundwork to be able to manage my pain, brain fog *and* my children. Smoking flower wasn’t affordable at that pain level. Edibles didn’t help with my acute pain. I could go on… I’ve tried so many methods.

What I need to do *with* my time is valuable, so medicating properly for my lifestyle is really the only way to truly help my body heal. If I had stopped at that first experience, I would have missed out on a lot of valuable experience learning how to medicate my body properly. Today I rely on dabs, exclusively, for my pain management. If I believed all of the pre-judgments, like “concentrates are too connnceeentrrratted, how could that be “medicinal?” Or my favorite, “Obviously they were just invented to help people get high faster.”

I get it. They are concentrated. They do flood your endocannabinoid system rather quickly— but these things make the delivery method quite medicinal. Some medical conditions have intense nerve pain, which can require an acute approach, like dabs, to manage. Some people have metabolism problems that prevent them from breaking down edible forms of cannabis. I could go on.

Whatever your reason is, even just to unwind, the plant is going to reach deep into your endocannabinoid system and support your body… because that’s just how cannabis works. But never underestimate the value of investing in better groundwork. Would a strategic cannabis plan help you save money? Would it help you reduce your uncomfortable experiences? Would it help you better manage your health? Are you ready to feel consistent relief? Herbage has a few cannabis educators and wellness mentors that we partner with, I highly recommend checking them out.