If you do your research and follow these tips, you should have no problem enhancing your meditation practice with a little help from weed.

Marijuana and meditation are kindred spirits in a way. People use both separately to find a sense of peace, tranquility and the feeling of being present in the moment. Marijuana has also infused itself into many forms of meditation over the years.

Weed has spiritual roots in meditation that date back to some of the oldest meditating civilizations. In fact, according to VICE, “The Vedas—historical texts written in India around 1500 BC—name cannabis as one of the five sacred plants.”   

While meditation and marijuana are connected, it does not mean that when you take a bong rip and close your eyes you will find your zen. If you are interested in using marijuana to elevate your meditation, you need to look deeper at meditative practices, and how marijuana affects your mind and body.

In order to have a successful and meaningful meditative practice with marijuana, you need to do a bit of planning. But if you do your research and follow these five tips, you should have no problem enhancing your meditation practice with a little help from weed.

Take The Proper Dosage

Perhaps the most important guiding principle when combining marijuana and meditation is taking the right dosage. The amount of marijuana you need for your meditation depends on exactly how high you think you should be for the practice. Many people like to microdose in order to get some calming effects without being too mentally altered, while others prefer being completely high when they try to find inner peace. 

RELATED: How Cannabis Can Help Take Your Meditation Practice To The Next Level

As we have previously reported, there are steps and guides to microdosing (1 to 2.5 mg of THC) and macrodosing (10 mg of THC and higher) properly. The key is to know your goal and to consume with intent, rather than just popping a random edible and hoping for the best. The proper dosage planning combined with the right practice can greatly improve your desired results.

Choose The Strain To Match Your Practice

There are different types of meditation, all with different goals. Some meditation is geared towards breathing more consciously, while other meditations help create a pure calm. Just as there are different types of meditation, there are just as many (and more) strains of marijuana to compliment your intention.

RELATED: You Probably Didn’t Realize Cannabis Was Domesticated This Long Ago

We previously reported on the 10 best strains of weed for meditation. These include everything from the popular and sedative Northern Lights to the trippy and transfixing Shaman, but keep in mind this selection may be different depending on your own personal goals. If you are unsure of how you react to different strains, it might be best to start with a well balanced hybrid with high levels of CBD, since CBD is known to help with calming the mind and body.

Ensure You Are Rested And Calm Before Elevating The Practice

Meditation is all about setting a tone, and being genuine and committed to your time in meditation. It cannot be rushed or faked, and weed will not magically put you in the mood to meditate. Make sure you have done your best to resolve any issues in your day, or at least don’t let them linger. 

Be sure to pause all conversations and tie up loose ends. Our minds tend to wander, and they can be magnified when high. So be sure you have wrapped up your affairs and are in a calm place so you can give your all to finding inner peace – at least for a little while anyway.

Set The Mood Before You Get High, Not After

One tip to ensuring a successful and blissful meditation is to set a tranquil mood in your meditation space, and to set it up before you get high. It’s true that you can meditate anywhere, but it helps to have a tranquil space, especially if you are newer to meditating. Candles or incense, mood lighting and harmonious sounds are all helpful, but choose what feels right to you.

Most importantly, do this before you get high. Otherwise you may find yourself sidetracked by the process, and completely lose focus on the task at hand. Consider completing your meditation space and then getting high in that space to further set the mood and relax you.

Properly Schedule Your Meditation Time

When it comes to the length of your meditation practice, you can meditate for as little as one minute and upwards of several hours. It is best to have a good idea of how long you would like to (and have time to) meditate. This lets you schedule the appropriate amount of time for the entire activity. 

In addition to the meditation time, you need to know the time needed to consume marijuana, and how long it takes to feel the effects. For example, if you are smoking, you likely need to add a 15 minute buffer before you meditate to allow you the time to smoke and begin to feel the effects. Edibles require more advanced planning, and if you plan to use edibles before a meditation practice it is a good idea to have a loose window, since there is no exact science to determine when an edible will kick in.