Hello, all!
As many of you know, I am working on my mandated hours for my clinical licensure which means I receive clinical supervision twice a month to staff cases and hear advice from a psychologist in practice. My supervising clinician advised me recently in how to work with youth who use cannabis or marijuana as a coping skill for their depression or anxiety. He told me about something that I had never heard of... the fact that our body produces its own cannabis in the form of endocannabinoids. Endocannabinoids are in essence, internally produced cannabis that when activated can give the body a natural high.
Psychology Today has a more scientific way of saying it: "Endocannabinoids and opioids can indirectly activate dopamine cells of the ventral tegmental area (the VTA, a key portion of the pleasure circuit) and thereby stimulate the medial forebrain pleasure circuit" (2011).
These God-given, neurochemicals relieve stress, depression, pain, anxiety and more when naturally produced in the body. Isn't our Creator awesome?
So how to we activate this internal marijuana?
The research is clear that running is one of the best ways to activate Endocannainoids. Ever hear of a runner's high?
I have only completed my first ever 5K run last summer and I can tell you it didn't happen for me... However, I was proud non-the-less. :)
Don't loose heart if you're not the running type, kindred spirit.
My clinical supervisor said that many things can produce internal cannabis. There is scientific evidence to support that sunshine, love, exercise of any kind, cold showers, massages, and even chocolate can have drug-like effects on the brain.
However, my clinical supervisor stated that it really can depend on the person. Maybe holding a plump, warm newborn gives you a rush of good feelings. Maybe it is stepping off the plane into a foreign country. Maybe it is spending the whole night dancing with friends. Maybe it is the calm cool you feel as you sit alone in the forest. My guess is that if any of these are your natural-cannabis you already felt a rush of excitement picturing yourself in those scenarios.
For me it is my passions that give me a rush: travel, nature, my husband, and my dog.
Pictured is my dog, Dilly and I, on an excursion in nature.
As many of you know, I am working on my mandated hours for my clinical licensure which means I receive clinical supervision twice a month to staff cases and hear advice from a psychologist in practice. My supervising clinician advised me recently in how to work with youth who use cannabis or marijuana as a coping skill for their depression or anxiety. He told me about something that I had never heard of... the fact that our body produces its own cannabis in the form of endocannabinoids. Endocannabinoids are in essence, internally produced cannabis that when activated can give the body a natural high.
Psychology Today has a more scientific way of saying it: "Endocannabinoids and opioids can indirectly activate dopamine cells of the ventral tegmental area (the VTA, a key portion of the pleasure circuit) and thereby stimulate the medial forebrain pleasure circuit" (2011).
These God-given, neurochemicals relieve stress, depression, pain, anxiety and more when naturally produced in the body. Isn't our Creator awesome?
So how to we activate this internal marijuana?
The research is clear that running is one of the best ways to activate Endocannainoids. Ever hear of a runner's high?
I have only completed my first ever 5K run last summer and I can tell you it didn't happen for me... However, I was proud non-the-less. :)
Don't loose heart if you're not the running type, kindred spirit.
My clinical supervisor said that many things can produce internal cannabis. There is scientific evidence to support that sunshine, love, exercise of any kind, cold showers, massages, and even chocolate can have drug-like effects on the brain.
However, my clinical supervisor stated that it really can depend on the person. Maybe holding a plump, warm newborn gives you a rush of good feelings. Maybe it is stepping off the plane into a foreign country. Maybe it is spending the whole night dancing with friends. Maybe it is the calm cool you feel as you sit alone in the forest. My guess is that if any of these are your natural-cannabis you already felt a rush of excitement picturing yourself in those scenarios.
For me it is my passions that give me a rush: travel, nature, my husband, and my dog. Pictured is my dog, Dilly and I, on an excursion in nature.
God created us to be people of adventure and passion. We were never meant to sit on the couch and be Netflix bingers or stuck on social media. Our bodies were created to feel the scope of the human experience. This lack of experience has provoked people to numb themselves with substances instead of pursuing passions that can give us a better high. I am not downplaying true depression or chronic pain, I can understand how hard that is.
However, I know there is freedom and healing in Christ when we live the way He intended His creation to live and give our lives to Him.
" May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." 2 Peter 1:2-4
So go out and pursue your internal-cannabis and live your life to the fullest!
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Very good. Yes, as I was reading the list you had...hold a baby, a warm feeling ran over me. How about digging in an old building full of junk - that's even a warmer one...I like babies...but I love me some old rusty junk!
ReplyDeleteHaha that too!
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