This past rainy Sunday afternoon, The Cannaware Society put on their sixth annual fundraising event, this time highlighting The Importance of Self-Care. Their event featured four panelists involved in the cannabis community in some way. They shared their insights on the importance of taking the time for ourselves, looking out for each other, and caring for our minds, bodies, and soul.
Hosted by Caffeine Underground, a multi-faceted space in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood serving coffee and food, displaying art by local artists, and hosting events such as Cannaware’s fundraising event Sunday, The Importance of Self Care gave the audience an insight into the different ways in which self-care might look and an opportunity to sample locally sourced cannabis products and CBD goods (such as lotions, massage oils, teas, and even a facial steamer).
What is The Cannaware Society?
Created in 2017, The Cannaware Society is an educational lifestyle organization whose mission is to bridge the gap between New York’s expanding cannabis industry and the legal market through education and advocacy. Their intention is to provide spaces to educate, network, and socialize with cannabis educators, enthusiasts, patients, and experts.
Grizzly Bocourt has curated a team of people who believe in Cannaware’s mission just as much as he does. They work together to ensure that underserved communities have equal access to the cannabis industry and the plant itself.
On Display at Cannaware: Cannabis Self-Care Wellness Stations
Upon entering the cafe, I was greeted by warm welcomes and multiple wellness stations set up along the edges of the cafe. There were people milling around, Bocourt was busy setting up the panelists, cameras, and lights, and I was stopped by the sound of someone explaining “flower power juice–” I knew I needed it.
I started at the plant-based tea station hosted by PDubzHighBevz. She let me smell the dried plant and explained the different scents when it was dry, crushed, briefly soaked, and fully brewed. I settled on trying her “Witch’s Brew” with a ginger shot, which she carefully selected for me.
Across the room were Eighth Flower and Massage Vibes, both of whom provided samples of their products and services. Eighth Flower had samples of her two different plant-based teas, and a CBD Tea Steam Facial Station. It’s exactly what it sounds like– a steam facial, only with the addition of CBD-infused tea flowers. It’s been shown to rejuvenate your skin, reduce inflammation, and provide a new way de-stress– it did exactly that.
Massage Vibes provided samples of her de-stressing head and neck massage using her hemp-derived CBD-infused massage oil. CBD massages are another way to de-stress, and manage your anxiety. Her CBD-infused massage oil helps “decrease muscle toxins, increase oxygen levels in the blood, and improve flexibility in the body.”
The Importance of Self-Care Panelists: How to De-Stress Physically, Mentally, Physiologically, and Socially
The panel featured four speakers with different niche areas of expertise in the cannabis industry: Samantha Martins, a Queer Afro-Latina yoga instructor, mental and physical health advocate and plant medicine user and conversationalist, Sonia Singh, “The Happy Therapist” who specializes in alternative and holistic approaches to mental health and substance abuse treatment therapies, Miriam Aristy-Farer, mother, medical marijuana user and founder of Herbas– a CBD plant-based body care brand– and last, but certainly not least, The Dank Duchess, an international hashish consultant, cannabis cultivator, and public speaker raising awareness on the power and value of cannabis and psychedelics.
When asked about what self-care looked like to them, many had the same response: sitting still, pausing, resting. Martins, the physical care expert on the panel, encouraged the audience that physical self-care didn’t need to be complicated and that sometimes the best self-care for your body is to rest. Aristy-Farer, the physiological expert, said something almost identical: “finding stillness is all we need to do,” that is the best care for ourselves.
The Dank Duchess, expert on social self-care, iterated the importance of the right people around us; independence is praised by many, but, “We are naturally interdependent people, so the best social self-care is to carefully select the people with whom to interweave our personal lives,” said Duchess.
Singh, the mental health expert on the panel, stated that the most important part of mental self-care is doing so without guilt: finding time to bring awareness to our own needs without feeling guilty about doing so.
When asked how cannabis can help do the above, Martins responds with, “Cannabis fills in the gaps to help our bodies reach homeostasis.” This state of homeostasis, of stillness, that’s something that multiple panelists emphasized. So go, find your stillness.
For more information on the Cannaware Society and upcoming events, visit cannawaresociety.com.
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Sonia (The Happy Therapist) Singh
