It’s the long weekend! For many people, it’s a chance to have a bit extra time away from work, and some time to de-stress. Holidays are often times when people reflect on their current life, and think about any changes that they would like to make.
Stress seems to be our new best friend, with over 50% of New Zealanders reporting that they feel stressed to the point where it impacts their lives, and also feeling like they could not cope or deal with things. One in four New Zealanders reported having seriously considered suicide or self harm in the past year. In the same report, only 1 in 5 NZers believe that physical and mental health are given equal importance in our health care system. This is one of the lowest ratings in the world. (the Ipsos Global Advisor Study, www.ipsos.com).
These statistics are shocking to me, as a nurse and as a human. A lot of our modern stresses are caused by ourselves, and are actually not necessary. We put ourselves under lots of pressure which is often not necessary. We suffer needlessly, and endlessly, when we don’t need to - what a strange thing to do!
When I was in my previous working life, and approaching burn out, I would often become very distressed on holiday weekends, because I didn’t want to have to go back to work. Although I loved my work, I was running on fumes - caffeine, cigarettes, and very little food or sleep. I was busy busy busy getting everything done for everyone else, and I had nothing left for my own body and mind and health. I slowly came to realise that my soul was crying out for me to stop work, because my body couldn’t physically carry on like this. I can’t drive my car with no gas, so why was I trying to drive my body with no fuel?
I have learned much healthier habits since then, of course, and I have learned that cannabis has an incredibly healing role in burn-out, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and the physical symptoms of exhaustion.
I say that suffering is needless, because a lot of suffering is caused by our food, caffeine, environmental pollutants, our daily choices, over exposure to toxins, screens, pharmaceuticals, etc etc etc. It is now well known that eating a diet of junk food and highly processed food causes ill health in our body. We also have poor eating habits, caused by work,as, being too busy, not knowing what or how to eat for health and well-being, etc, so we spend a lot of time being ‘hangry’ - this seems to be our new normal! However, this causes poor mental health. We can dictate how healthy our bodies are, and we can also do the same thing with our minds. We can create good mental health for ourselves. We can also create anxiety, depression, and even psychosis, just based on what we put into our bodies.
Many of our ‘anxiety disorders’ and other mental health disorders are actually a representation of poor nutrition, over-caffeinating, poor sleep, and they can be reversed with healthy lifestyle foods and habits, over time.
Often people immediately turn to heavy duty pharmaceuticals, such as sleeping tablets, anti depressants or tranquillisers, to ‘fix’ the problem. However, this is like using a piece of toilet paper to stop a tap from leaking! When your body is stressed, it needs rest, proper nutrition and hydration, and time to heal its cells.
Cannabis is a plant which was put on the earth specifically for its healing and spiritual properties. I say suffering is needless, because we already have a plant, which grows easily and prolifically, all across the world. This plant contains specific properties to heal our cells, reset our nervous systems, calm and soothe symptoms, and help us rebuild in a healthy way. It has the exact chemicals which match our own receptors. In addition, it does not have all the nasty side effects which then require more medications, as with western pharmaceuticals.
Medicinal cannabis can help If you are:
suffering from a long term, or chronic illness
Taking multiple pharmaceutical medications, but only getting worse
Looking for help and advice from your medical provider, but keep hearing that there is nothing they can do
Looking for a way to replace pharmaceutical treatment
Looking for a natural, proven way to manage your health
It is well known that medicinal cannabis can help with a huge range of physical and mental ailments, including
Depression and anxiety
ADHD
Poor sleep
Hormonal disturbances eg PMS, menopause
Pain, cramps
IBS, Chron’s disease
Digestive disorders
Auto immune disorders
It also has neuroprotective properties. This means that it protects the cells in your brain, and helps to stop damage from oxidation, which occurs during stress. It is a great help during times of extreme or prolonged stress, times of change or transition, and it can help with the symptoms of trauma.
If you think that medicinal cannabis may be right for you, or if you would like to discuss it further, please contact us to arrange a phone consultation.
