T-Breaks - Do we need them?

Some users go for weeks, months, even years, consuming their favourite plant without ever taking a break from it. They might not realise that it can alter our perception of ourself and the world in a way that’s not always obvious. Through daily use, we might easily come to believe things about ourselves and the world that may simply not be true, and only feels that way.

In any given moment, an idea or way of seeing things can appear, along with a feeling that is assumed to be real. Subjectively, you could say that the world is never real anyway, only our experience of it is, yet in those moments, because there is nothing else to compare it against, we simply accept this as reality and carry on.

It may have little or no noticeable effect on us, but it can become the catalyst for other thoughts and perceptions, that over time, change our perspective, and affect our belief system.

Without the T-Break, we aren’t able to create a space that allows for the assimilation of these experiences. This space allows the mind to balance itself by seeing things through the eyes of the unaltered consciousness, which allows things to come into view in a way they weren’t able to before.

How many times have you been drunk, acted or reacted in a certain way, only to feel differently about it in the morning? Aside from the alcoholic, who we accept has an illness, the majority of us experience sobriety soon after such experiences occur, which allows us to put into perspective what seemed so real only a short time before.

Alcohol does not alter things the way cannabis does. It does not expand consciousness, or have the same physical effects when taken continuously. For those who use it constantly, without break, it becomes the only spectacles through which the world is seen, and because we forget we're wearing them, can too easily cause a belief in something that isn’t necessarily what works best for us to become active. Some of us are more prone to this than others of course, but no constant user will be completely immune from it.

As a younger man, I smoked not only everyday, but usually first thing in the morning through to last thing at night. I did this for years. I was working and living life at the same time, successful financially, and everything seemed in place. What I didn’t notice were the subtle changes that were taking place within me, and it wasn’t until much later that I realised how much my cannabis use had changed things. It wasn’t until I realised how things were once I let go of my constant desire to consume it, that I came to see the benefits of not doing so all the time.

Sometimes life steps in to force a break, or circumstances change where it's no longer possible to use it. While this may have similar effects, it is not quite the same as choosing it.

Altering consciousness gets called shamanism in some cultures. The shaman don’t take their preparations continuously, and just because cannabis is generally considered weaker than what they do take, doesn't make it any less psychoactive. You could say this makes all cannabis users a shaman whether they realise it or not.

Perhaps this reveals a different perspective on why the legalisation of cannabis hasn’t happened so far, and why it is being resisted so much?

Lack of legalisation is often put down to the State fearing loss of control, or greedy pharmaceutical companies constantly lobbying as they want to find a way to patent it and prefer us to use the drugs they already have, or just the ignorant and religious types who have too much influence on the legislation process. The arguments for legalisation clearly outweigh those against it, so it makes no sense for it to be this way unless things actually need to be this way from a shamanic perspective.

In the shamanic culture, not everyone is a shaman. The plants and brews the shaman use are not taken by the general populace. The shaman learn their stuff from those who went before them, and are trained to enter the altered state for a specific reason. You could say their role is important for the village, but it is not something everyone experiences for themselves.

So, while I’m not advocating prohibition, as this never works and actually leads to an increase in the use of what is being prohibited, never mind the rise in organised crime, if we choose to use cannabis all the time, we must do so with as much knowledge and awareness about how to use it as we can.

EDIT: This is a slightly unusual one as it goes into more than one area. I've altered it a bit from its first posting. See if has anything to say to you.

 

Thank you. Both of you.

@city - synchronicity at work!

 

Some questions we can look at are:

What is a proper period for such a break? Obviously there isn't a 'one size fits all' policy here.

Is doing so difficult or easy?

Are you constantly thinking about smoking when you're not doing so?

Remember, many people aren't able to get hold of MJ all the time, so they often go through enforced T-breaks of varying periods. While they may accept things as they are (better for them if they do) it's not the same as choosing to break knowing there's a bag in the drawer you could easily take out.

What factors make for a good break, and should there be a difference afterwards?

For me, I find that even though my usage/dosage is probably much less than yours is, after at least 3 or 4 days, I have pretty much forgotten what it feels like to be high, and know that when I choose to use again, it will produce what can feel like a whole new experience.

I don't use MJ recreationally, and almost never with other people, so my experiences are geared towards meditational, writing, or simply feeling the presence of being in my own space. But I can assure those who have never taken a break consciously, that to do so enhances the experience, makes you need less, use less, while bringing the benefits of MJ into normal consciousness. The idea is to go to it, rather than bring it to you. Mj is only ever meant to be a helper along the way, not a support. We can easily forget this, and look to only experience life under its influence.

 

Only you can make that decision. Only you can decide that you want to know what this is by experiencing it for yourself. It can only be experienced. For no matter how much you think about it, consider it, only doing it will reveal what it has to say.

The idea of taking cannabis is just that, an idea. It has become who you see yourself as, and it for this reason that its spell must be broken.

You are giving up nothing. You are simply taking back the control that you have unwittingly given away. What will emerge from doing this will be a clearer, stronger, more real you. A you that will choose to do things because they feel right, not have to do things because you believe you need to.

 

I started this thread with an idea of looking at T-breaks, which is the idea behind dealing with the tolerance that can appear due to overusing cannabis. The T-Break was originally intended as a means of bringing the effect of cannabis back to its original height.

While it does do this, it is not this tolerance that is the real purpose of this thread, but the understanding that the opening MJ causes within us, the expanding of consciousness and mind that takes us into new realms, is actually meant to be achieved ourself, without assistance from any substance at all.

The shaman use their preparations to enter the altered state - that is what makes them shaman. We are not shaman. But we still use a similar substance to enter the altered state, and because we don't live in a society that values a wisdom culture of those with such experience, most aren't geared to understanding the truths behind its use.

Unless you are or can see yourself as a shaman, and wish to follow the shamanic path, the continued use of a substance meant for shamanic practice, but not used as such, is the real issue here, and why it continues to cause issues for those who overuse it.

It's not that MJ doesn't have a place - we know it does. But it doesn't have the kind of recreational place it is mostly used for, and that is why society fears it. For while it should be left to the individual to make his/her own decisions in this matter, unless we have the right wisdom and guidance to back things up, there are too many people who will simply make the wrong decisions. Just look at how many take substances that mess them up completely.

Why do they do this? As a means to escape their situation. They can do nothing to change their situation, only look to escape it. You could say that for those who use MJ on a daily basis, for whatever reasons they believe they do so, are also escaping reality to a certain degree.

While MJ is not dangerous like some of the synthetic substances are, it is still changing the brain's chemistry in a way that overuse can soon turn something designed to help and assist into something you now can't be without. Not the right way to do things.

Only each of us can know if this idea is for us, and only each of us will know whether we take it too much. Fortunately, we are best placed to see the truth of this, as we take a substance designed to reveal it.

So, like another thread that was started by someone looking to deal with his feelings of anxiety and depression, that became a means for others to benefit from their own variations, this thread can be for those needing to take a break, do things differently, and where you can reveal what you feel and experience and how it effects you so that others will have a better understanding of what, if anything, they might do too.