The emWave2, Marijuana, Religion and Flowstates?
Ⓒ By Jonathan Roseland |
I'm not a doctor, medical professional, or trained therapist. I'm a researcher and pragmatic biohacking practitioner exercising free speech to share evidence as I find it. I make no claims. Please practice skepticism and rational critical thinking. You should consult a professional about any serious decisions that you might make about your health. Affiliate links in this article support Limitless Mindset - spend over $150 and you'll be eligible to join the Limitless Mindset Secret Society.
One night, after completing a 92-day period of intermittent sobriety, I smoked a joint with friends in a lovely park overlooking the city. In between laughing, coughing, and making plans to get snacks, I started wondering if - high on Marijuana - I was in a state of Coherence?
Getting my laptop, firing up the Heartmath software, and connecting the USB cord just seemed like too much work (hey I was stoned!) So I just laid in bed and used the emWave2 (I seriously doubt I'm the first biohacker to do this).
It turns out I wasn't in a state of Coherence, it was actually a pretty normal meditative HRV training session. I started in the red zone and completed four green Coherence levels in about 15 minutes, with a big smile on my face, taking a lackadaisical tour of my mental happy places. What's interesting though is what happened a few moments after I finished; I found myself in a vivid flowstate.
I recently finished Steven Kotler's excellent book, The Rise of Superman, on flow science and application, where it's explained that the religious experience of worship or the personal feeling of connection to a higher power is a classic flowstate. This hit a cord for me because I was very religious for a number of years and have had some very deep religious flowstates.
The sensation that hit me mere moments after powering off the emWave2...
I was transported through time and space back to the evangelical church in suburban Colorado where I used to worship with a degree of passion that few other things I have embraced over the years have matched. I felt an immense sense of clarity, introspection, and optimism.
It was one of those few times when I felt just like the character in the movie Limitless. Had I simply dwelt on this sensation I probably would have been moved to tears but I also had a creative high that kept my mind very busy. This sensation with weed and the emWave2 was completely novel to me; I rarely smoke weed as it mostly just makes me feel bored and lazy. But in this instance, I kept coming up with ideas for my writing and businesses.
I tried to read a novel that I'm engrossed in right now and barely made it two pages as the book inspired a whole host of other ideas. I was also still a little stoned though; which made typing ideas into Evernote very annoying - when I'm high I find using technology very tedious. Obviously, I would have been more productive if I wasn't high.
It ended up being a double-peaked flowstate. About 40 minutes later as I was finally about to go to sleep I had a rush of atmospheric sensations, I felt the universe breathe a little on the back of my eyes and again I was moved almost to tears as ideas flowed out of my unconscious.
A search of Pubmed cross-referencing Marijuana and flowstates yields no results but the Internet is rife with similar reports as mine.
I've since done over 300 HRV training sessions with Heartmath's biofeedback devices
And unfortunately, I haven't enjoyed the same sort of sublime flowstate (although, I haven't smoked any more weed.) See my biohacker reviews...
Finally...
Join the Limitless Mindset Substack to...
Get frequent free edifying content about Biohacking, Lifehacking, and my holistic pragmatic antifragility philosophy. This informative (and often entertaining!) Substack is about how to take advantage of the latest anti-aging and Biohacking science and where I dispense timely mindset nuggets, lifehacking tips, and my own musings.-
{{#owner}}
-
{{#url}}
{{#avatarSrc}}
{{/avatarSrc}} {{^avatarSrc}} {{& avatar}} {{/avatarSrc}}{{name}} {{/url}} {{^url}} {{#avatar}} {{& avatar}} {{/avatar}} {{name}} {{/url}} - {{/owner}} {{#created}}
- {{created}} {{/created}}