darrenbrooks

Hello. This is my first post, and being a doctor of oriental medicine, as well as a long time Aikido student, this post caught my attention.

In my Chinese medicine practice, I treat several patients who have the attitude that smoking pot is not a big deal, and that it just relaxes them, helping them be more creative, or whatever.

In my experience, all these patients have a similar diagnosis, that of Dampness, or rather, the pathological thickening of fluids in the lymph, blood and tissues. This condition leads to resistance for circulation and a feeling of heaviness and sluggishness, both in body and channel circulation of Qi (or rather, Ki).

In Chinese herbal medicine, we use cannabis seeds (which I believe have properties similar to the leaves, although a bit less moistening quality) in a specific way, to moisten the intestines and to Nourish the Yin, which means to encourage the production of fluids to counteract tissue deterioration and inflammation (such as occurs in constipation in the elderly, or after a febrile illness, for example).

Furthermore, the repeated use a substance to reduce stress begs the question, why is that stress occurring in the first place, and is the person evolving in their resolution of these issues, or simply seeking a way to adjust their experience so they can continue avoidance?

Not very Aikido-ish, I would say.