Sensi Oklahoma January 2022

#TRENDING

The future of cannabis is now

OKLAHOMA WINTER 2022

HIGH ON HUES Dressing loud is the new dressing down

DIET WEED

Does THCV live up to the hype?

FACES OF CANNABIS

A photo essay from Chris Vicari

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SENSI MAGAZINE SHIFT THE CULTURE WINTER 2022

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FEATURES

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Moving Forward

The cannabis industry is toppling every capitalist metric for success but it’s going to have to deal with tough issues like consumer safety, social justice, and an abhorrent carbon footprint.

30

Down to Work

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Lean Green

Photographer Chris Vicari captures the personalities of California’s cannabis farmers and leaders.

Is THCV really the energy-boosting, appetite-suppressing “diet weed” anecdotal claims purport it to be?

DEPARTMENTS

11 EDITOR’S NOTE 16 THE LIFE Contributing to your health and happiness 12 THE BUZZ HIGH FASHION Can News, tips, and tidbits to keep you in the loop THE POT HOUSEPLANT

Meet the company on a mission to change the way the world looks at weed.

IMPERMANENT INK Try made-to-fade tattoos.

COVER STORY New York magazine’s new podcast is hot.

THE HIGH FIVE A fistful of curated stuff you need now.

bright colors and bold patterns really elevate your mood? Welcome to the brave new world of dopamine dressing.

FOREST BATHING It’s time to connect to the trees.

ON THE COVER

Dressing bright is the antidote to all those long, dull days stuck at home. See page 16.

PHOTO VIA ADOBE STOCK

43 LOCAL Regional editor Debbie Hall outlines the best whos, wheres, and whens to catch up on this January.

50 THE END Go all-in on self-care by creating an emotional escape room.

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ADVISORY BOARD

NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD NCRMA Risk Management COLORADO Agricor Laboratories Testing Lab Aspen Cannabis Insurance Insurance Services Canyon Cultivation Microdosing Cartology Corporation Cartridge Filling Equipment + Hardware Colorado Cannabis Company THC Coffee Concentrate Supply Co. Recreational Concentrates Emerald Construction Construction Green Edge Trimmers Trimmers Higher Grade Boutique Cannabis Hybrid Payroll Staffing & HR Benefits Jupiter Research Inhalation Hardware Lab Society Extraction Expert + Lab Supplies marQaha Sublinguals + Beverages Monte Fiore Farms Recreational Cultivation Northern Standard History of Cannabis PotGuide Cannabis Culture Source CO Wholesale Consulting Terrapin Care Station Recreational Dispensary Toast Mindful Consumption Uleva Hemp Products Wana Brands Edibles Witlon Inc. Payroll Processing

MICHIGAN Aronoff Law (Craig Aronoff) Licensing Law Firm Cannabis Counsel Cannabis Law Firm Etz Chaim Attestations Grapp Lerash Accounting/CPA Services Great Lakes Natural Remedies Lakeshore: Provisioning Center Kush Design Studio Cannabis Facility Design & Build MRB Solutions Human Resources Northern Specialty Health Upper Peninsula: Provisioning Center Pure West Compassion Club Caregiver Connection & Network Rair Medical Flower Solutions by Dr. Dave West Michigan: Hemp CBD Helping Friendly Hemp Company Hemp Topicals NEVADA Eden Water Technologies Water System Technologies Green Leaf Money Canna Business Finanacing GreenHouse Payment Solutions Payment Processing Ideal Business Partners Corporate Law & Finance Jupiter Research Inhalatation Hardware Matrix NV Premium Live Resin Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Rokin Vapes Vape Technology This Stuff Is Good For You CBD Bath and Body

CALIFORNIA 365 Recreational Cannabis Dispensary: Recreational, Santa Rosa Accucanna LLC Desert Hot Springs: Dispensary EventHI Events Flourish Software Distribution Management Green Unicorn Farms CBD Hemp Flower Helmand Valley Growers Company Medical Infrastructure Specialist HUB International Insurance Humboldt Grow Tech Smart Ag Tech Hybrid Payroll / Ms. Mary Staffing Staffing & HR Benefits Ikänik Farms Cannabis Distribution Red Door Remedies Dispensary: Cloverdale Red Rock Fertility Fertility Doctor Southern Humboldt Royal Cannabis Company Mixed Light Farming Sonoma Patient Group Dispensary: Santa Rosa Strictly Topical Inc./Sweet ReLeaf Pain Relief Topicals Uleva Hemp Products Vaper Tip Vape Supply & Consulting Wana Brands Edible Gummies Witlon Payroll

MASSACHUSETTS Corners Packaging Packaging Green Goddess Supply Personal Homegrown Biochamber The Holistic Center Medical Marijuana Evaluations Revolutionary Clinics Medical Dispensary Royal Gold Soil Tess Woods Public Relations Public Relations Vantage Builders Construction

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EDITORIAL

Stephanie Wilson Co-Founder + Editor in Chief stephanie.wilson@sensimag.com Doug Schnitzspahn Executive Editor Tracy Ross Managing Editor, Michigan Emilie-Noelle Provost Managing Editor, Massachusetts Debbie Hall Managing Editor, Spark Jenny Willden Managing Editor, California Will Brendza Managing Editor, Colorado Robyn Griggs Lawrence Editor at Large Radha Marcum Copy Editor Bevin Wallace Copy Editor

EXECUTIVE

Ron Kolb Founder ron@sensimag.com Stephanie Graziano CEO stephanie.graziano@sensimag.com ADVERTISING

Toni Tardif National Sales Director Jade Kolb Director Sales Operations and Global Recruiting PUBLISHING

Jamie Cooper Market Director, Michigan Richard Guerra Market Director, Massachusetts

DESIGN

Jamie Ezra Mark Creative Director jamie@emagency.com Rheya Tanner Art Director Wendy Mak Designer Josh Clark Designer Miguel Martinez Designer BRAND DEVELOPMENT

Richard Guerra Director of Global Reach Neil Willis Production Director MEDIA PARTNERS

Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Nancy Birnbaum Market Director, California Nancy Reid Market Director, Florida MEDIA SALES

CALIFORNIA Omowunmi Lykins Media Sales Executive COLORADO Liana Cameris Media Sales Executive Nancy Seidel Media Sales Executive Tyler Tarr Media Sales Executive FLORIDA Kristen Gross Media Sales Executive Anthony Mckenzie Media Sales Executive NEVADA Pam Hewitt Media Sales Executive MASSACHUSETTS Jake Boynton Media Sales Executive MICHIGAN Eric Lutey Media Sales Executive Kyle Miller Media Sales Executive Will Oostendorp Media Sales Executive Leah Stephens Media Sales Executive OKLAHOMA Diana Ramos Media Sales Executive

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Magazine published monthly

by Sensi Media Group LLC.

© 2021 Sensi Media Group. All rights reserved.

Who wants a do-over

of 2021? Not us! January

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

FAC E B O O K Like Sensi Media Group to infuse your newsfeed with more of our great cannabis lifestyle content.

TWITTER Follow @sensimag for need-to-know news and views from Sensi headquarters.

I N S TAG R A M Pretty things, pretty places, pretty awesome people: find it all on @sensimagazine

2021 might have been the first time that many of us felt that our resolutions, promises, and goals were not going to be a priority in the coming year. I think we are all glad to bid farewell to 2021’s chaos—the emotionally charged trials, labor shortages, soaring prices, supply-chain issues, and politics.

Instead, let’s applaud the media and streaming services for programming that helps us reexamine the past, think about the present, and look toward a better future. This season, FX and Hulu, are featuring The New York Times Presents, a series of documentaries representing the journalism and insight of The New York Times. With a staff of more than 1,550 journalists reporting from 160 countries, the outlet publishes 250 stories every day, including investigative reports, political scoops, and cultural dispatches. The subject matter is diverse and thought-provoking and demonstrates the need for print media.

The future is bright but still mixed for decriminalization and legalization of cannabis. According to CNBC, stocks for the German cannabis company SynBiotic rose after the incoming government pledged to legalize cannabis. The University of Massachusetts Amherst and WCVB recently conducted a poll in which 61 percent of the participants said legal adult-use cannabis has been positive for the state, 25 percent said it was neither positive nor negative, and only 13 percent said it was negative. On the other hand, according to Newsweek, the South Dakota High Court won’t legalize cannabis despite the 54 percent of South Dakota voters who approved the amendment in November. Republican Governor Kristi Noem initiated a legal battle that concluded in that ruling.

Though exciting, a restart can be scary, but the spirit of renewal is needed now more than ever. We thank you, our readers, for sharing in the progress we are all making together. Sensi magazine hopes to help you think, explore, and share well-being with others in 2022. Let’s embrace the new year’s potential to positively transform our lives.

I think we are all glad to bid farewell to 2021’s chaos—the emotionally charged trials, labor shortages, soaring prices, supply-chain issues, and politics.

Yours,

Debbie Hall debbie.hall@sensimag.com

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Plant the Seed Move over monstera, there’s a new “It” houseplant creating lots of buzz in 2022: Cannabis sativa. Whether you live in a modern pad or a bohemian den, this plant will be right at home in your place. Its iconic slender fan leaves as striking on your coffee table as they are your Instagram. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still add some personality to your decor with a 12

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conversation-sparking piece from Pot Plant, an online shop that sells artificial weed plants meant to be displayed in homes and businesses.

This interior design accent with attitude is the brainchild of company founders Karina Farris, 26, and George Hernandez, 28, who created Pot Plant in hopes of shifting people’s perspective of cannabis.

COURTESY POT PLANT

Meet the company on a mission to change the way the world looks at weed.

CONTRIBUTOR

Stephanie Wilson

You can spruce up your space with 10-inch Clone, 16-inch Teen, 22-inch Adult, and 36-inch Mother plants that are as close to the real thing as possible. All of them are eye-catching, worthy of display anywhere in your home where you want to up the ambiance with a little greenery. The Mother, especially, makes such a statement, you’ll even forget it’s fake.

The hyperreal design for the hyperreal houseplant was created from molds of Lemon Haze cannabis plants grown in the founders’ backyards. The synthetic plants may not grow like proverbial weeds, nor will they offer up fluffy nugs for you to smoke—but the plantlike objets sporting pointy fan leaves once seen as a badge of counterculture are sure to spark some conversations about cannabis. As we keep working toward universal acceptance, incorporating a pot plant into your home decor is an opportunity to contribute to the normalization of a symbol that once caused controversy. potplant.shop

BY THE NUMBERS

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Where cannabis ranks on the list of the most valuable crops in the U.S., which is above cotton and below wheat. Legal cannabis is the single-most-valuable agricultural crop in Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Oregon.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture data

5,022,990

LBS.

IF I MAKE MUSIC AND PEOPLE HATE IT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER. I’LL POOLS DIE SOMEDAY, AND ONE DAY, THEY WILL TOO.”

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COURTESY EPHEMERAL TATTOO

Made-to-fade tattoos disappear in just one year.

TH PLACE

Weight of weed that is harvested every year at legal grows on the 13,042 licensed farms in adult-use states.

How many Olympicsized swimming pools that happy harvest could fill.

For comparison, that’d be more than 2 billion joints.

SOURCE: Benzinga

—Billie Eilish

Impermanent Ink

THE REAL THING

If you’ve ever considered a tattoo only to realize you’re an ever-evolving human whose tastes change and the design you think is so clever today may be so very cliché tomorrow, consider Ephemeral. The tattoo shop with outposts in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and San Francisco (with more to come) developed a made-to-fade ink that’s used in tattoos that last one year, giving everyone the freedom to express themselves without fear of commitment.

With traditional ink, the pigment particles are too large for your body to break down, and the macrophages—the white blood cells that digest foreign particles in our bodies— just can’t get in there. Ephemeral’s pigments are smaller and wrapped in a polymer complex that degrades over time. As the medical-grade, biodegradable solution breaks down, the particles become small enough to be removed by the body and the ink disappears in 9 to 15 months. It’s a lower barrier to entry for anyone who’s been hesitant to commit to permanent ink. It’s also a great way to try out a design you’ve been considering without being stuck with it forever.

If you want to give your green thumb a go-to grow pot in your pad, the Everything-But-theSeeds kit from A Pot for Pot can help get you all set up. Marijuana seeds can be purchased from select dispensaries in recreationally legal states. apotforpot.com

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Fighting for freedom is Join the revolution at norml.org

THE BUZZ

Listen up!

Sensi recommends Cover Story, a new podcast from New York magazine. The investigative series uncovers the secrets and exposes the darkest corners of the psychedelic revolution through a twisted, deeply personal tale at the intersection of mind, body, and control. New episodes drop on Tuesdays throughout January.

HIGH 5

Elevate your consumption ritual to an art.

Pure Beauty x Jochen Holz Bongs, starting at $875 The London-based master glass artist Jochen Holz, known for his vibrant, organically shaped functional artworks, created 10 one-of-a-kind, abstract bong sculptures for art-forward California cannabis brand Pure Beauty. The collection was unveiled at Nonaka-Hill Gallery in Los Angeles last fall during an exhibit that also highlighted Pure Beauty’s latest artist collaboration: the packaging of the new 5 Pack joints featuring the work of five artists, including Hassan Rahim. purebeautydrugstore.co Henelle Venice Beach Kimono, $130 This silky piece doubles as a smoking jacket with a motif of magic mushrooms and love hearts inspired by the 1970s golden era of Venice Beach. henelle.shop

LEFT PHOTO BY TANYA LAYKO VIA UNSPLASH

“As soon as I realized you could be funny as a job, that was the job I wanted.”

—Comedian and Cannabis Entrepreneur Seth Rogan

Serena Confalonieri Nebula Collection Bongs, 600,00€ With sinuous curves and ethereal shapes inspired by the lightness of smoke spirals and colors in evanescent, transparent hues that recall 1970s psychedelia, the trio of bongs Italian artist Serena Confalonieri debuted at Design Milan last fall epitomize the concept of “high design.” Now available for pre-order and expected to ship in early 2022, each piece in the collection—Nebula Alpha, Nebula Beta, and Nebula Gamma—is made of borosilicate glass hand-blown by skilled Italian artisans. If money is no object, add all three objets d’art to your bong cart. serenaconfalonieri.com/portfolio/nebula/ Embroidery Art by HealTHCareEmbroidery, from $60 Handmade artworks that don’t fall into the trap of stoner clichés, bud-inspired embroidery like this piece by embroiderer Kaitlin Earl, a.k.a. @HealTHCareEmbroidery, are rising in popularity as more artisans take on “craftivism”—the seamless blending of crafting and activism. Get your own embroidery pattern on Etsy or purchase handcrafted products with embroidered flourishes like this one, inspired by the Juddah’s breath strain. etsy.com/shop/HealTHCareEmbroidery Lovepot Little Bud Vase, $75 This buzzy brand only offers delivery of its bouquets of seasonal fresh flowers mixed with smokable hemp flower in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but don’t fret if you’re outside of the delivery area. The company’s brand’s all-women team blends together dried flower bouquets with smokable CBD hemp that can be dried to enjoy later as a tea, herbal smoke blend, or for an aromatherapy herbal bath. soplovepot.com W I N T E R 2022

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High on Color Dressing loud is the new dressing down. Can bright colors and bold patterns really elevate your mood? Welcome to the brave new world of dopamine dressing.

COVID-19 lockdown sent us into our sweats.

We sat in monochrome cotton surrounded by neutral-colored walls for so long our brains actually lost the ability to accurately track the passage of time. We became starved for stimulation.

We spent 18 months in our khaki-colored apartments, and when we came out, we collectively decided it was time to banish the beige.

It’s no wonder we came out craving color— bright, bold, eye-catching color in rich, satu16

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rated shades of magenta, sage green, and eclectic blue. We wanted to wrap ourselves in it, to cover our bodies from head to toe in vibrant shades.

Color is a mood, and we can’t get enough of it right now. Vibrant hues and bold shades are the antidote to the dark days of winter, and our lives are more saturated with color than ever this year. The post-lockdown world is looking a little more bright and a lot more vibrant. This is the feel-good trend we need right now. From rain-

bow dresses to electric blue suits, the hottest 2022 fashion trends are setting a bold mood— and we’re getting high on color.

Brain Chemistry That high, in fact, comes from dopamine, the brain chemical that influences your mood, emotions, and motivation. Your brain releases dopamine into your body when it’s anticipating a reward, which is what motivates you to do the thing that delivers the reward. Color is

closely associated with emotions—we use it to describe our moods. We say we’re “feeling blue” when we’re sad, “seeing red” when angry, “tickled pink” when filled with glee. But does your mood dictate your color choices or do your color choices dictate your mood? The science is out on that.

What’s not up for debate is that as humans, we give objects (including clothes) symbolic meaning. So our brains start associating that t-shirt we were wearing

PHOTO BY TINE BEK FOR STINE GOYA SS22, COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK

TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON

(LEFT TO RIGHT) PHOTOS COURTESY HENRIK VIBSKOV SS22/COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK; RICHARD MALONE X MULBERRY SS22/ IMAX; BROGGER SS22/COPENHAGEN FASHION WEEK; OTTOLINGER SS22/IMAX; BLUMARINE SS22/IMAX

when we had the best night ever with positive memories, and then anticipate making more of them whenever we wear it. It’s that anticipation of reward that triggers the release of dopamine into our systems, ultimately driving us to do it all again.

We wore it, we liked it, so we wore it again.

Then we had to up our dose. Now, head-to-toe monochrome magenta is the norm—and we’re never going back to neutrals.

Dopamine Dressing So what exactly is dopamine dressing? It’s where self-care meets style, where fashion intersects with mindfulness. It’s the big trend right now, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. It’s also simple to follow.

Dopamine dressing is choosing to wear the things that bring you joy—choosing something because it’s fun, not just because it’s practical. It’s not going to your closet and be-

It’s about wrapping your body in hues that make you happy and accessorizing with sparkly or feathery abandon.

ing happy with clothes that are clean and fit, but mindfully selecting items that jive with your vibe. It’s about wrapping your body in hues that make you happy and accessorizing with sparkly or feathery abandon. It’s about elevating your style and defining your aesthetic by choosing pieces in the fabrics, cuts, colors, and prints that send a surge of confidence through your system raising your vibe so high you’ll be giving off Lil Nas X energy.

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THE LIFE SELF CARE

The Art of Forest Bathing

In these days of social distance and world-wide anxiety, one of the best things we can do for ourselves is connect to the trees.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL KRAHN VIA UNSPLASH

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

In Japan the term shinrin-yoku refers to the act of getting out and simply walking in the woods and breathing in—both metaphorically and actually— the healing aromas of the trees. The term roughly translates as “forest bathing,” or, more romantically, as taking in the essence of the forest, walking quietly, aware. Shinrin-yoku is not just some poetic Japanese ideal either (indeed, it was coined as a Japanese Forest Agency marketing term in the early 1980s)—it’s based on the healing properties of protective odors, called phytoncides, exuded by the trees. It’s taken so seriously that the Japanese consider forest bathing an important way to combat the stress of our insidiously busy work world— in fact, a piece in Mother Earth News reported that

Japanese researchers have proven that walks in the woods can actually lower cortisol, thus stress levels.

I certainly don’t do enough forest bathing anymore. It seems odd that I live right down the street from a trail that wanders into stands of ponderosa pine and sandstone covered in lichen, a place where bears and mountain lions and songbirds make their homes. But I’m not up there forest bathing, soaking it in. When I do head into those woods, it’s to go for a trail run or walk the dog while checking work emails on my phone. It’s to power through, even if I do find a few mindful moments.

That was not always the case. When I was still in my 20s, I spent six seasons in Montana’s Beaverhead-Deerlodge National W I N T E R 2022

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THE LIFE

PHOTO BY DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

SELF CARE

Forest, building trails and fighting fires. It was, quite simply, the best job I have ever had in my life. Each day, we hiked, hauled big tools, worked the earth, went back to camp, cooked good food, drank clear water, read, slept under the stars… and often engaged in forest bathing.

After swinging a pulaski all day long, I would be pretty sated physically. I didn’t feel like I needed to go for a trail run or mountain bike ride or get in a damn workout. I would bathe in the forest, taking slow, silent walks into the secret places off the trail around our camp.

Things happened. Subtle things. Sometimes powerful things. Walking solo at twilight on the long, bare backbone of Shedhorn Ridge above stands of Douglas fir, I watched three hawks ride thermals up from the open air to circle

above my head. On the way down, in the near dark, I heard elk running through the trees. Another time in the Gravelley Range, I watched as two coyotes harassed a doe in thick sagebrush. Walking later in almost the same spot, I suddenly came upon her fawn— small, pure, curled up in the high grass and shaking with fear. Other times I would just take in the, I don’t know, sense?

Energy? Vibe? of these untouched parts of the Madison Range.

On days off, I would get out and hit it hard— fish, climb, bike, hike to spring ski couloirs. Even in the midst of these quiet walks, I would sometimes push it—climb some small unnamed peak, break into a run— but it all stemmed from a desire to start walking and see where the forest took me. That mindset is

what seems all too easy to lose when the woods are just our playground.

The Swiss writer Herman Hesse said: “When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent.”

I’m older now. And I feel that deep sadness— even more so with the pandemic continuing to rage, megafires consuming my town, and our sense of civil society upended. I worry that I have not lived exactly the way I wanted to live, that I am facing down nothingness. Sometimes fishing helps take it away—the rhythm and mindfulness of casting, watching the fly on the water, the drift.

But sometimes, even that seems like another moment when I’m missing something important.

It’s at these times when I lift up my rod and take a step back from the steam. I indulge in a little shinrin-yoku. I listen to how the breeze makes the slightest song in the aspen leaves. I get the hint of heat bringing off a scent of root beer from the ponderosas. I take a moment to contemplate the branches far above and the way the light plays in them. I appreciate trees that have grown roots in rock or still stand even when they have been undercut by the stream.

Then I’ll get back up.

I check my fly and line.

I head back down to the stream and cast and sometimes catch and feel the joy of being once more. A little bathing in the forest is all we need to get back on track.

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THE FUTURE’S SO

BRIGHT The cannabis industry is toppling every capitalist metric for success—even without banking and tax deductions—but the shades need to come off if it’s going to deal with tough issues like consumer safety, social justice, and an abhorrent carbon footprint.

TEXT ROBYN GRIGGS LAWRENCE

T

en years ago, DaVinci CEO Cort Smith saw cannabis legalization on the horizon and envisioned a nation of home growers, obsessing over genetics and nutrients. He went to his first High Times Cannabis Cup expecting to see farmers in flannel shirts showing off salad bowls overflow-

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ing with their finest flowers. Instead, he found extraction artists loading rigs with oils and waxes—21st-century weed—and he realized the market was never going to be about growing.

Personally, Smith still prefers flower to concentrates, but he ingests his herb using one of DaVin-

ci’s precision-temperature vaporizers made from zirconia and medical-grade parts, an apparatus so aspirational Gizmodo says it could be made by Apple. DaVinci, with roughly $12 million in sales, was acquired by global cannabis accessories platform Greenlane Holdings for $20 million late last year.

In so many ways, Smith’s story is that of the cannabis industry.

With millions in capital flooding in, multi-billion-dollar companies being built from mergers and acquisitions, and global sales predicted to reach $46 billion by 2025, the industry has come a long way since voters in Colorado and Washington legalized adult use in 2012. It’s beating every metric of capitalist success, even without access to basic banking services or the ability to deduct business expenses (and not a lot of hope either will happen any time soon).

made deals while drinking craft beer and smoking rare cigars.

Vince Ning, founder of California-based wholesale-cannabis platform Nabis, was struck by the tremendous difference in professionalism he saw at this year’s conference. “There’s a lot more sustainability in the industry—maybe not necessarily from an environmental perspective, but businesses are more sustainable,” he said during the show’s last hour. “In 2018, it felt kind of like the cryptocurrency space, like there was funny

rage. Ning—whose company distributes more than 125 brands in California, giving him a good view of the overall market—said every one of the still-obscure cannabinoids could be a billion-dollar category in itself, but only if genetics were developed to support them.

Cheeba Chews, the Colorado company that put edibles on the map with its 175mg deca-dose taffies in the 2010s, was at the show to introduce a wellness line containing microdoses of THC along with CBN, CBD, CBG, and

BRIGHT LEADERS FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE

LEFT TO RIGHT: COURTESY DAVINCI, COURTESY NABIS, COURTESY CHEEBA CHEWS

From left: Cort Smith, CEO of DaVinci; Vince Ning, founder of Nabis; Eric Leslie, Chief Marketing Officer of Cheeba Chews

In late October, 20,000 or so industry insiders returned to Las Vegas for the annual MJBizCon convention (after taking 2020 off because of COVID-19) to talk about where the industry stands and where it’s headed.

Top of mind were the brand-new New York market, predicted to be worth $1 billion, and speculation about when unregulated Oklahoma might crash and burn.

Mike Tyson and Lil’ Kim paraded through, with entourages, to announce the latest in a string of celebrity cannabis brands. One of the week’s most coveted invitations was a golf tournament at a prestigious course in Boulder City, where C-suite executives

THCV—products Chief Marketing Officer Eric Leslie considers a breakthrough for consumers who want more than just psychoactive effects. “I’ve been here from the beginning. I have a decade of experience,” he said. “That gut instinct we had about edibles being a rocket Redefining the Industry MJBiz was a showcase of products ship at the beginning–we’re right and services that reflect morphing back there again. We have an opconsumer demands and increasing- portunity to redefine the standards ly sophisticated ways of manipulat- of our industry so that it’s not THC ing the plant, unbundling and spot- only and introduce a wider demolighting its various parts, and more graphic of people to cannabis.”

Edibles themselves were a hot beneficially or powerfully delivertopic at the show, as sales are driving its effects. en to new heights by a pandemic Minor cannabinoids such as CBC, CBG, THCV, and CBN, which forcing the need for more discretion and non-combustible conare being marketed as sleep aids sumption options. “The sales trend and energy boosters, were all the money floating around. But we’ve seen a lot of those players who had unscalable market tactics fall by the wayside. COVID-19 created a pressure cooker, and what’s sifted to the top, I think, is really healthy.”

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LEFT TO RIGHT: COURTESY GREEN DRAGON, COURTESY AZUCA

MUSHROOM MADNESS Perhaps the biggest buzz at MJBiz, as it has been at every cannabis event from coast to coast over the past year, was not about the cannabis plant at all. It was about the meteoric rise of psychedelics, or what many are calling the “next cannabis.”

Allay Consulting CEO Kim Stuck, who helped write Colorado’s adultuse regulations in 2014, is among the flood of pioneers moving over to psychedelics. Now living in Portland, Oregon, she’s on a work group helping the state write the rules for Oregon’s newly legalized therapeutic psychedelic market, and she believes the future is psilocybin. “It’s going to be a market,” she said during MJBiz. “It’s not yet, but licenses will start being given out in December 2023.”

Crafting Colorado’s cannabis rules was a thankless task that Stuck said involved “lots of tears and lots of yelling,” but she’s hopeful this time will be different. At the very least, she said, “I hope we don’t take as many bricks in the head.”

is absolutely clear in any market you’re in, without exception: edibles, edibles, edibles,” said Alex Levine, CEO of Green Dragon, which owns dispensaries in Colorado, California, and Florida. “Every year they become more popular. Absolutely, every year, we see more people shifting to edibles.”

During a quick chat outside Azuca’s booth showcasing a cannabinoid-encapsulation process that makes edibles’ effects more rapid and predictable, CEO Kim Rael said she believes edibles will grow

terpene-testing results—all part of the company’s strategy to become known for consistency and quality while educating consumers. Father-andson team Rich and Rick Batenburg of Cliintel Capital Management Group (CCMG) were there to position their vape brand, The Clear, as the Coca-Cola of cannabis.

Though CCMG’s holdings include two grows in Denver (along with companies involved in every-

BRIGHT LEADERS FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE From left: Alex Levine, CEO of Green Dragon; Kim Rael Sanchez, CEO of Azuca

faster than the overall industry in the next few years because “new adapters will not want to smoke or vape.” She believes fast-acting technology will transform edibles much like broadband transformed the internet. “Why would anybody suffer through slow, unpredictable dial-up once that quality was available?” she asked.

Branding What?

Trade shows are, more than anything, branding opportunities.

MJBiz was no exception. The executive team from premium Colorado grower Veritas was showing off new color-classified packaging matching moods with terpene profiles and offering QR codes to

thing from cultivation to manufacturing), Chief Investment Officer Rich Batenburg doesn’t see cultivation as the future. “That will get commoditized, 100 percent, as will the distribution channels of dispensaries,” he said. “The power is going to shift to brands.

And the more mature the market, the more powerful those brands will become. It will become a lot more like alcohol. You don’t pick a liquor store because you love the store. You pick it because you love the brands they have.”

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ucts and edibles, they care more about strains than branding when buying flower—which still dominates the market. “If people are looking up flower, they look up strains. If they’re looking up vapes, they look at brands,” he said.

Falling Behind Amid the positioning and projecting, there were also dispiriting signs the industry is picking up some of mainstream corporate culture’s worst habits. Leadership is becoming less diverse, and lead-

cent (below the national average of 30 percent) in 2021.

“Women and minorities are not counted in this industry, not financed in this industry, and are not moving forward in this industry,” Simply Pure CEO Wanda James, the nation’s first Black woman to own a dispensary, said during the most-talked-about session at MJBiz. James said seasoned Black entrepreneurs with licenses to operate cannabis businesses struggle to get funding. “Our businesses are not validated in the same way as a

its like Realm of Caring are crunching reams of data that’s never been available before to prove the plant’s efficacy, develop guidelines and protocols for use, and encourage insurance companies to compensate medical marijuana patients. Development Officer Adam Young said Realm of Caring has created a seal of approval that entails visits to farms and extraction and shipping facilities as well as product testing. So far, only five companies have been certified.

These are challenges, to be sure.

BRIGHT LEADERS FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE

LEFT TO RIGHT: COURTESY CCMG (X2), SIMPLY PURE

From left: Richard Batenburg II and Richard Batenburg III, cofounders of Cliintel Capital Management Group; Wanda James, CEO of Simply Pure

ing companies are leaving crucial issues like consumer safety, social justice, and carbon emissions for nonprofits to handle.

Regulatory efforts to support ownership among the communities most harmed by the drug war haven’t made any difference and sometimes do more harm than good. Less than 2 percent of cannabis business owners are Black, compared with 13 percent of the U.S. population, according to Leafly’s 2021 Jobs Report. Minority executives made up 28 percent of all cannabis leaders in 2019 and dropped to 13 percent (about the national average) in 2021, while women accounted for 37 percent of leaders in 2019 but only 22 per-

25-year-old white guy in California that has no business experience or licenses,” she said.

This failure to live up to inclusionary ideals is, at least, a conversation. How growing weed is cooking the planet is not, despite study after study showing indoor cultivation taking up a bigger and bigger piece of the carbon-emissions pie.

Growing an ounce of indoor emits about the same amount of carbon as burning a tank of gas, one of those studies by Colorado State engineers found. “This industry is developing and expanding very quickly without consideration for the environment,” the study’s senior author told Gizmodo.

As for consumer safety, nonprof-

But as Smith was quick to point out during a chat in the MJBizCon press room (about a month before his company’s acquisition was announced), mainstreaming has plenty of upside, too.

“Ten years ago, we were crazy stoners, trying to carve a life out of the back alleys of semi-legality.

Now there’s a lot more awareness, and I think that’s great,” he said. “I’m a fan. I believe cannabis provokes good conversation, friendships, and solution language to problems. The more popular this tool gets, the more problems get solved.”

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THE FACES CANNABIS of

Through his lens, Chris Vicari captured the personalities of California’s cannabis farmers and leaders as the industry was shucking off old stereotypes about the plant and the people who grow it for a living.

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN PHOTOS CHRIS VICARI

W

hen photographer Chris Vicari fist began shooting portraits of personalities in the cannabis space, he had to build trust with his subjects. After all, cannabis had just become legal in California, where he was working for Green Flower Media, which was on a mission to help the nascent industry present itself as a professional business, and growers were skeptical. “A lot of them would tell me to just shoot their shoulders,” he says.

“It wasn’t working.”

But Vicari, who had previously worked on creating the images for a video game of the Deadliest Catch, wanted real connection to capture images of business people and industry pioneers who had been treated with scorn as cannabis tired to shake off the stigma of stoner culture 30

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Steve Deangleo

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Kevin Jodrey

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Sunshine Johnston

and illegality. So he focused on what mattered most to the people he was photographing: their work in the field and passion for the plant.

“I wanted to make sure that there was a connection to the land with everybody I shot and completely ignored any kind of stigma or preconceived ideas about cannabis growers,” he says. “I just wanted to show them as salt-of-theearth people who are out there working hard. I wanted them to look smart. I wanted them to look badass. I wanted them to look respectable.”

The success of that approach shows in Vicari’s up-close-and-personal images of personalities including farmer Swami Chaitanya and industry leader Steve Deangelo, who had devoted themselves to cannabis when it was still heavily stigmatized. Vicari’s portraits reveal the human, hard-working side of an industry just beginning to gain mainstream acceptance.

Derek Gilman

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“Towards the end, people started trusting me,” he says. “We were really embedded with this group of people who were the leaders of of their industry. And I got an all-access pass to their lives.”

This gallery highlights Vicari’s work for Green Flower and captures the vibe of an industry in the process of gaining respect.

Steve Deangelo (left) and Chris Vicari

Nikki Lastreto

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Swami Chaitanya

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Is THCV really the energyboosting, appetitesuppressing “diet weed” anecdotal claims purport it to be? Sensi’s munchie-prone editor-in-chief investigates TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON

IMAGES VIA ADOBE STOCK

diet weed has

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xercise more. Eat healthier. Lose weight. If you’re among the one in four Americans who make New Year’s resolutions, there’s around a 50 percent chance the changes you hope to undertake involve your diet. We are what we eat, after all, and despite the best intentions, we don’t always make the best choices for our bodies.

Forty-two percent of Americans reported adding unwanted pounds to their frames since the start of the pandemic, with an average gain of 29 pounds. Depending on one’s height, that could be the difference between a BMI that’s considered healthy and one that’s categorized as obese.

It should be harder to make that leap. Not that I know just how many pounds I gained; I barely even registered it was happening because I didn’t have any zippers on pants to serve as a physical deterrent to another helping of comfort food. I do know there’s no bliss in my ignorance—it doesn’t magically save me from feeling the consequences on my physical and mental health. The hard abs I dutifully planked and twisted and biked into existence back when the only Corona I knew came served with a lime are now soft and buried beneath layers that crept onto my inactive, super-prone-to-munchies, body.

Because, just like some 25 million other Americans, I consumed my fair share of cannabis during the pandemic—only I got to call it work. I was conducting personal research, discovering that the THC threshold at which edible-induced munchies become stronger than my willpower to not indulge them

is around 9mg. Now, if only there was a miracle molecule on the market that could make losing weight as easy as eating pies of the pizza variety on the couch while in a cannabinoid-induced state of bliss...

Lo and behold, the naturally occurring chemical compounds that make up the cannabis plant are a complex network of miracles that we are only now beginning to discover. And one of those rare, little-understood molecular compounds just may be the key to solving the obesity epidemic. Or it could just be all hype. Either way, it’s going to make a lot of headlines.

diet VVeed

We’re calling it now: the hottest health and wellness trend of 2022 is going to make the CBD craze of 2018 look like a mere blip on the cultural radar ... once marketers are able to properly solve its impending identity crisis.

If forced to pin the blame for cannabis being federally illegal in this county on just one thing, it would be on tetrahydrocannabinol, aka THC. It’s the part of the plant that gets you high—a fact that’s been earning the major cannabinoid notoriety since its discovery by scientists in Israel in 1964. And since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, THC is now solely responsible for the ongoing federal prohibition of cannabis plant*, but we don’t hold that against it.

THC just wants us to be happy, it stimulates cells in our brains to dump some dopamine into our systems, and it feels euphoric.

We’ll love it eternally for that.

It is a bit of a spotlight hog, though. Reminds me of a friend who always uses the joint like a

microphone. (It’s me. I am that friend.) THC only recently passed its proverbial joint to its older cousin cannabinoid cannabiderol, or CBD. CBD politely declined taking a hit because psychoactive effects just aren’t its thing, but it did step into the spotlight.

And right on cue, enter the unicorn cannabinoid with a catchy nickname: tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV. Aka Diet Weed. Aka a rare and elusive minor cannabinoid claimed to deliver energy-boosting, appetite-suppressing, focus-stimulating effects with no psychoactive buzz and abundant therapeutic potential. On the surface, one might assume that cannabis would only exacerbate the obesity epidemic as increased appetite is a well-known side effect of THC. But THCV is the antithesis of THC, the opposite of whatever the proverbial lazy stoner is smoking. THCV is not psychoactive (except in very high doses), and it’s also been shown to blunt the well-known effects of THC like paranoia and impaired shortterm memory. And while science on THCV is still in its infancy and a lot more research is needed to fully understand the scope of the cannabinoid’s effects on the human body, several studies—most on rodents, some on humans— have identified a variety of potential therapeutic uses for it.

THCV is an analgesic and anti-inflammatory; it’s neuroprotective, which means it protects the nervous system. It soothes nausea and vomiting. It helps with bone health and bone formation; it’s sleep-promoting, anti-epileptic, and anxiety-easing. It’s a major antipsychotic. It’s anti-diabetic W I N T E R 2022

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IMAGES VIA ADOBE STOCK

and it’s anti-cholesterol. And it helps with appetite suppression. Its therapeutic effects and health benefits may be even stronger than CBD’s.

But CBD is one of the two major cannabinoids in the Cannabis sativa plant (THC is the other). THCV is a minor cannabinoid, and most strains contain only trace, undetectable amounts. Despite almost limitless market potential and ever-increasing consumer interest, THCV remains elusive. It’s most abundant in African landrace sativas like the popular Durban Poison strain, which can offer THCV content in the 0.2% and 1.8% range— still not enough to produce viable quantities. Other strains like Doug’s Vrain, Pineapple Purps, and Willie Nelson are higher in THCV but harder to grow—and good luck finding them outside of California. The limited supply of the rare cannabinoid has kept its price high and its availability low, but recent advances in bioscience and biosynthesis are making it easier to produce than ever before.

Last February, Colorado-based Front Range Biosciences debuted a new strain that cracks the code on making THCV accessible, affordable, and appealing to cannabis growers and consumers for the first time. With more than 8% THCV, the Dayslayer strain is paving the way for more consumer products, medical research, and therapeutics.

THCV is the antithesis of THC, the opposite of whatever the proverbial lazy stoner is smoking.

When combined with recent innovations in biosynthesis that make it easier to produce cannabinoids than ever before, the THCV floodgates are starting to open. In Colorado, SUM Microdose introduced two new THCV products last fall—Curb, with 2.5mg of THCV and 2.5 mg CBD; and Control, with 2.5mg THCV and 2.5mg THC. Edible brand Cheeba Chews introduced its THCVcharged Energy Chew, with 2.5mg THCV and 5mg THC per serving, to the Colorado market in November, with plans of launching in Oklahoma early this year. A few days before they hit dispensary shelves, I had a chance to try them.

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on THCV-rich products since we first wrote about them in a September 2017 Sensi article about how to control the munchies, so I was more than a little excited to dive into the Energy Chews. I should preface this by confessing I am super susceptible to THC’s psychoactive effects in edibles, and I rarely consume more than 10 mg at a time because I’ll catch a buzz from just 5 mg. But THCV is supposed to blunt the effects of THC, so I dove into the box to have my first dose… and the THC outweighed the THCV for me. I then gave some samples to friends and family to try, and their anecdotal experiences ranged from feeling nothing at all to having one after lunch then forgetting to eat dinner that evening.

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eVerybody is different.

A better product for me may be Wana Optimals Fit from Wana Brands. Each gummy contains only a trace amount of THC— just .1mg of the cannabinoid per gummie, less than is found in many federally legal hemp plants.

Designed to be taken daily at any time as a part of a conventional wellness routine, the nonintoxicating gummies were developed in conjunction with cannabinoid-science leader ECS Brands using its proprietary Varin oil. ECS brands is behind the recently completed National Institute of Health-supported 90-day human clinical trial of TCHV in which 100 out of 100 study participants lost weight without exercise or changing daily caloric output values.

With results like that, we should be prepared for a deluge of THCV-powered products flooding the shelves and headlines saturating our newsfeeds as production of THCV ramps up across the country.

The “It” cannabinoid is going to make waves in the nutraceutical, health and beauty, and health food sectors, and we’re going to see less scrupulous companies making all sorts of health claims that are going to be too good to be true. It’s important to remind ourselves that when something sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.

Right now, it’s all just speculation.

Validating these claims requires research to gather scientific evidence and clinical trials to validate it, and that all takes time. THCV may only be as speedy as a cup of coffee, not

an amphetamine-salt-packed Adderall dose that one nickname suggests.

It could be nothing on some days but way too much on others, and that could depend on what other terpenes and cannabinoids are in play.

We just don’t know. But that won’t stop the coming onslaught of claims.

It will be hard to not get caught up in the coming hype—and OMG, there’s gonna be a lot of hype coming—but try to remind yourself that the science hasn’t caught up with the consumer interest and rising demand yet, and it won’t for a while. When the data is in and analyzed, we’ll find out what’s hype and what’s just hope. All we know for sure right now is that THCV is poised to be a huge disruptor, and it’s coming soon to a dispensary shelf near you.

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By fostering close customer relations, Green Unicorn is able to listen closely and respond directly to what its customers really want and actually need. These new formulas are just one example of how the company has reen Unicorn Farms has er, you’ll also find gummies, tinctures, adapted to make its existing (and new) come a long way since capsules, and cream, allowing you to customers’ lives easier. it first launched onto the buy all of your favorite CBD wellness Plus, by selling products directCBD scene as a premium goodies in one place. to-customer, Green Unicorn Farms is CBD flower brand. With a newly exIn its quest to provide the most able to keep its quality and standards panded product line and larger variety effective products on the market, high and its costs low in ways that of therapeutic ingredients, Green Green Unicorn is also venturing into traditional and larger brands just Unicorn Farms wants to empower you the world of medicinal mushrooms and can’t—meaning clean, safe, reliable, by helping you find exactly the right has created special terpene blends and effective products that are plant medicine for your needs. to enhance specific symptom relief affordable and accessible for everyone.

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The Lush Life

Oklahoma City Home and Garden Show / Jan. 21-23 / OKC Fairgrounds The Oklahoma City Home and Garden Show is for anyone who loves a cozy and green home. Landscape and plant experts will help to turn anyone’s space green with a wide variety of products and services. The Pet Plaza embraces all pets from fish to reptiles to furry friends offering pet products and services, including many Made in Oklahoma items. Sample some of the best wines from Oklahoma producers in the Wine Village. Plus, check out funky playsets for kids, entertainment by TV personalities, workshops, presentations, and seminars. oklahomacityhomeshow.com

NEVADA

Tech Revolution

CES / Jan. 5-8 After its virtual event last year, CES will be live in Las Vegas, showcasing tech and digital innovation on a global stage.

More than 1,700 exhibiting companies, including all of the big players along with hundreds of thought leaders, will share how technology is evolving. CES hosted 182,000 attendees in 2019. This year, attendance is expected to grow, with attendees from at least 159 countries already registered. Categories include smart home, vehicle tech, space tech, food tech, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), along with niche areas such as women’s health. ces.tech

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Celebrate Anime

Setsucon 2022 / Jan. 28-30 / Blair County Convention Center Setsucon returns to Altoona, Pennsylvania. A tradition since 2007, the event showcases anime, manga, and Japanese culture. Hit the skate park and pilot a giant robot with special guest Matt Shipman, known for his voice acting and writing. Starring in many shows in several genres, he is best known as the voice of Reki Kyan in SK8 The Infinity, Chrome in Dr. Stone, Cutthroat in Akudama Drive, and Hiro in DARLING in the FRANXX. He can also be heard in Attack On Titan, My Hero Academia, One Piece, Black Clover, and Goblin Slayer. In addition, attendees will be entertained by DJ Awesomus Prime, Heroes 4 Hire, Otaku Ongaku, and ThaGataNegrra. setsucon.com

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THE END

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Green Besties: Research shows your houseplants can uplevel your mood.

and keeps us alert. If you’re suffering from seasonal affectivie disorder (SAD), consider adding a sun lamp to your space to get some vitamin D. Accent with aromas.

The scents we smell link directly to the parts of the brain that control our memories and emotions.

Rose and lavender help release stress and anxiety.

Sandalwood can help calm racing thoughts. Lemon and clary sage may help with depression. Avoid scented candles that list “parfum” or “natural fragrances,” which can contain phthalates and other chemicals. Add a few drops of essential oils to a plain wax one instead.

Let the music move This year, go all-in on self-care by creating an emotional escape room. you. Research has shown that music can alter our TEXT STEPHANIE WILSON moods and behaviors, even Some call it a sacred space, of your home to find the impact our physical health. ual. The space is all about some call it a zen den. Ver- right space—the closet Put another way, music you, so customize it to nacular aside, the idea is to floor, behind a chair or is what feelings sound your interests and tastes. create a dedicated spot in plant, that awkward corner Play with color and texture like, so choose music that sounds like the feelings your home where you can in the living room, anythrough artwork, throw you want your self-care go to think all the thoughts where with enough room rugs, meditation pillows, space to instill. and feel all the feels—and for you to tuck into with tapestries, and scarves.

Go even greener. you need one. Setting a pillow to sit on. Select a Let there be light.

Research in the Journal of apart an area for rituals spot that makes you feel Research has shown that or meditation invites you present, spiritually conlighting has a huge impact Physiological Anthropology to make mental, emotion- nected, and joyful. on our circadian rhythms, found that interacting al, and energetic space for Create your altar. Out- which affect our emotion- with houseplants can reduce stress by calming for them—and serves as fit your space with items al and physical health. the sympathetic nervous a visual reminder to do that have purpose and Cool blue lights intersystem. Also, adding some so. Here are some tips to meaning: photos, crystals, fere with the production plants to the space can help you carve out a space candles, flowers, statof melatonin, interfering where you can vibe. ues or mementos, books, with sleep, whereas warm, help purify the air of toxic substances, according to Find your spot. Follow journals, tarot and oracle soft yellow lights spur the a study in Environmental your intuition to the unex- cards, or whatever you production of cortisol, Health Perspectives. pected nooks and crannies need for your self-care rit- which helps wake us up

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