In a brick-walled studio in Brooklyn a higher yoga experience “Bend & Blaze” invites participants to smoke marijuana during the ‘inhale and exhale’ 420 sessions.
“People want the community, they want to find their stoner circle, they want to find this connection,” said Amanda Hitz, Bend & Blaze instructor, who added that the students in her cannabis-infused classes seem particularly flexible and laid back.
“Rather than being traumatized about falling out of a pose and having it wreck a class,” she said, “it’s much more of a laughing matter,” as they teeter in tree pose, extend into downward-facing dog and then lunge forward into warrior one.
Hitz founded Bend & Blaze in Denver in 2015 to fill the need for a yoga community that also accepted cannabis use. In February, she moved to New York City and brought the program with her. Hitz offers weekly beginner-friendly classes for $25. “I never want to be in charge of anybody’s high,” Hitz said. “I just prefer that everybody medicate themselves.” She recommends that her students BYOP or bring your own pot.
“It helps you get into your body a lot more,” said Antonio Jimenez, a television grip. He and his wife are regulars at Hitz’s classes. “I’ve had some flows where I really felt nothing but every inch of my body, and it felt way more relaxed.”
Bend & Blaze yoga started out on Zoom due to the pandemic but now people go in person.
Evening classes end with participants lying on their backs in a relaxing Shavasana, known as "corpse pose." Students then sit cross-legged on their mats, chatting and catching up with friends over a smoke.
Are Marijuana And Yoga A Good Match?
Shortly after New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, high yoga became an up-and-coming activity via Zoom classes that made it accessible to more people than ever before. However, not everyone in the yoga community agrees with the combination of yoga and cannabis use, according to the Yoga Journal magazine, which looks at the so-called “Yoga and Weed Debate.”
According to the above, Kristine Weber, a yoga teacher and trainer who founded Subtle Yoga in Asheville, N.C. said that "substances blur your reality. They blur your capacity for expansion.” Although, Weber does not take issue with cannabis smoking but sees it as counterintuitive to yoga’s purpose.
On the other hand, Dee Dussault, an author, and yoga instructor said that "cannabis has long been associated with yoga." Additionally, the founder of Ganja Yoga (2009), which offers cannabis-enhanced yoga classes and teacher training, said ancient texts refer to a plant used as "something fragrant that makes you high and speak with the deities."
Cannabis-infused yoga classes are also known in Miami, Florida. Tiffany April Levy teaches 420 yoga classes every Saturday and regularly draws 200 attendees, from financial workers to college students, whether at a club or in a park. In her 420 Yoga classes, marijuana use before or after class is optional.
Photo: Courtesy Of Samuel Austin On Unsplash
