Although smoking marijuana goes great with activities like video games or catching up on your favorite TV show, sometimes you want to get off the couch. If that’s the case for you, you should consider going out dancing while high.
Going out to your local dance club or music venue stoned is one of the best fun things to do while high for several reasons. You can get some social interaction, create some new experiences, and get a surprising amount of exercise as you move along to the rhythms.
Also, the unique effects of the cannabis high enhance music and your appreciation of it in profound ways. You just might discover a new outlet for your creativity — or at the very least a fun thing to do with a date or your closest friends on a free night.
To encourage you to leave behind the couch and put on your dancing shoes, here are some great reasons you should definitely try going out and dancing while high.
Weed Helps You Appreciate Music on a Different Level
There’s a really good reason certain musicians and musical genres have a strong association with cannabis. The pleasurable sensation of being high and the stress relief it brought musicians served as inspiration.
For a long time, the jazz genre and the “reefers” musicians smoked were inseparable, as an example. Early jazz artists found themselves in a completely different mental state after toking up, and they attempted to reflect this rhythmic energy within their improvisational play style.
“Jazz is a spirit that maybe starts with written music but certainly doesn’t stay there,” explains Dianna Benjamin. “It goes on tangents, changes subjects, and may or may not return home. The way cannabis made musicians feel helped them experiment with this new way of making music.”
Nowadays, many skilled musicians rely on the same effects to inspire them. “I smoke a lot of pot when I write music,” Lady GaGa once told 60 Minutes. Ridiculously talented gospel drummer Thomas Pridgen has also been known to proudly flaunt his love of mary jane.
These strong ties to creativity and appreciating new perspectives on music can help you while dancing. You may suddenly find yourself really into the rhythm of a bass line. Or you could realize that the melody can feel really good while you’re moving along with it.
“Cannabis can help people focus only on relevant stimuli,” suggests Hello MD. They also note how it can help you be “more alert and focused” and “able to become more zoned into the specifics of a song.” The end result is that “the more immersed you become in the music, the better it sounds and the more you connect with it.”
The same energy and change in perspective can help you make your body an extension of the music and heighten your enjoyment of the experience.
Learning or Practicing Dance Steps While Stoned Can Make You Feel Mentally Stimulated
One of the most mentally engaging things you can do after smoking weed is to pick up a new skill.
Now, many people try to claim that since getting high affects your memory, you may not retain the information you’ve learned while stoned. But some research contradicts this point.
A year-long study conducted in the Netherlands asked Alzheimer’s patients to play video games they were unfamiliar with. As the year went on, the games introduced grew more complex and challenging. One group was given marijuana before each play session, while the other played sober. It turns out that the group that smoked obtained scores 43% higher on average!
Like learning and mastering a new game, picking up new dance moves can offer you the same mental stimulation. The genre doesn’t matter, either. Salsa, tango, shuffle-dancing, breakdancing, ballroom dancing, or just busting an improvisational groove are all on the table.
You get the enjoyment of creating new mental pathways at first and then making progress as your dancing gets smoother. Then, you can put your moves to the test in public.
All of this progress causes your brain to release dopamine, which both enhances and is enhanced by cannabis. The result is an incredibly high level of satisfaction on top of you mastering a new skill.
Dancing While High Is Great Exercise
Another important thing about finding fun things to do while high is to choose activities that keep you active. We have an easy enough time being sedentary on our own! And while there’s nothing wrong with relaxing after a stressful day, aerobic exercising also helps us become relaxed and burn off excess energy.
Dancing is amazing aerobic exercise, too! Because dancing involves consistent movement from most of your body, you can burn over 300 calories in just 30 minutes. Dancing also involves switching and interrupting your own momentum, which creates its own form of resistance exercise.
Freestyle dancing, which is an energetic and improvisational form of dancing, offers great benefits in particular. The more effort you can put behind your movement, the better the health benefits will be.
“To keep your freestyle dancing lively, listen to upbeat, energetic music, and enjoy yourself as you move to the beat,” suggests Livestrong. “Move energetically enough that your heart rate rises and you feel a bit sweaty, but don’t dance so vigorously that you lose your breath or can’t speak easily.”
Best Weed Strains for Dancing While You’re Stoned
Getting the most out of dancing involves injecting as much energy and focus as you can. For that reason, indica strains may be too relaxing. Instead, consider uplifting sativa strains or a high-THC hybrid.
You can also try to find weed strains that fight fatigue since they tend to make you feel energized. There are also a number of marijuana strains used to treat anxiety that can help you feel more comfortable and let loose in a social situation.
Make sure to experiment with both strains and doses to give yourself the best chance at cutting some new dance moves and having a great time while doing it. We’ll see you at the club!
