By Amber Dorsey
Cannabis, health, and wellness go hand in hand, and there are so many individuals in the cannabis community who are daily examples of that mentality. It has long been noted that plant medicine benefits the body and mind, and we were lucky to chat with someone who embodies how to incorporate cannabis and wellness as part of their daily practice.
We asked Michelle San Miguel, a Regional Operations Manager for MUV, how she embodies that philosophy by incorporating cannabis into her everyday life and wellness practices.
Michelle has a long history with the plant, beginning with an introduction in her late teens. Like many, she initially started using it recreationally, and as she suffered injuries due to her active lifestyle, she also began to take note of its medicinal benefits.
Sure, she enjoyed the high, but it also alleviated the intense shoulder pain she was suffering from after surgery. Having been prescribed a cocktail of medicines by her doctor, she began looking for other ways to ease her pain and used THC capsules and sublingual drops. Along the way, she discovered CBD oil helped with her anxiety and began to form a deeper relationship with the plant as it related to her health and well-being.
Around the time Michelle started her foray into the world of legal cannabis, where she first worked with many agencies, doctors, and medical patients, she found herself eager to learn more about how THC and CBD helped brain functionality, especially after seeing how it had affected her own beloved grandmother’s dementia.
Over the last decade, Michelle has spent much time learning how to help patients alleviate their pain and other varying symptoms by incorporating cannabis in its many forms and ratios into their daily wellness routines. She’s personally witnessed the benefits in the lives of various patients in her work, and it continues to inspire her daily. She tells those just starting their journey, “It’s something that helps you get back to yourself without losing yourself to medication.”
“Michelle feels it’s part of her mission to normalize her everyday use for others like her and has slowly introduced THC to the elders in her family…”
Michelle is an active athlete and continues to push her body in new ways with the help of cannabis, and she incorporates the plant into all her routines, even her ritual pre-skydiving. She consumes to help ease anxiety and alleviate any pain lingering from her previous shoulder injury and finds that the plant helps her stay focused and in her body while preparing for each jump.
One of Michelle’s hidden talents is that she’s a master roller and can “literally roll a joint anywhere,” which is also part of her wellness practice. The ritual of rolling a joint is as much a part of the process as smoking it. She realizes, as many plant enthusiasts do, that even consuming it recreationally is still medicinal, and she considers that when incorporating her usage into her daily life.
Completely open about her consumption, Michelle feels it’s part of her mission to normalize her everyday use for others like her and has slowly introduced THC to the elders in her family in the form of creams and tinctures to ease their ailments. She feels she has a mission to break into the Hispanic community in Miami, FL, and open the eyes of those in her family and beyond.
Michelle hopes to inspire others by encouraging them to learn more about the plant and use cannabis in a way that benefits them and work with physicians to show them how to treat their patients better using cannabis. In addition, she encourages new consumers to take their curiosity to the next level and not be afraid to ask questions of a more seasoned consumer.
She says, “go ahead and try that first gummy/ tincture/ toke – you might be surprised with how well it works with your system” and enthusiastically suggests to “go get out of your comfort zone and ask questions, this might be a game changer for you.”
The road to overall wellness is paved with questions, and only by taking those first steps can you find the answers to what works for you.
