Budega GAIA: Exploring How We Ingest, Relate, and Ritualize Marijuana


Rebecca Gitana Torres

Hello everyone! My name is Rebecca Gitana Torres {GAIA}, and I am so excited to be here on Budega NYC as your Cannabis Curandera. I look forward to helping you develop or deepen your spiritual practice with the ever so mystical plant I like to call, Mari-Juanita!

How we ingest, relate, and ritualize her will all be up for exploration here.

There is so much to share and to be real, I have had a hard time narrowing down what I’d like share first. Marijuana has changed my life. It has helped me heal my body and release trauma; it has given me wings to fly and has even helped me amplify my inner knowing. This nearly twenty-year journey with Cannabis is something I am genuinely thankful for and also mystified by it.

As for who in the Sour Diesel am I? I’m a child of the Caribbean manifested in NYC, Baby! I work as a Transformational Guide for people who are ready to purge the old and transform for the new. I am also a Home Healer and Interior Designer, and a self-taught and award-nominated Television Producer. I have a whole website on that, so you can go and catch me there.

Right now, I have 5 things I want to share off the rip that will help you get LIFTED like never before.

1. Let’s remember that Cannabis is a living thing. Let’s keep in mind that there are so many studies on plant intelligence and their sentience. It is fascinating that all of this stored magic (that when worked with) can make us high & heal. So I ask, when was the last time you talked to your Bud? You know you can ask it to help you, ask it for insight and wisdom, and you can even show gratitude and say thank you. I like to talk to my Bud as I roll it, cook it, or smoke it. Communication = Deeper Communion. Trust.

2. Create a ritual around how you take in Plant medicine. Do you light incense or set an intention? Do you take a few breaths and stretch your body? Think: What actions can you implement to bring higher power into the medicinal moment? Creating a ritual is all about slowing down and doing things that honor the moment and ourselves.

3. Since we are in the spirit of honoring, Let’s honor the elements that brought it all together: Light, water, air, earth, and intention, just to get started. A lot came together so you can have your “medicina” before you, CONNECT WITH THAT. The more we connect with the elements, the more reverence we have for it all. Including ourselves.

4. Get lifted, and then do nothing. Many of us smoke to clean, get creative, or do something busy. I invite you as part of your Cannabis practice to take in the herbals and plan to do NOTHING. You may know that there is a yoga posture called Savasana, which means “corpse pose.” Some say it is the hardest pose of them because it requires you not to move at all. Not a scratch, not a twitch, nothing. So, the next time you are lifted, get very still. Take some deep cleansing breaths as you lie on your back, find yourself amongst the waves of your breath, and float. If you need clarity or to connect to the divine, this is where it is. 

5. Be open to the many ways you can ingest your Canna. It is truly incredible as to how you can tap into its medicine. There are all kinds of infusions and edibles; it is truly endless. Learning how to match symptoms or desires with the right way to ingest can be life-changing. Increasingly now, with COVID, many are considering respiratory wellness and the effects of smoking. There is so much to explore here.

Until next time… 

Oh, and I would love to hear from you. Please share if you tried anything from this top 5 or if you’d like me to dive deeper into these topics.