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There are times when getting high on cannabis by yourself can be the most relaxing or rewarding thing in the world. There are also other times when you could really use a friend, family member or confidant to be your cannabis trip sitter.
We know what you’re thinking: Really? A cannabis sitter?!. You have to be an adult to consume cannabis, so the idea of getting a colleague to act as babysitter while you get stoned is laughable for some people. In this context a “sitter” is more about shepherding you through the potentially intense experiences of cannabis, and less about the “babying” part. That being said, a lot of stoners have never tried getting high with someone present who is not also flying through space with them.
Have you ever thought about trying a new or potent cannabis product with the aid of a trip sitter? What are the qualities of a good cannabis sitter? What are the requirements of how to be a good trip sitter? Let’s figure out what it takes to enhance your cannabis experiences with the support of a cannabis trip sitter and discuss the pros & cons of using one for your next big weed shindig.
What Is A Cannabis Sitter?
Before we discuss how to be a good trip sitter, it makes sense to further define the roles & responsibilities of a cannabis sitter. Anyone can fulfill the duties of a cannabis trip sitter, but there are obvious caveats that need to be understood fully before you take on the role.
A trip sitter is defined as a person who supports others that are under the influences of psychoactive or psychedelic substances. A trip sitter might monitor a person’s behavior, keep them safe, provide hydration or nutrition when necessary, or engage with the person that is riding high in order to enhance their experiences – or even help them to avoid a “bad trip”. There’s no playbook on what you have to do, when you have to do it, but these kinds of supports seem to be universally effective.
Not all cannabis sitters are equal in their experience, responsibilities or even their qualifications, so the question of “what makes a good trip sitter” is very open ended. It’s easier to understand what a cannabis sitter is when you break the definition down even further into the who-what-why.
Who Can Be A Trip Sitter?
Anyone can perform the role of a trip sitter, but an integral part of what makes someone better or worse has to do with trust. When someone is planning on getting so high that they might forget where they are, who they are or what to do with how they’re feeling it’s imperative that they have someone to look after them in their psychedelic-states. When a person is under the influences of mind-altering substances like cannabinoids, having a trusted person nearby can mean the difference between falling into a pit of despair and overcoming personal trauma.
Acting as a cannabis trip sitter can be done by a fellow stoner, by a coworker who doesn’t consume cannabis, or even by your elderly neighbor – maybe she’ll even bake you fresh cookies to boot! Obviously the trip sitter has to be comfortable with the potential intoxicating effects of your cannabis high, so make sure you explain to them what might occur if they’re not personally familiar with weed. Other than that, as long as you employ somebody you trust to take care of you in case anything goes awry, then you and your trip sitter can make for a solid team.
What Do Cannabis Sitters Do?
Some sitters cook meals for their ‘patients’, brew some tea or help them to pick an ideal Netflix show for tripping out to. Just like the lack of hard qualifications for who can be a trip sitter, cannabis sitters manage a variety of tasks suited to the person they are monitoring. Because every cannabis sitting session has the potential to be unique from the last, here’s a list of some common duties for your average trip sitter:
Keep stoned person hydrated
Provide snacks, munchies or meals during their psychoactive experience
Remove negative stimuli, help to focus on positive stimuli
Guide a person through personal trauma, medical conditions or complex situations
Assist with setup of games, art, hobbies and other activities
Communicate with stoned person candidly, about serious problems or just to reminisce
Distract stoned person when necessary
Initiate meditation, music or relaxing activities when needed
Provide comfort if stoned person falls into the throes of a bad trip
This list isn’t exhaustive by any stretch – every trip down cannabis lane can be different from the last and can be almost impossible to predict. Having a plan for how to keep a stoned person busy or mapping out what works best for them in their psychoactive states is crucial, but above all else a cannabis trip sitter should be ready to adapt to whatever comes their way.
Why Are Trip Sitters Important?
Next, we’re going to review the checklist for what makes a good trip sitter, but first a little context as to why cannabis sitters are an essential member of any weed-loving troupe. Cannabis sitters are like the pit crew for a race car driver – sure, the person steering the wheel and putting foot-to-pedals are doing the actual performing, but without the support of a fast-acting, efficient and thoughtful crew the vehicle would never make it past the first salvo of laps.
Cannabis sitters are the unheralded ‘at home shrinks’ and ‘unofficial referees’ between conflicting stoners. Trip sitting on a one-on-one basis is an ideal place to start, but between a group of cannabis-loving friends it’s fair for each person to take turns being the responsible one on their high-nights.
Speaking of taking turns… some of the best qualified people to perform the role of trip sitters are people who have experienced cannabis for themselves. The benefits of sharing the role of trip sitter amongst a stone group are twofold: it’s good to take a break from getting high from time-to-time; and seeing the effects of cannabis from the other side can help people with their own relationships to psychedelics.
Every stoner should have to be a trip sitter at least once – the benefits to your perspective, understanding and relationships can’t be quantified. It’s hard to put values to personal psychoactive experiences & feelings, but we’re going to try in the final section as we detail how to be a good trip sitter.
How To Be a Good Trip Sitter
What does it take to be a good trip sitter?…
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Think of the qualities that make people good parents and you’ll have an inkling of the kinds of people who make stellar trip sitters. These qualities can include, but are not limited to something we’ve put together called ‘the 5 tenets of trip sitting’. They are: Patience, Attentiveness, Confidence, Foresight & Fun.
PATIENCE
Patience, simply put, is one of the most essential qualities to be a good trip sitter. One of the most essential qualities in a person that guides people under the influences of psychoactive or psychedelic substances is a wellspring of patience. Patience leads to understanding, which gives way to attention to details, which makes them ready to lend help however & whenever it is needed.
How can patience help you to be a good trip sitter, specifically? Well you can imagine that when a person is surfing the cosmos in their mind from the comforts of their couch that things can get… chaotic. Time dilation seems to be all out of whack when you’re under the influences of psychedelics, so a cannabis trip sitter has to have extra pools of patience to draw on for the sake of their ward. Tripping can cause people to freak out and bounce off the walls, or it can lead them to obsessively focus on the most mundane details for hours. Existing as a pillar of patience & understanding is all a person needs from their trip sitter – with a patient, attentive cannabis sitter at their side, there’s no trip, good or bad, that can’t lead to positive results. Speaking of attentiveness…
ATTENTIVENESS
Attention to detail can make or break a successful & safe trip when it comes to cannabis sitting. As the only sober person in the room whose faculties aren’t all over the place, you need to have a fine eye and sharp sense of things in order to prevent potential injuries or bad trips. Attentiveness can mean noticing when a person is starting to slide towards a negative emotional state, or seeing potentially dangerous situations unfold as your trippers throw a dance party.
Attention, focus, reactiveness and proactiveness are all part of the same vein of skills for good cannabis sitters. Being attentive to a group of peoples’ feelings can be a monstrous task, which is why we advocate for practicing as a cannabis sitter one-on-one first before attempting to reign in a gaggle of ganja-giggling geese. Being reactive to something bad developing isn’t as good as proactively steering your stoners away from it. This means that trip sitters have to anticipate a lot of what goes on, which isn’t easy for anyone who has never consumed cannabis themselves.
We’ll talk about planning ahead and using foresight to avoid any bad encounters during a trip, but first we need to address another elephant in the room: confidence.
CONFIDENCE
Confidence is something that is good for everyone, in every situation. It’s easy to say “be confident” in your work, life or in your relationships, but in actuality developing confidence is a long and complicated process. As a cannabis sitter you need to exude confidence, because your assuredness can act as a beacon to your stoners whenever they’re feeling overwhelmed, emotional or stressed in their current condition.
Confidence, like patience, is the closest thing to a prerequisite for how to be a good trip sitter. This is where not having done cannabis yourself can hinder your ability to be an effective cannabis sitter – if you have no conception of what they could be experiencing/feeling, then how can you be confident in your approach to helping them to manage their trip?!
It’s not unheard of to have no experience getting high before trip sitting for people who are, but it’s like river rafting without a paddle, on top of not knowing where those dangerous waterfalls are up ahead. If you are confident in your skills & training as a trip sitter, you’ll be able to foresee where the trip is going…
FORESIGHT
Foresight is often overlooked – pun intended – but that’s not for lack of trying on many cannabis sitter’s parts. Anticipating what your stoners need is no easy task, but the more you practice the better you’ll get at it. It all comes down to having a plan before anyone drops an edible or rips a dab. Mapping out activities to keep them busy. Preparing pre-assembled meals, snacks, munchies or drinks can avoid epic fails. Listening to podcasts or watching videos online about the kinds of effects that come from specific cannabis products can help you to be prepared for what might be coming.
Foresight comes in many forms, the important thing is that you invest some time & resources pre-planning for the day/night ahead of the trip. You can never truly be fully prepared for what is coming, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Flying by the seat of your pants can be a lot of fun, but you know what’s not fun for anyone involved? Stoners slipping in their own puke and falling into the PS5 & TV because you didn’t have the foresight to not let them drink a gallon of milk after eating 3 entire packs of taquitos…
FUN
Fun times and funny memories are all we really have when a psychedelic trip is said and done. Sure, there are a lot of therapeutic benefits from tripping on weed or other substances, but its those laughs we shared, the memories we forged together, and the feelings we felt that makes tripping so impactful.
Having fun is a major part of any good trip, even if the experience is meant to deal with a serious mental or physical ailment. What’s fun to some might be boring to others, so it’s really important to have a variety of things to do, to experience and to focus on. Every person is unique in their likes & dislikes, and the same can be said for every cannabis trip – last time puzzles were a hit, but this time they’re just trying to eat the pieces?!
Trip sitting can be just as fun for the sitter as the stoner, so investing in things you can do to have fun together like video games, music, art, brain teasers, hikes, stargazing and more will surely create a wildly fun trippy adventure.
