The New Year is your opportunity to reset and renew, and cannabis is here to help.

As the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, people around the world celebrate the New Year and make resolutions with the best of intentions. From dropping weight to hitting the gym, lofty travel plans, to personal wellness goals, we start the New Year with only positive outcomes in mind—unfortunately, as the days progress, most of us run into roadblocks. Cannabis can help.

While people become more comfortable with mainstream cannabis and a new population of consumers discovers the variety of strains and their impressive range of effects, we continue to chip away at the couch-locked stoner stereotype.

We want to pause and make something clear: we mean no disrespect to consumers interested in the classic, couch-lock experience. There’s a wide range of consumers and an equally broad range of cannabis effects—we don’t discriminate.

Let’s get back to our resolutions.

Cannabis has proven benefits to those touched by a slew of issues, from tension and general pain relief, to more severe afflictions. Surprising to some, however, cannabis can provide motivation to keep you on track to hit your New Year’s goals.

Tackle your to-do list with a Sativa-dominant hybrid.

If you’re missing the energy or motivation to tackle a list of resolutions, a Sativa-dominant hybrid will be your best friend. Sativas elevate your mood, but in the case of a hybrid strain, a touch of Indica helps to keep you grounded and focused. That said, the impact of a strain depends on your body chemistry, and the strain’s unique terpene profile (click here to learn more about terpenes and how you can use them to predict your high). If you’re new to cannabis, as the phrase goes, start low and go slow. Test with low doses and experiment with various strains to find the right products to help you tackle your list.

Lightshade recommends:

Enliven Strains for an energizing experience: Durban Poison and Sour Joker

Inspire Strains if you prefer a more mellow effect: Lavender Jones and Pineapple Express


Elevate your workouts and stay on track this year.

Microdosing cannabis before a workout is a great way to prepare mentally for an intense sweat session (we published a blog about it last year). The awareness of your body grows, and each movement becomes a focused, moving meditation. Cannabis and yoga go hand-in-hand, and, yoga, as well as being an intense total body workout, is an excellent way to focus your mind and to cultivate a positive mental attitude. Set achievable goals, start slowly, and don’t hit the gym or studio with so much enthusiasm that you burn out instantly.

Pro tip: if you pull a muscle in the gym or yoga studio, cannabis can help with that too (be sure to visit your healthcare provider for anything more than a minor injury).

Lightshade recommends:

Enliven strains to elevate and energize  your workout: The White, Green Crack and Red Headed Stranger

Calm Strains for post-workout relief: Star Dawg, Mother’s Milk and Dalae OG


Make travel plans and unleash your creativity with a strain from our Inspire category.

While we never recommend traveling with cannabis (it’s illegal), we always encourage consuming to inspire creativity and to dream up lofty travel plans. Pull out the map, pin it to a wall, consume a strain from our Inspire category, and start throwing darts. Pick a dream destination and sit down to map out a strategy. No goal is too lofty when you strategize and build a roadmap. We recommend that you solidify your travel goal(s) and work backward, step-by-step, making notes at each juncture to bring your target to life.

We are biased, but in our opinion, cannabis is the ultimate catalyst for inspiration and creativity. With the right strain, you’ll find the focus and motivation to bring your lofty travel goals and creative resolutions to life.

Lightshade recommends:

Inspire Strains: White 99, Orange Herijuana and Sour Diesel

Optional: try a Rest strain to clear your mind and daydream about your next adventure: Bubba Fett


There is quite literally, a world full of resolutions, and, while most people will find themselves losing sight of their goals as the year moves forward, there are steps you can take each day to achieve and exceed your objectives in 2019. Cannabis can be your ally in this endeavor—your secret weapon.