How can cannabis help with chronic pain and physical tension in the body?

I've sat with many people who carry pain in their bodies—sometimes from injury, sometimes from years of holding stress. Cannabis can create a kind of opening, a softening in places that have learned to grip. What I've noticed is that it works best when paired with actual attention to the body, not as a replacement for it. The cannabinoids seem to help your nervous system downshift, which allows muscles to release what they've been protecting. But here's the thing: awareness matters. When you're high, you might feel less pain, but if you also feel less *sensation*, you lose the feedback your body's trying to give you. I recommend using cannabis alongside gentle movement—stretching, walking, even just lying down and breathing—so you're not numbing out, but rather creating conditions where your body can actually relax. Start low with dosage and frequency. Your body adapts quickly, and what helps once might feel like escape the second time. The goal isn't to never feel discomfort, but to find the dose that lets you listen to your body with less reactivity. Some find topical applications help more than ingestion—less systemic, more localized. Notice what happens over weeks, not just in the moment.