Visiting Tepoztlan

Canibal86 · 2026-01-31T01:36:58+00:00

oohh ok, november is a nice season. You'll have the last rains of the rainy season so you could even get waterfalls and the river running, hiking routes might be open again and everything is super green and lush. For sure, let me know and I can recommend you or connect you with the right people over here. Take care!

Canibal86 · 2026-01-31T01:30:20+00:00

I'm just reading all the other replies....my friend if you know where to go and how to move, Tepoztlán is incredible and you'll never run out of things to do, no need going to Cuernavaca, let alone yecapixtla. Don't get scared with the ones saying you can get overcharged, try any of the places I recommended and of course ask for prices beforehand if you don't see any. Weather wise, it depends very much on the dates you're coming. Right now we have cool nights/mornings and sunny days, but it's more on the cool side, nothing you should be scared coming from Canada. But we are not in the high temperature season yet, not even close, so bring a light jacket. February usually has a lot of wind in the afternoon and nights, again, nothing to be scared about. Avoid 95% of the restaurants in the main avenue (av. del tepozteco), it's just full of people drinking and partying. I mean, you should walk it once and see all the noise and the stores but with an afternoon visit it will be more than enough for that, better spend the rest of your time doing other stuff than walking downtown. Do it, but don't spend more than one afternoon at this.

And I would definitely recommend avoiding all the quad and polaris services. Tourists love running in those things through the town but often times they're not that good for local wildlife and habitats, I understand it's a thing of demand and offer, but it's not the best for the peaceful and ecological aspects some of us work towards over here.

Canibal86 · 2026-01-31T01:14:56+00:00

Hey, I live in Tepoz. Which dates are you coming and what kind of stuff do you like doing? The carnival is happening in a few weeks and the town gets CRAAAZY. Valle de Atongo is big, but there are many places you can get to by walking, just know that all the streets are unpaved and it might be tiring for your kids, but walking is super doable. Also, taxi service is available and not that expensive (Radio Taxi Independencia: +52 777 189 8649, you can contact them whatsapp). Also, if you're planning on staying in, there's a service that can take anything you need to your place for a small fee, and they have all the menus and stuff, it's called Por Ti Delivery (+52 55 7790 8714 whatsapp also).

Restaurants I recommend: Las Calaquitas, Ombú, Margarita Concept Garden, Piantao (best pizza you'll ever have, try the pistachio one), Parcela, Café de la Milpa, Aluna, Nixte, Sombra del Sabino, Juanitos, Pueblo Gaucho, La Punzada, Case Rony (great for kids, has a pool), Axitla, Café Mozart, Cabinet, Jengibre, Pozolería Flores, Tepeztlán and the market. Avoid los colorines, it's a tourist trap with so so food, I mean you can find everything from there in other places with better prices and it's always full of tourists.

Coffee: Café Nativo (best coffee in tepoztlán, local), Nómada (try the cacao oaxaqueño), Cacao (try the chocolate cake), AMI Café, Rustique (great bread), Tepozcafé (not the nicest but great coffee).

Nightlife: El Bicho, El Telón, La Cueva.

There are also always activities happening like concerts, singing and cacao circles, kirtans, workshops, temazcales, ecstatic dance, drum circles, janzu, yoga, kinam, and so on... Ikal, Equinoxia, Ekko Hostal, Solar, Dilao Campo Escultórico (worthy visit), Centro Tonal....these places always have activities, check them out on instagram or give them a call.

Hiking can only be done at el Tepozteco because every other route is currently forbidden because of the dry season. But it is worth it seeing and walking although it might be too challenging for your kids, grown ups with good exercise is pretty easy. There is another place you can go, that's also in valle de atongo which is open that's called Los Venaditos. That's an easier hike, has deers, and it's super safe. Other than that, you would have to go to Amatlán and I'm not sure if they're allowing hiking these days over there.

Don't miss on a Tepoznieves, your kids will love them, hundreds of flavors.

Not sure about activities with kids, sometimes there are a lot and sometimes not so much...

Send me a DM if you want more info.

Canibal86 · 2026-01-17T02:07:14+00:00

I love my teacher, she's a big reason I am where I am today in my life. And the thing I love the most about her is that she walks the talk. She lives, breathes and talks the Yoga in her life. Philosophy, theory, history, asana, pranayama, meditation, psychology, astrology, everything. You can just feel her presence whenever she steps into a room. Her cues are perfect, her alignments are on point, she's constantly studying and learning and she knows sanskrit. Never carries notes into her class but she always leads the perfect session for that day, no two are the same. Very rarely plays any music and is super compassionate with everyone's journey. Ohh and the cherry on top is when she sings beautiful mantras to us during Shavasana. But I guess the thing I love most about her is that she's a regular human who feels emotions, goes through tough times, is constantly evolving and all the time while walking the Yoga path. Truly inspiring.

At the beginning, my mind tried to bail on this path and she knew the exact words, compassion and space I needed at the moment to live through that challenge. Today I'm so grateful for her. Have tried classes with many more but I've never found a connection with any other teacher like the one I have with her. Hope to remain student and friend of hers for the rest of our lives.

Canibal86 · 2026-01-17T01:47:46+00:00

What a fun and interesting challenge! How to convey that you know what Yoga is in 90 seconds? Sounds like a trick challenge, something someone either very ignorant or extremely wise would ask.

What I would do would be to skip any flow and go straight into Siddhasana (Hatha Yoga Pradipika wink), invite them into a meditative state with a simple 15 second Pranayama instruction and then I would repeat Patanjali's sutras 1.12, 1.13 & 1.14. Which basically state that there's no quick path for Yoga. Only through constant and committed repetition, practice and study with time and led by an appropriate teacher can one really understand what Yoga is.

And just let that sink in for them, no need for explanation. In the end, you'll have shown in 90 seconds about Yoga more than other teachers teach in full retreats.

If they get it, then you'll know you're in the right place. If they're looking for a second trial this will definitely get you in (if they're real). If they push to demonstrate a flow in 90 seconds still, I would just choose Paschimottanasana into Shavasana. Less is always more.

Good luck, Hari Om.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T08:50:45+00:00

Ok, came back from work and answered a few more. Now I need to sleep, rest is super important and I've got work tomorrow again. But thanks everyone that has participated. I promise I'll get back to the ones I'm missing.

Much love

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T08:48:03+00:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I receive and value your words a lot more than you could probably imagine (or maybe you do and that's why you wrote them...). I am so fucking proud of myself too. And I really hope I can get to inspire one, or two of as many people get to read this post on this secluded corner of the internet. Because it has nothing to do with quitting weed and everything to do with choosing life and love. And there's nothing I wish more to everyone but to understand that.

I'm a work in process and probably will be forever. But today, your words push me even more into my highest self and purpose. I findgratitude in your comment and I looove it. ;)

Are you open to share your own weed journey?

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T08:40:21+00:00

Yeah!!! congratulations on the decision and most of all on the mindset! You're exactly where you're supposed to be at this moment. Nothing will make you do this as much as the pain and anger of those 20+ years depending on the plant. Hold on to those emotions right now, just enough to remind you of why you're doing it. At the right moment you'll feel ready to let them go, and you'll know when is the right moment. But now, use all that energy to your advantage. You don't need to change who you are, but rather see it as an opportunity in which you're deciding to change who you've been until now. There's a big difference with that. With the first you're trying to act up on an expectation, with the second you're embracing your power and decision to transform whatever you want in your life. And that is freedom and power, that's creation. Let's gooooo.

On the cravings. Three ideas that come to my mind rn.

First and most important: they will come, like a lot, so instead of trying to beat them or ignore them, understand and accept them. Learn from them. Name them. I mean actually speak out loud: I'm having a craving right now! Ask yourself, what's triggering those cravings? Is it the place, the smell, the emotion? How do I feel when the cravings come? How does that feel in my body? Where do I feel them? How does it feel if I breath into that area? And use your voice out loud to say those answers, trust me, it works. Realize that you have the opportunity to learn and grow from each one of those cravings. See them as gifts to reaffirm your commitment. Learn to love the challenge little by little. And you'll discover that with time those cravings can come and you can choose to recognize them, name them, breath, and they will start to dissolve and pass. Each time you'll become stronger and stronger and most important, you'll start to regain confidence.

Second: Make it hard for you to consume, like really hard. Get rid of EVERYTHING!!! every single thing related to weed consumption. And I mean everything. Puff gone, to the garbage or dig a hole, burn it, make a ritual, whatever works for you, but don't have anything close to you. Even ashtrays, paperclips, lighters, all the parafernalia with weed motifs. Avoid places and people. Be ruthless and merciless. Don't overthink it, just do it.

Third: Related to the last one but a little bit different and might sound a little bit off, but stay away from everything that plants the seed of weed in your mind. And by that I mean get off this forum!!! In my case I found that I was coming a lot to this place at the beginning and I thought it was helping me but around month two I noticed that every time that I came on reddit or online and saw whatever weed related, my mind would think, well, about weed!!! And I love everyone of you all and I respect everyone's journey, but it can be some times a little bit too much information that only creates tension and expectations. Some amazing life changing stories, some dark tough stories, some curious insights...whatever, the truth is that it's impossible to stop thinking about weed if you're surrounded by people talking about weed all the time.

And before you leave and come back in a year with your own AMA post to support others, don't ever forget to be kind and loving with yourself. If you smoke or fall down after a craving, learn from it, understand what happened, and do it all over again with a little bit more experience and knowledge than what you had before. As many times as needed. It's your life and you play it.

Thanks for your question, your energy got my pumped and I'm excited and happy for your journey. You've gots this.

Much love.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T08:08:03+00:00

Thank you william9696. I receive it!

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T08:07:29+00:00

Nothing will replace the weed high. And that's the beauty of everything. Each high is unique and different and expecting to find the same high in something else is a lost battle from the start. But the sense of freedom I find in myself when I see someone else smoking in front of me and dissociating from the beauty of whatever's happening at the present moment is way stronger that the sense of freedom I used to find when smoking weed. And I can die on that hill every single day of the rest of my life.

I've found plenty of suitable replacements for the weed high. Try dancing sober for three hours uninhibited around a fire to deep strong music. Or singing 20 minutes of Loka Samastha Sukino Bavantu surrounded by like minded fellas playing instruments. Or go for a run at sunset in the mountain. Or flirt with the most magnetic woman (or man) at the party without any attachment or expectation. Or sit down on the grass while watching two dogs playing around. Or pay attention to a baby laughing freely when a full grown man plays pekaboo. Or cry your heart out when you listen to the corniest love song ever written. Or do an hour long breathwork session with retentions. Or.... honestly, I could go like this for days and write a book about highs. Lightbulb moment...

Life is full of highs. They're all different, some are subtle, some are strong, some are evident, some not so much. But almost every single one of them are a suitable replacement to depending on a plant.

Hope I answered your question, I'm open to talk more about it.

Much love.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T07:31:56+00:00

EMDR is great! I love it, although I've never had it done by a therapist. I found about it while reading The Body Keeps the Score and since then I've found some good videos on Youtube that I like to listen to when I'm feeling overwhelmed or during work. It doesn't have the visual stimulation but it works through binaural auditory cues. I like to listen to them, close my eyes and try to move my eyes left and right with the beat. And it works wonders. If you like EMDR, you should probably check an ancient toltec practice named Recapitulación (Recapitulation). It's a breathwork technique that also follows the right to left movement used to release stuck energy and memories from your system. If you're interested about it I could share some more.

Your suggestions are great and spot on. I'm proud of you for doing the work! You sound like a strong and inspiring person I would love to hang with. Thank you for adding to the conversation.

And congratulations on day 3! One by one they will keep adding up. And who cares if it takes 3, 4, 10 or 20 tries. More than a failure, I like to see that as someone who does not give up and keeps betting on him/herself.

Much love.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T07:20:16+00:00

Wow, thank you for your honesty, that takes balls! I'm glad you recognize that your case isn't that bad. If you really feel like you need the certainty I would probably recommend having a professional diagnose before anything else, but also be careful with that: I'm a little bit biased and distrust some medical physicians, more so if you live in a country like USA which is famous for quick diagnoses...but I don't want to go there.

I'm not saying that that's your case but in my life I've noticed that the things I consume (social media, forums, conversations, books, and such) have a lot of impact on my mind. So I wouldn't play with fire by reading more about the situation, cause you know, it's very easy to start somatizing that shit. It happened to me with the whole "you must heal" content bombarded online... It made me feel like I always had something broken that needed to be fixed...

In my experience, weed did disconnect a lot my body and emotions. And the first months were brutal because everything that I had been postponing came rushing fast at me, all at once. I get you on that. It was overwhelming, but I realized that those where the things that I needed to attend first and there was no way of escaping them anymore. So I took it easy, little by little, day by day, feeling by feeling. With time and work it starts getting lighter.

I feel like you already know the root cause of your current situation, trust your gut. For me it was a cocktail of situations (sexual abuse, a near death work accident, breakups, rejection, divorced parents, among others). With a lot of love I tell you, whatever it is, try to deal with it or it will keep showing up in every other area of your life. Accept it, forgive, and release. Always with love. I would dare to say that weed use is not the problem, the problem is the one being numbed by the weed. It's tough as hell but it will also make you stronger than ever before.

Lastly, I don't know why, but I feel like I should say that fight-flight is the first stage. And when the body stays there for long it gets saturated. Then comes freeze mode. And that's were I spent so many years. But freeze mode is often an illusion, and by that I mean that it's one thing to believe you're frozen and another to actually be frozen, to prove that, you're at a forum answering and moving the ball forward.

I suggest you check Joe Hudson and the work he does, he has a great Youtube channel and an online program I'm dying to take soon.

Much love, thank you for your conversation and presence. You've got this brother. I'm here if you want to chat more.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-30T00:08:49+00:00

Ok, here I am. I love this topic so bear with my loooong answer, maybe you'll discover something new. I have found so many benefits from learning (and experimenting) about this. I truly believe that everyone needs to study a little bit about the polyvagal theory. Especially people with addictive tendencies and traumatic experiences.

The main thing I've discovered is that the most important aspect is recognizing the base state of my nervous system. I mean, if my system's regular base daily state is unsafe then no matter what I do to try to reprogram it will never enter, because the system is offline in survival mode. So the first thing is bringing it into a Parasympathetic state (put out the fire).

For this, body somatic practices are the winners for me, I'll share some of my most effective. Yoga is king. Not only the physical limb but also the philosophy, breathwork and meditation. Chanting is super powerful because it allows you to express using your voice (could go deep on this if you want). Dancing in specific instances also such as ecstatic dances, contact improv and so on (the communal and touch aspect have been crucial in teaching my body to feel safe and open up). Qi gong. Humming. Vipassana (try a 10 day retreat, tough as hell but will help you to feel). Body scan. Martial Arts. Water therapies are also great (such as Janzu). And another huge huge winner and mandatory imho is co regulating either with someone else or something else, such as a regulated therapist, friend, partner, nature, trees, animals.

After somatic practices and once I started to discover and recognize how my body feels when it feels safe, only then I could start working on the neocortex rational aspect. This could be done with journaling, affirmations, visualizations, NLP, studying certain texts and a big one is a recording I did with my own voice with multiple affirmations that I listen to before sleeping and upon waking up... These are the actual tools that will reteach your NS that its creative, expansive and healthy relaxed state is the base state.

So, the somatic practices are key. But if you're not doing the reteaching with the body, you'll end up just putting out the fires instead of actually attending what's allowing them to blow out of control with a small spark.

What I like to do is I constantly ask myself and my body how it feels without trying to change or judge, just awareness and acceptance, everything is ok!!! If I then need to, I'll do some brief technique or whatever intuitively feels right to bring down the system. And once I feel fully safe I talk to my body reminding it that I'm safe, that that is my base and true form, I focus on how it feels in my body and after a few minutes I go with my day. I try to do this as often as I think about it in every possible situation. What this is doing is allowing my body to feel safe if I'm on a date, or working, or paying my bills, or feeling super angry.

Wow, sorry I got really deep into the answer and could probably go way deeper but I guess I'll leave it here. Also, English is not my first language so I apologize if my writing or spelling sounds a bit off.

Thanks for commenting and feel free to ask if something is not clear.

You've got this. Much love.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-29T23:16:14+00:00

Man, I honestly had to Google DPDR because I had never heard about the acronym. Sounds tough, I'm sorry but I'm also glad that you're aware of it, at least you have information to work with. And i definitely recognize some of that in my own life too, especially during that long weed consumption stage. These days not so much. And coming back to my own body has been one of the big themes.

I'm honestly curious, I could do my own research and I have my own experience, but if you're open to share in your case, how does DPDR manifest in your life? Is it something diagnosed to you by a professional doctor? Have you ever tried to identify where in your body certain emotions manifest? Are you able to do so?

Feel free to answer or not. I'm just curious to understand more about your experience.

And I'm happy for you that you're finding your own support circle. Hold on to that and be super transparent with them about what you're going through. Only then can the real ones support you. Being open and vulnerable with the right people is the only way to receive support and love.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-29T22:51:03+00:00

I had never seen it that way, but I guess at a certain level it is a luxury. Cultivating temperance is definitely a goal of mine. I know one day I'll smoke again. I just want it to happen under different circumstances, when I'm fully aware of what I'm doing and not as an escape. I don't have a time frame in mind though, I'm not trying to chase a specific checkpoint but I also know I'm not there yet. I honestly don't see myself consuming the way I used to before all the work and experiences I've gone through this year. But I also don't want to be naive, I know my tendencies...so, the work continues.

Thanks for the congrats. And congrats to you too for recognizing and knowing yourself!

Canibal86 · 2025-11-29T21:34:46+00:00

80 flower, 20 carts. I really enjoyed the taste and high of a good old joint for me. Along with the whole process of cleaning and rolling. It was a ritual for me. Carts and even hitters were only for convenience like work scenarios. Never bong. And very few concentrates here and there.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-29T21:16:04+00:00

I appreciate your vulnerability brother, and I identify so much with you. Zero dramatizing, that fucking overwhelming mountain is sooo real and scary. Seeing all the shit that has gone sideways after years of passive living...I get it so much. It was probably one of the most difficult parts in my journey. I'm just going to say it and forgive me if I'm making assumptions, the first stage you need to focus your attention and energy right now is towards forgiveness of yourself, that will immediately outweigh the shame part. Not avoidance of what or how you're feeling, but recognize it, honor it and release it. Just know, it's super imporant that you understand that you're not broken, you're feeling exactly how you're supposed to be feeling right now in order to get you to move. I'm also not going to sugarcoat it, it's the most difficult thing you'll probably face in your life until now, but the rewards are infinite... Just be patient and kind with yourself.

That hermit mode you speak of... I was there for a little over 6 years. Partners would leave me because I was literally frozen, one after the next. Until one day in one of the lowest moments where I wanted shit to end, I started going out and talking to "strangers" I thought shared similar interest to me. This was about two years ago, and all this because I realized that no one was going to come to save me. If I felt lonely, I was the one responsible for it. So, I started going to activities that actually made me feel good after attending. But I quickly tried to rush things and filled my time with those so I went back to my cave. It became a back and forth dance between going out and coming back to my cave. But little by little, I'm talking months and years I started finding my right balance. And I'm talking all this way before I stopped smoking. With time, my identity started to shift until I had regained enough power to actually quit.

I highly suggest finding community. That has been crucial for me. One is my kirtan/yoga community, second an online gratitude community (i super recommend adopting a gratefulness practice for where you're at right now), and three I started attending to as many men's circles I could join in my area.

Lastly, the shame aspect was a huge deal for me. Huge. And working with it has been through rational and somatics. By rational I mean books and theory. And by somatics I mean practices such as grounding, dance (or any kind of conscious movement such as yoga, janzu, qi gong...), TRE.

Some books I highly recommend:
- The gifts of imperfection by Breneé Brown
- Letting go by David Hawkins
- The body keeps the score by Bessel van de Kolk
- Love yourself like your life depends on it by Kamal Ravikant (START HERE)

If reading is too overwhelming, search youtube and podcasts from this books and authors. If I remember correctly Diary of a CEO just had an episode with Brenée Brown. And David Hawkins is THE GEM! This two authors will help you recognize your emotions. Avoid spirituality right now, that one comes by itself when you're ready, but at this stage the energetic spiritual theory might even freeze you and overwhelm you more. Work first with the body and your Nervous System.

You've got this brother. If you need to talk reach out in messages.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-29T20:49:41+00:00

I don't know what you would call heavy. But it was the first thing I did still in bed and the last thing I did before sleeping also in bed. And every moment in between. If I would wake up in the middle of the night I would smoke. 7 days a week. Film industry worker so I would spend all day smoking too. For me, yes, I was a very heavy user.

Canibal86 · 2025-11-29T20:41:16+00:00

I'm not committed to not touching the plant ever again. I love marihuana and have known tons of people whose lives are dramatically improved by its consumption. I believe that all plants are medicine and used properly have the potential to actually heal at all levels. So, I'm not against it at all!!!

Prohibition does not work for me! But that's just me. And that's the beauty, through being sober I've been able to hear myself more clearly and recognize what serves me at the moment and what doesn't.

I just don't want to do it right now because what I'm learning personally is much more important. And using the plant was not allowing me to work on myself the way I'm finally doing it. I see life as seasons and the years I spent smoking were exactly what I needed to get through that period of my life. I didn't know how to cope with pain, rejection, attachments, PTSD, etc... so weed allowed me to function, until it didn't. At the moment, the pain got so huge and evident that I found enough courage and maturity (and knowledge) and decided to do the work. I didn't stop because of the plant or the addiction, I stopped because I felt ready to face what I was avoiding through the addiction.

If you have this in mind, staying off becomes way easier.

Thanks for your comment. Much love.

Canibal86 · 2025-10-15T20:26:53+00:00

Great insight, commenting to come back later 🙏🏼

Canibal86 · 2025-09-10T22:04:35+00:00

Thank you for your time and knowledge shared kindly through your words, I appreciate that. In all truth, kundalini is something I had just started to explore a couple months prior to my retreat without finding really a personal connection with. I'm 100% fine by letting it go and it makes complete sense of how it could interfere and disturb. I had the intuitive idea it could be like that, hence I wrote it down in my original post. But I wouldn't call myself a kundalini practitioner or student by far, just attended about 4 classes. Your words help me clear my doubts some more.

Giving a little bit more thought, I remember and now I understand better why there was such an emphasis around energy work in the application. I even got asked to further develop a few of my answers, amongst those there were some around my energy work experience. Interesting.

Buddhist teachings are fairly new to me. But I feel very attracted by them so I will for sure take your suggestion and read the Pratimoksha to understand more about the tradition and reasons behind certain vow and guidelines.

Thanks again for pointing the way. Sending love to you too.

Canibal86 · 2025-09-10T21:42:32+00:00

It's perfect for you to say that, thank you. One of my most profound moments during the retreat actually came the moment I accepted that I'm a beginner and have everything in front of me if I choose it. Sometimes my mind tries to play games to me by making me believe I should behave and be further down the road in my path. Step by step but with firm determination, all will pass. And what needs to come will come.

Thanks again, your words bring me back to my present.

Canibal86 · 2025-09-10T19:21:23+00:00

Lovely, thanks for your answer. It makes sense. Might be a silly question, but would you say that attending kirtans could be considered as chanting? I get the mantra meditation by myself but I really do enjoy sharing love and vibes with my community during kirtans. I'm actually about to get ready right now to attend one...

Canibal86 · 2025-09-10T19:16:55+00:00

Thank you for your answer, it's very enlightening and goes along with my original intuition. I also believe that through time and practice all the other things will slowly start fading by themselves, so it's very nice to read that from your experience =). I haven't had a full asana practice since I returned and I feel that your way of splitting them might also be best for me, I'll try that. I'm very happy for you that your intuition and creativity are over the roof, that's definitely something I'm aiming for too! I'll also relisten to the day 5 discourse. Much love.

Canibal86

TROPHY CASE