PLANT YOUR SEED:
Cannabliss Retreats promote plant-based wellness through Kanna-Kare.
When I think back to my introduction to cannabis, I remember my college years at UC Santa Cruz, a “stoner school” aptly located on 1156 High Street. As part of our Banana Slug tradition, every April 20th thousands of students would flock to Porter Hill and all toke up at 4:20, sending thick, billowy cannabis clouds into the air—the closest I’ve been to a veritable “stoner’s paradise.” My experiences with cannabis since have mostly been through recreational use and as a tool for tapping into my creativity, but I was opened up to more of the plant’s ability to access higher dimensions of living after attending the 2nd annual Cannabliss Retreats in Joshua Tree National Park.
Given California’s recent legalization legislation, Cannabliss is pioneering a new intersection between plant-based wellness and cannabis education by offering a full sensory retreat experience which trains each guest to receive its own KANNA-KARE certification. For five days on the retreat grounds, attendees become part of a tight-knit community, learning about plants and themselves through educational and creative workshops, sacred ceremonies, elevated farm-to-table dining catered by GrassFed, yoga, meditation, nature hikes, sound baths, entertainment, and a cannabis vendors market complete with an open dab bar—all of which make for one fully blissed-out experience.
Cannabliss is the divine brainchild of Sari Gabbay (aka “Mizz Cannabizz”) who, after 14+ years building brands for lifestyle companies, founded her own creative agency, Redefining Cannabis. Gabbay partnered with Dr. Ira Price, a childhood friend she reconnected with on Instagram and a leader in cannabinoid medicine, to develop the KARE certification program. KARE (Kannabis Accreditation Regulation and Education) is the first standardization of its kind for the emerging cannabinoid market in the United States. Developed by Dr. Ira Price, KARE ensures that industry advocates, professionals, employees, and patients receive the necessary knowledge, standards, and certification to improve the use of plant medicine so that patients can better understand their health and make informed decisions that serve the greater wellness good.Together, Gabbay and Dr. Price’s vision for Cannabliss is an experience that awakens the consciousness and offers education on the benefits of plant medicines with their sights set on expanding the retreat into a total wellness center.
“This is growing into its own entity; it has now become an experience that is co-created by industry leaders and influencers who believe in the mission and are a big part of curating conscious community with cannabis. We are bringing education, conscious awareness, excitement, and ceremony to the masses, and showing the world how precious and healing cannabis is. Everyday is an opportunity to wake up.” —Sari Gabbay, Cannabliss
— Written by Jazper Abellera
“Cannabliss Retreats reflects what we want to see in this industry and our own mission for the world. The opportunity to build a community based on self growth, conscientious cannabis use, spirituality, science and complete whole person healing, that is the healing of mind, body and spirit.” — Chakra Kahn, Esoteric Edibles