Using CBD to Relax
CBD has exploded in popularity in recent years thanks in part to its calming, relaxing properties. In our increasingly stressful world, adults of all ages are curious about the calming effects of hemp-derived cannabidiol for improving their daily life.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of using CBD for relaxation, and how some common terpenes found in full spectrum hemp products could help enhance the calming benefits you can experience from CBD.
Learn how you can best use CBD to relax with the tips below!
CBD’s Calming Effects
CBD, the main active cannabinoid of hemp, interacts indirectly with our body’s Endocannabinoid System (or ECS) and other nervous system receptors in our body to induce cellular activity that can positively impact a wide array of medical symptoms. Studies suggest that CBD may be able to help modulate signalling pathways throughout the body’s tissues to help calm overactive signals that cause uncomfortable sensations.
Science and anecdotal reports show that the effects of CBD and all other cannabinoids can be very dose dependent - with light micro-doses of CBD often providing very nuanced effects & targeted benefits, and larger doses of CBD typically being extremely relaxing to the body and mind.
Some consumers report that CBD’s physical effects can even be somewhat similar to a muscle relaxer at higher doses! This has lead many to try CBD for recovery from muscle soreness and bodily fatigue following strenuous physical activity. Provisional studies suggest that CBD and its acidic precursor found in hemp, called CBD-A, are able to facilitate muscle recovery and possibly exert anti-inflammatory actions in some modes of muscle fatigue in lab-tested animal models.
Recent research indicates that certain doses of CBD might even be able to make our minds more resistant to the production of anxious thought spirals in response to external stressors, though more study is needed to further elucidate exactly how CBD can help calm our minds.
Using the Relaxing Effects of CBD without Drowsiness
Getting a relaxing CBD calm by day can be achieved without any drowsiness with very careful dosing beginning at low CBD concentrations - a practice called microdosing. Microdosing CBD has been reported to enhance mood and may provide relief from the effects of chronic stress throughout the day without any noticeable psychoactivity or heaviness in the body.
Microdosing CBD is not only a great way to get the relaxing and mood enhancing benefits from hemp products without drowsiness - it’s also the ideal way to safely find your right CBD doses for a range of effects! Start experimenting with CBD use during the day in dose ranges of 2.5mg-5mg, and see if you notice any difference in your mood and responses to external stressors before increasing your dose sequentially for other effects.
In general, the “best” CBD dose is the lowest dose at which you feel the effects you desire for the required amount of time. It’s important to note that occasional microdosing is often more conducive to prolonged benefits than taking larger doses of CBD at once due to the unique dose response curve of cannabinoids like CBD. It’s also wasteful and potentially very expensive to take more CBD than you need on each dose!
Be sure to keep track of the effects you feel at each sequential dose of CBD in a journal to find your best target dose for a range of effects. In the next section, we’ll explore other points of consideration when looking for the right CBD product for relaxation and recovery.
How to Find Relaxing CBD Products
Finding the right CBD product to give you the relaxing effects you need is a deeply personal matter that requires careful experimentation! Every person’s body and ECS is unique, so a product that provides great relaxing benefits to your friends may not necessarily give you those same effects.
Full spectrum CBD products with terpenes that are known to generally provide relaxing effects, like linalool and myrcene, may be the best choice for reliably using CBD products to relax.
Terpenes are the extremely small molecules responsibe for the scents and tastes of plants & herbs, as well as the medicinal benefits of most herbal medicines known to man!
Terpenes are becoming more abundant in craft hemp products as we begin to learn more about how their unique interactions with cannabinoids and our bodies produce nuanced effects & medical benefits.
The Linalool of lavender essential oil is known to produce calming effects for most who smell or ingest the terpene, and it is one of the more common terpenes being found in craft hemp products intended for relaxing effects.
Myrcene, the most common terpene found in hemp products (which produces an earthy aroma), is also known to most frequently produce reliably relaxing effects on both oral and inhaled consumption. Using a CBD product with either or both of these relaxing terpenes is a great way to help get consistently calming effects.
Minor Cannabinoids like CBN that are thought to promote drowsiness may also support the natural calming benefits of CBD products, and might therefore be right to look for in product formulations for nightime applications.
The natural cannabinoid and terpene matrices in hemp flower and full spectrum hemp-derived CBD products can be great for promoting more well-rounded effects and health benefits beyond just relaxation applications when used with careful experimentation.
Try using these CBD tips to help relax in the evening, and support a more natural rest cycle with healthy bedtime habits supplemented with hemp CBD products.
We hope these tips have helped guide you toward success on your CBD journey - contact us with any further questions we can answer for you!
Sources Cited
Ibeas Bih C. et al. “Molecular Targets of Cannabidiol in Neurological Disorders”. Neurotherapeutics. 2015 Oct; 12(4): 699–730. Published online 2015 Aug 12. doi: 10.1007/s13311-015-0377-3
Iannotti FA. et al. “Effects of non‐euphoric plant cannabinoids on muscle quality and performance of dystrophic mdx mice”. Br J Pharmacol. 2019 May; 176(10): 1568–1584. Published online 2018 Sep 9. doi: 10.1111/bph.14460
Crippa JA. et al. “Translational Investigation of the Therapeutic Potential of Cannabidiol (CBD): Toward a New Age”. Front Immunol. 2018; 9: 2009. Published online 2018 Sep 21. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02009