10 Observations

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the main cannabinoids in the cannabis plant; possessing no psychotropic properties and a variety of medical benefits, it is currently one of the most desirable natural therapies on the market.

Research has stated that its therapeutic properties have been successful in treating a range of different symptoms, such as chronic pain, inflammation, seizures, nausea and vomiting, among many more.

As well as these physical symptoms it has been found to increase general well-being in patients of all ages, reducing stress levels, decreasing anxiety and increasing feelings of relaxation.

After years of taking pharmaceutical medications for my ailments, I switched to CBD and was able to see a difference in a matter of days, nothing else I have ever tried has worked that quickly.

By using a cannabidiol calculator that I found online, I was able to figure out a controlled dosage regime, based on the minimum suggestions.

I started taking the oil in the morning and evening and recorded my findings over the course of a year.

I usually work out every three days.

I do fairly short, yet intense, full-body workouts in which I push heavy weights and do sprints.

And the morning after a workout, I am always sore.

It can even become problematic as I go about my day, as my achy muscles can make me feel lethargic and tired.

After taking CBD before my workouts, I would wake up the next day and, although my muscles were still slightly stiff, they weren’t sore to touch and were a lot more limber.

Upon further research into why this might be so, I discovered that

CBD is a potent anti-inflammatory, even more powerful than many of the most common natural remedies used for inflammation – like curcumin, fish oil, resveratrol, and Vitamin C. I believe CBD’s relaxing qualities also helped me recover, while there is plenty of research that shows.

CBD reduces cortisol (the stress hormone), which may mean supplementing CBD before a workout allows your body to handle the stress better.

CBD also helped me sleep better (see number 4), which could go some way to explaining my speedy recovery between workouts.

I have tried meditation, breathing techniques, drinking raw cacao, cold therapy, and more in attempts to tame my wandering attention and to increase my focus – all with varying degrees of success, from none at all to a slight improvement.

Then, when I started taking CBD daily to reduce anxiety, I found that I could concentrate for long periods with minimal effort.

I wouldn’t even notice the time pass by as I sat working, reading, or even meditating.

In fact, after sitting down to meditate, I found it far easier to get focused and stay in the ‘zone’ – a benefit of CBD I certainly never predicted.

Although there is not much research on CBD’s effect on concentration and focus, there is quite a lot on its uses in treating ADD/ADHD.

However, I did find various corroborating opinions on Reddit, with a number of people also noticing an increased attention span and improved concentration.

To be perfectly honest with you, I had never really considered what my bowel movements said about my overall health.

I also never realised how ‘irregular’ I was, and how rarely I passed solid, healthy stool.

Don’t worry, I won’t go into detail.

It is only now that, after taking CBD every day for one year, I know how dysfunctional my bathroom habits were.

I can now set my watch by my calls to nature.

As I mentioned earlier, my sleep improved drastically during my one year of taking CBD daily.

I nodded off quicker (usually within minutes), slept deeper, and stayed asleep longer.

There was no more waking up at 3am, 5am, and 7am.

However, there was one issue – getting out of bed.

When I did wake up (more often than not after a good 8.5 hours), it could be a struggle to get out of bed.

Once I was out, I felt fine and ready to start the day, but while still in bed, I just had the urge to stay there forever.

Perhaps my sleep was so good I didn’t want to leave it?

I did manage to find some reports that showed higher doses of CBD can lead to tiredness, although lower doses were found to induce wakefulness – so maybe I was just taking too much before bedtime.

I guess this comes hand-in-hand with a reduction in stress and anxiety, but it was still a surprise just how much of an effect CBD oil had on my confidence.

I have always been quite introverted and I was generally pretty quiet around new people.

However, after only a few days of supplementing with CBD oil, I found myself confidently interacting with strangers and being a lot more open and sure of myself around new acquaintances.

My experiences are backed up by this study that shows CBD can reduce anxiety associated with public speaking.

This is one effect that I really did not see coming.

Although getting out of bed could be a chore during the start of my year of taking CBD oil, I soon found myself highly motivated to get up and going and to start my day.

As a freelance writer, my mornings would usually often consist of a fair amount of faffing around (wasting time on Facebook and SkySports News), but that was changing.

After the first few weeks of my CBD experiment, I noticed that I had an urge to get out of bed as soon as I woke up, to get breakfast eaten as soon as possible, and to sit at my desk and start to work.

What’s more, I was actually enjoying my work.

Writing an article that would once seem laborious and unappealing became manageable and often enjoyable.

During this last year, I have set myself goals, and I have worked toward these goals and accomplished some of them.

This is unheard of for me.

While smoking cannabis has in the past dampened my motivation, this cannabis derivative seemingly was having the opposite effect.

Although research on CBD and motivation is non-existent, the endocannabinoid system (ECS) – which is the bodily system that CBD and other cannabinoids interact with – has been shown to play a role in:

regulating our motivation, among many other things, such as

hormone levels, mood, appetite, pain sensation, and more.

For years I have tried to stick to a healthy diet, with varying degrees of success, as I’m sure you can relate.

However, since supplementing daily with CBD oil, I found it much easier to resist that sugary treat, to buy a bottle of water over a bottle of wine and even to stop smoking cigarettes.

Although I have tried to live a healthy life for a while now, I used to smoke cigarettes.

Not loads.

Some days I would only have one or two, while on other days, especially when I was drinking, I would go through a 20 deck with ease.

I tried to quit many times, with little success, until I discovered CBD.

I wasn’t just relying on the oil to help me cease smoking tobacco, however.

I started to smoke CBD-rich hemp.

You can read more about that here.

I smoked grass for almost a whole decade, and on the whole it was quite pleasant.

While I wasted many days smoking grass when I was young, it’s only in recent years that I’ve become more selective about smoking.

When I smoked weed, I was a little clumsier than usual, not as fast as usual, and certainly a lot lazier than I would have liked.

I still liked to get stoned, but I had to choose my time well – when I had done everything I needed to do and when I wouldn’t meet new people.

While doing some research on CBD, I stumbled upon some interesting research that showed that CBD counteracted some of the negative effects of THC (the cannabinoid that makes you “high”).

I found that CBD improves the painkilling properties of THC while reducing the paranoia it can cause.

This sparked my interest, to say the least, and so I started taking some CBD oil before smoking grass, and I also started rolling my joints with CBD-rich hemp.

The effects were remarkable.

It is a nice, “clean” high, without the fear and paranoia that strains with high THC content can sometimes cause.
For me it was a change, and since then my cannabis use has been healthier and more enjoyable.

I can only warmly recommend it!

Along with an increase in motivation was an increase in productivity.

I’ve always been a procrastinator.

It takes a long time until I motivate myself to do what I should do, and then I usually just work hard enough to get the job done.

That’s why after a week or so of working hard and diligently (on personal projects as well as professional projects), I was pretty dumbfounded.

Never before have I been so focused and stuck to a task with such ease.

As a result, this past year has been the most fruitful year (again, personally and professionally) of my adult life.

I have been published in a number reputable publications, started my own business, and enjoyed deeper and more meaningful relations with loved ones, old and new.

To summarise my experiences of the last year, in which I consumed CBD oil every single day, I would have to say that life just got more enjoyable.

It wasn’t that life got better, it feels more like I got better.

My mind and my consciousness was upgraded and gave a whole new light to my everyday experiences.

I often caught myself smiling at common occurrences or my random musings.

I became more fun to be around.

There was no longer this underlying sense of worry or fear that I feel plagues the vast majority of people.

In essence, CBD oil helped me get healthier and feel better, this, in turn, gave me a healthier perspective of the world.

Life just wasn’t as bad as it used to be.