My CBD Experience With Equilibria
Hey friend! Just a heads up:
This will be more written content than normal but that’s because this is deeply personal and more thorough than most of my blog posts.
No medical advice here, just my personal experience, you can always ask your doctor and do your own research, you don’t have to take my word for it ;)
Because of my vulnerability in this post, I hope that you’ll honor my trust in you by only leaving positive comments <3 and on that note, I’d love to hear your own personal stories!!
If you’d like to watch me say all of this rather than read it, you’re welcome to watch my saved stories here.
There was a part of me that was hesitant to share about my experience with CBD in the beginning, for fear of judgment or how I was dealing with my stress. Prayer is and always will be where I lean first for help, it’s where I find daily relief and guidance, and my Savior is forever my primary source of strength when I’m suffering from stress or anxiety. Having said that, there are also physical ways to help boost our bodies ability to process stress naturally. This is where CBD comes in!
Because the cannabis plant and its properties have such a negative connotation, I want to start there.
What is CBD?
Our body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) has receptors all throughout the body.
The ECS primary function is to maintain balance in the body - when you get stressed, the ECS helps regulate the stress hormones and adrenaline by releasing the happy, blissful molecules to bring you back into balance. Those molecules are called endocannabinoids, and CBD is a phytocannabinoid - a plant-based molecule that so closely mimics what your body naturally produces, that essentially your body doesn’t know the difference!
Because the ECS is responsible for so much, it’s can cause a lot of problems when it gets depleted from trauma or aging. And since CBD mimics what your system needs to function properly, you actually don’t build a tolerance to it, it’s kind of the reverse and in many cases, people will reduce their dosage after a while because their body has caught up to producing the right amount of natural endocannabinoids.
Ok WHEW! That’s all I’ll say on that here, but trust me when I say the research done on CBD is extensive and theres so much helpful info on Equilibria’s website if you’d like to know more! Like this article.
So why CBD?
I’ve never been great at public speaking, I’ve always known that, but I have always LOVED people. I am a people person to my core, I love relating to people, striking up conversations with strangers and talking for hours with friends. Connection fills my cup and being social has always done that for me until a few years ago. We all know what happened in 2020 and Covid made social situations awkward and tense, I mean, we literally “socially distanced" for months. My social skills felt like they tanked after that and simply not practicing the habit of being social, amplified the social anxiety I associated with public speaking. A simple gathering with a few friends or a bible study became “public speaking” and even thinking about saying something or the anticipation of MAYBE adding to the conversation made my heart race.
If you’ve ever experienced anxiety you know how frustrating and debilitating it can be and just pure annoying. I felt like a part of me was taken away, what I once received so much joy from now made me feel like a crazy person and I just wanted my old self back! It also took me a very long time to label my experience as anxiety, for a long time I just thought of myself as overly sensitive or trying too hard. I know I’m not alone in this, and I felt so encouraged by all your messages when I shared my story on Instagram - we are in this together friends! If you ever need someone to talk to about this, don’t hesitate to shoot me a DM on Instagram or send me an email here to keep this conversation going.
My experience with Equilibria
Flash forward to February 2022 - I had seen a lot of people talk about Equilibria, you probably have too, and so I was curious to try it for myself. (I had been trying out some CBD gummies from another brand for sleep before EQ reached out to me and I could see the benefits in my sleep but not being on a consistent schedule it felt short lived with inconsistent benefits and didn’t help me during the day.) I’ll be honest, I wanted to try Equilibria for my sleep, I wasn’t even thinking about its other benefits!
s t r e s s
In March 2022 I ended up being extremely busy, for some reason all the projects that I’d been working on and coordinating, all landed on the same week. Normally when I have a lot going on and I feel super stressed, I get to a breaking point where I feel super overwhelmed and kind of panicky but this week, being on a CBD schedule for four weeks, I was able to reach that panicky feeling but instead of it sending me into tears like it normally would, I was able to sit on my couch, take a few deep breaths and calmly think about what I need to get done most efficiently.
The stress was still there, CBD doesn’t take anything away but rather than feeling like everything was crashing down, I felt calm and in control, I was able to manage my stress where I haven’t been able to before.
s l e e p
Another way equilibria has been helping me is actually the real reason that I wanted to try CBD in the first place. I have a lot of trouble falling asleep at night my thoughts are very LOUD - all of my thoughts of everything I accomplished that day, things I forgot, things I need to remember to do the next day, all those thoughts kept me from being able to slip off to sleep and kept my brain very active.
Using equilibria I already noticed pretty early on how it was helping my sleep, all of those thoughts that were once so intrusive and kept me awake were all the sudden very quiet, they were still present and to this day I still think about tomorrow and the things I need to get done, but the difference is, now those thoughts are very much like a song in the background and I am able to drift off to sleep while they play.
a n x i e t y
Above all, I am most thankful for the tool CBD has become with my social anxiety. I now feel like I’ve reclaimed a part of myself that’s been missing! I can be a part of group settings and attend social situations with more ease and calm, both before and during, and my anxious heart is at peace again - not completely but even a baby step feels like a leap when you’ve been struggling.
Because CBD builds in your system over time, most people see the best results after several months of consistent use so I know that ‘baby step’ will soon feel like sprinting.
How it works
CBD gives you the ability to process and cope in situations where the usual stress or anxious reaction you used to have no longer takes over.
Before Equilibria, my tipping point would keep me from being rational about what I was facing, I could only think about how stressed I was and little else (because stress can make you spiral!!) but Equilibria helps me relax in a way where I’m less reactive to stressful or tense situations and I can be my own voice of reason again!
Initially, I think I expected to feel something similar to alcohol when you feel it start to take effect, but with CBD you don’t feel anything, you don’t feel differently, you only experience the benefits. Just like how someone would take magnesium before bed, you don’t feel anything it just helps you sleep better, same with the benefits of a vitamin.
About Equilibria
EQ uses organic CBD sourced from a farm they work closely with, quality is their highest concern. They harvest their CBD from the flower of the cannabis plant, which is the cleanest, most pure form of CBD. I’m really impressed with how they prioritize education about CBD, they want you to know what CBD is, how it works and where they source it from.
Dosage specialists - Even before you make a purchase, you have free access to EQ’s team of qualified specialists to help you navigate what products would work best for you and later on you can chat with a dosage specialist to create a personalized CBD daily routine, based on your needs.
I really enjoyed my conversation with Camille, our call took maybe 10 minutes while I told her what products I had and what my schedule looked like. She was really knowledgeable, answered all my questions and also followed up with an email after our chat, detailing my daily routine we had created together, (which was super helpful.)
Equilibria is extremely customizable for two reasons, one being that everyone’s body is different - everyone’s needs are going to be different and not one product is going to work for everyone. And two, not one routine is going to work for everyone and that is why the 1:1 call with the dosage specialist is so helpful because they listen to your needs and your goals and help you formulate a routine to help make taking equilibria the most successful experience possible.
EQ wants to set you up for success with their products!
You can always talk to your doctor first if you’re unsure about CBD and Equilibria has a pharmacy team of trained pharmacists to help you navigate taking EQ in tandem with your other prescriptions.
My routine
I currently take a daily soft gel capsule in the late morning with my first meal, the soft gels are fat soluble so taking it with a healthy fat (I usually make some avocado toast) gives your body the best chance of absorption. My discount code with Equilibria is AimeeReiff, which gives you 15% off as a new or existing customer. You can also use it on a subscription, which is my recommendation for the best results! The Relief+ bundle I use is linked here.
Then I take half a dropper in the afternoon and the other half with dinner. And just recently I’ve added EQ daily gummies to my routine which I take once I’ve begun to get ready for bed. Gummies linked here.
I love how the daily routine serves as a guideline but not a hard line in the sand. On days where I’m experiencing more stress than normal or I’m anticipating needing extra help, my doses are flexible and I can take more or less, earlier or later depending on what I need!
Because EQ is not formulated for women, Matt has begun a CBD routine with Equilibria as well, so far our favorite products are the Drink Drops! You can squeeze them into any drink for a little extra CBD in your routine, (we love using sparkling water) and many people, us included, find it a really great alternative to alcohol for winding down in the evening! Drink drops linked here. They’re not currently available in a subscription but I’ll let you know if that changes.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, friend! If Equilibria sounds like it might be helpful for you, feel free to ask me questions about the brand or their products, I’d be happy to answer!