The Perfect Dream: CBD and Sleep
As studies continue to show, CBD and sleep have quickly become a go-to alternative for those looking to drift off to dreamland. And since March is National Sleep Month, we figured what better time to turn off the lights, crawl into bed, and snuggle up with a good read.
Below you’ll find three consumer profiles – all with a different degree of needs, and a wide variety of everyday variables. From kids and clutter to working weekends and aging ailments, these profiles make it quick and easy to discover CBD oil for sleep.
CBD and Sleep: A Tool for Healthy Sleep Habits
Five, Ten years ago, the story may have been different. “CBD and sleep? I don’t need sleep!” But the fact remains, you’re not 18 years young anymore. You don’t want to hear it, but it happens to everyone. Yes, you’re aging a bit. It’s time to come to terms with that. Four to five hours of sleep won’t do the trick anymore.
If you’re trying to stay fit, you might find that you’re more likely to experience minor but highly annoying aches and pains. You’re not going to recover from overworked muscles, and joints like you did a few years ago, and that can interfere with your sleep patterns.
Also, if you really take stock, you’ll probably notice a significant amount of stress in your life. That’s especially the case if you frequently travel, work odd hours, or work on a contract basis – a part of professional life that is becoming more common. And a recent NPR/Marist poll found that a contract-based employee holds one in five jobs.
Not to mention the fact that you’re also responsible for your finances. And if anything can lead to bedtime worry, it’s money.
All that stress can take a toll on your ability to get restful sleep. Does CBD oil help with sleep? How can you get a good night’s rest if you’re tossing and turning while thinking about all the things that drive you nuts?
There’s no magic wand for better sleep, but there is a multitude of tools available. Along with mindful life habits, CBD oil and melatonin in the form of CBD sleep aids and CBD topicals are just a couple of alternative options you can use for better rest and recovery.
The Mind and Body Approach to CBD and Sleep
Bad habits, both sleep-related and otherwise, are a serious obstacle to drifting off, staying asleep, and waking up refreshed. But CBD and sleep have been shown to go hand-in-hand, as studies continue to explore CBD applications.
First, let’s talk about general health and wellness. According to SleepFoundation.org, it’s fairly common knowledge that a smart diet and exercise can help you sleep.
But that Sunday soccer league that you play? You’re bound to strain, tweak, pull, and roll any number of things. That same is true for any high-impact or strenuous exercise, like running or weight training. The fact of the matter is that pain causes sleep problems – both in getting to sleep and staying asleep.
One way to incorporate CBD and sleep into your daily life is to reach for a CBD topical. CBD Freeze with menthol can help relieve those nagging pains at bedtime, and you can feel it working almost immediately.
Now, let’s talk about your evening routine.
Many of us take everything to bed – our stressful day at work, our financial worries, our personal angst, and our mobile devices. One way to combat that is a routine that prepares your mind and body for sleep.
It can start 30 minutes before bedtime with CBD PM softgel capsules, a CBD oil with melatonin sleep aid by cbdMD that combines with a special blend of botanicals to help you get the rest you need. And since they’re in capsule form, they’re particularly convenient for busy people on the go.
From there, there are several steps you can take to help induce a more calm, restful sleep. Start with unplugging and disconnecting:
- Shut off the television
- Put your phone on silent
- Dim the lights
- Close your laptop
In other words, start drawing a barrier between your waking life and your sleep time. Go about your evening routine slowly:
- Dental hygiene
- Makeup removal
- Face wash
- Skincare routine
Be sure to concentrate on each task individually, slowly allowing your brain plenty of time to shut down and prepare for a good night’s sleep.
Just before bed, take a few moments to breathe, practice meditation, or utilize a similar mindfulness exercise. Clear your mind. If you can’t stop thinking about tomorrow, write down a list of your upcoming tasks. Doing so can help you get those thoughts out of your head by putting them on the page.
In the end, restful, rejuvenating sleep is worth the work – no matter your age.
CBD and Sleep: You’ve Got Kids – Will You Ever Sleep Again?
CBD and sleep: do they really go hand-in-hand? The short answer: yes, they do.
With the U.S. birth rate hitting an all-time low, those of you who take up the work of carrying on the human race can feel like you’re bearing a lonely burden.
You’re up early in the morning to get the kids off to school before hitting your workplace, where your boss and your clients have their own set of demands. Then when you get back home, your kids still have way more energy than you do, so it’s all you can do to keep up with the little marauders.
Even if you’re a full-time homemaker, there’s a lot that can stress you out. Neighbors and busybodies, both physical and virtual, are happy to tell how you’re messing up your kids for life if you don’t serve home-cooked meals or leave them alone in the car for 10 minutes. And while it’s great to have a spouse who financially supports you, your different careers can put you in different worlds.
With all that going on, it’s tough to unwind enough to get a good night’s rest. Fortunately, CBD PM and CBD bath bombs for sleep are here to help.
The Quest For Balance with CBD and Sleep
The greatest challenge for any household with kids is finding the right balance between the needs of all the different parties – children and adults alike. There’s no perfect solution, but if you’re so stressed out it’s interfering with your sleep, you probably need more “me” time.
Setting boundaries is important. Children tend to want to be in everything, both from natural curiosity and the desire to be the center of attention. So it’s a good idea to put certain times and places off-limits. If Mom needs to take a bath or a nap, then they cannot interfere.
Taking a nice hot bath with a CBD bath bomb for sleep can be a good way to unwind. Not only do they include 100 mg of soothing CBD, but they’re also infused with aromatherapy scents like eucalyptus and frankincense. With the wealth of additional ingredients and essential oils, CBD bath bombs for minor aches are a great way to support recovery after a long day at work.
After everything is all quiet on the western front, invite your spouse for a little romance – or enjoy half an hour of solitude. Either way, CBD bath bombs for sleep are a great way to relax, regroup, and recharge.
The Power of CBD and Melatonin
One of the fastest-growing product selections is CBD and melatonin.
Bedtime is also an important time for self-care. It can be easy to feel like you should go full-speed until you sack out, but our bodies and brains aren’t made for that. Instead, the primordial signs of the night – darkness, coolness, quiet – spark the production of melatonin, a hormone that signals when it’s time to sleep.
Hence why CBD oil and melatonin are quickly becoming all the rage in CBD and sleep. Melatonin is a key ingredient in CBD PM. Made with hemp oil and a special blend of soothing herbs, CBD PM includes 150 mg of melatonin to help you drift off. CBD PM, the winner of the 2020 Product of the Year Award, is one of the fastest-selling products on the market.
Don’t just rely on that, though. You can also help your melatonin production by turning off as many lights as you can – including screens – keeping your bedroom reasonably cooler and cranking down the noise.
CBD and Sleep For Everyone
Getting enough sleep isn’t just an indulgence. It can also make you a better parent. Lack of sleep leads to irritability, memory loss, and greater vulnerability to illness – not exactly the stuff of great parenting!
Plus, if you practice good habits of sleep and self-care, your children can learn them too. Making the evening a special time of relaxation and quiet can help counteract the constant temptations of TV, streaming, and video games that have helped make us a nation of insomniacs. And checking out a selection of superior CBD oil can help complement all those healthy sleep habits.
Here’s to making sure the next generation does better!
The Truth About CBD and Sleep and Aging
CBD and sleep and aging, do they have anything in common? If you go by TV, it seems like nothing is easier for a senior citizen than falling asleep. From The Crown’s Winston Churchill dozing off during his portrait painting to Grandpa Simpson conking out, the constantly napping elder is a standard comic trope.
So it might be both heartening and disappointing to get older and find out that it isn’t true. In fact, for many people sleeping becomes more difficult with age.
There are many reasons. Your days may be more relaxing if you’re retired, but less activity can make it harder to get to sleep at night.
Plus, you may have chronic pain or restless legs syndrome, which always seems to get worse when you shut off the distractions and go to bed. You may be on medicines to help with those – but the medication themselves may have side effects that disturb your sleep cycle.
Then when you do doze off, staying asleep can be more difficult. Your bladder is less patient than it used to be, and when you are sleeping, it often seems shallower and more easily disturbed than when you were younger.
A multi-part problem like that requires more than one solution. While there are steps that you can take to help improve the overall quality of sleep, there are alternative options like CBD oil and melatonin. Many people are surprised by how well CBD and sleep can work together.
Does CBD Oil Help with Sleep?
A concern of many people looking for sleep solution alternatives, does CBD oil help with sleep? While the FDA continues to regulate and verify the many applications of sleep, some studies have looked at the possible use of CBD oil for sleep.
While studies continue to further research CBD application as a whole, some studies suggest CBD may be useful as part of a complementary routine to better support overall sleep quality. Another sleep study indicates that CBD does not interfere with the sleep/wake cycle of the body. Another option is CBD melatonin or CBD oil and melatonin as a snooze-inducing option.
Melatonin is a hormone found within the human body that helps regulate the sleep/wake cycle. Melatonin is often useful as a way to help those suffering from lack of sleep while promoting a longer, more restful night’s sleep.
Tips for Better Sleep as a Senior
When we get older, the bad habits of a lifetime have a way of catching up with us. And when retirement rearranges your life, those habits might even get worse. So building up good habits is key to improving the sleep cycle.
1. Be active
You may no longer be able to do the same sports and fitness routines that you once did, but lots of facilities offer low-impact activities suited to older people, like water exercise and tai chi.
2. Stick to a schedule
You might become tempted to ignore the clock once you retire. Try to stick to a reasonable itinerary of eating and sleeping. Your body has a natural circadian rhythm, which is slightly different for each person, but you can influence it with your behavior.
3. Avoid excessive eating/drinking
Avoid excessive eating and alcohol consumption, especially late in the day. It may be relaxing in the short term, but your energy rebounds in a few hours, disturbing your slumber.
4. Unplug to unwind
Minimize your use of artificial light and heat as you near bedtime. That’s a signal to your body to start producing melatonin, which tells you it’s time for some shuteye. Turn off the phone and television, and relax with a good book before bed.
If you’re still suffering from minor pains and stiffness, as most of us are, a good CBD topical can help you out. With added ingredients like histamine dihydrochloride, menthol, arnica, MS, vitamin B6, essential oils, and more, CBD topicals for pain offer another option to help prepare your body for bed.
CBD PM, the winner of the 2020 Product of the Year Award, combines the power of melatonin with CBD and a proprietary blend of soothing herbal extracts to help promote sleep. Wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day by adding CBD oil for sleep to your daily health and wellness routine.
Consult Your Doctor
If you’re having persistent trouble sleeping – or conversely, if you’re as prone to dozing off as Grandpa Simpson – there could be some underlying cause that needs attention.
It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor regularly. Talking with your doctor can help you discover new sleep strategies experts are trying, and further decide what options best suit your needs. You can even talk to your doctor about CBD and determine whether CBD and sleep are the right combinations for you.
Whatever you do, it’s important to remember there’s no one-size-fits-all sleep solution. Some people do fine with only six or seven hours a night, while some might do best with nine. Some people are early birds, and others are night owls. The important thing is to find what works for you – and superior CBD can be part of that.
Disclaimer: The cbdMD blog contains general information about health, diet, lifestyle, and nutrition. Any information provided should not be considered or treated as medical advice and always consult a medical professional before making any lifestyle changes. Products and information mentioned on the cbdMD blog are not intended to be used as a substitute for medical diagnosis, advice or treatment. Any links to third-party websites are provided as a convenience only and cbdMD is not responsible for their content.