How to Feel More Centered When Stressful Situations Seem Unavoidable

From psyching yourself up to mask up and head into a grocery store to watching the debates and figuring out your plan to vote, tasks that once seemed run-of-the-mill could cause you to experience short-term stress.
CBD and Situational Stress
Here’s what you need to know about this particular type of stress and how CBD can help.The short-term stress response
Although short-term stress is an ongoing, slow-motion form of stress that you’ll experience over the course of weeks or months, short-term stress is defined as temporary stress that the brain — and, in turn, the body — perceives as an immediate psychological, emotional, or physical threat. Whether you’re finding it tough to remain calm behind the wheel or you’re in the midst of a heart-racing political debate with a loved one, stress causes the amygdala — an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing — to send a distress signal to the hypothalamus, which communicates with the rest of the body through the nervous system that it’s time to either fight or flee. In turn, the hypothalamus will trigger the sympathetic nervous system to set off a cascade of hormones: adrenaline (which bumps up your heart rate and blood pressure to boosting your energy supply), and later, cortisol (which is often referred to as the stress hormone). Both are meant to give you more energy to deal with that perceived threat. But, as the Mayo Clinic notes, cortisol also suppresses bodily functions that might be problematic when you’re in fight-or-flight mode, such as regular processes of your immune, digestive, and reproductive systems. It might also interfere with your mood, motivation, and fear.When short-term stress becomes long-term
That spike of adrenaline and cortisol produced by the brain and adrenal glands happens every time we encounter a stressful situation, says Haley Hansen, Equilibria Dosage Specialist. And this is particularly concerning, given just how often those stressful situations are popping up this year. After all, an ongoing flood of adrenaline and cortisol can wreak havoc on our body, says Hansen. In short, the body’s processes, which are affected by the stress response, can become impaired. Putting you at risk of a bevy of health concerns from digestive problems to sleep problems and memory impairment.How CBD can help

It bears noting that you can best guard your overall wellness against the negative effects of both short-term and long-term stress by taking CBD every day, consistently. This is because CBD, like all cannabinoids, builds up in the body over time. A daily dose can help maintain sustained levels in your system and promote a more effective Endocannabinoid System (ECS). The ECS is a biological system that has shown to help control sleep, mood, and overall homeostasis (a body’s state of balance). So it is crucial to keep it in top condition. That said, when you’re anticipating or experiencing a stressor — say you’re dining out for the first time since the pandemic began — you might consider enhancing your protocol and stress response by taking a “micro-dose” of CBD, says Hansen. This could look like just a ½ dropper of the Daily Drops in addition to your regular dose. “Many women like to take a small dose like this before stressful events like leading a big Zoom call or getting out of the house to go vote,” notes Hansen. The end result: You can face these daily encounters with stress feeling more cool, calm, and collected.In turn, it’s tougher to fall into ‘crisis mode,’ explains Hansen. “In fact, many women report that CBD helps them ‘feel like they have a longer fuse’ and ‘aren’t so triggered by everyday stressors,’” she notes. “How helpful during 2020!”
