I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it…but I’m kind of an anxious person. After weeks and weeks of struggling silently and secretly with an ever-increasing sense of overwhelming anxiety, I finally stopped and recognised the need to reassess my schedule, my bad habits and my priorities.

There are a number of things I’m working on to reduce my anxiety. I’ve been obsessive about getting early nights, I’ve been drinking far less, eating better, exercising more, limiting the amount of time I am on my phone and putting real boundaries in when it comes to my work schedule. I’d be lying if I said I was nailing all these strategies, all the time but what I am nailing is being more present in my decision making and always bringing it back to my mental health.

On top of that, I’ve also been introducing CBD. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have seen it and heard about it everywhere and when I talked about my anxiety on Instagram, I was inundated with messages about how CBD had helped them. Here’s the thing though, I didn’t know where to start so, while I was keen and interested, I filed it away as something I would get around to at some point…in other words, probably never.

Then, The Chillery reach out to me and asked I wanted to work with them. It seemed like serendipity; the perfect way to get myself into CBD and to learn more about it and, let me tell you, they definitely know their stuff. The Chillery is Europe’s first premium CBD wellness retailer - it’s the Net a Porter of CBD products, curating the best quality products from brands around the world. It’s a brand determined to take the fear out of CBD - there’s not a hippy to be seen, no hemp skirts or novelty bongs. The Chillery is making CBD stylish, accessible and attractive to people like you and me because, frankly as women and mothers and bosses, we are dealing with a lot and if CBD can help us shoulder the emotional load without losing out minds, then sure, sign me up.

Despite the bombardment of all things CBD recently, I was still pretty confused about what it was, what it can help with, how to use it, where to get it and what the heck it was made from but after diving down their blog rabbit hole, I felt all clued up. CBD stands for cannabidiol, an abundant chemical in the cannabis plant. CBD is an all natural, non-psychotropic, non-addictive treatment and while it’s related to marijuana, it’s not going to get you stoned - but it does make you feel better. As their blog says, “The secret to its apparent success lies in its interaction with your body’s natural endocannabinoid system, which regulates numerous bodily functions and is said to range from appetite to reproduction, stress to temperature control and inflammation.”

To make life easier, The Chillery focuses on five needs based pillars: sleep, stress, pain, beauty and intimacy. No points for guessing what I was going to focus on (not intimacy…I’ve got two kids and two businesses, my husband is away a lot and frankly, it’s going to take a lot to come between me and my kindle on an evening). No, for me, I wanted to see how I could use CBD to manage the stress and anxiety in my life. The Chillery sent me three products: the YuYo AM Formula, Dr. Kerklaan Natural CBD Relief Cream and a CBD chocolate bar from Melt Chocolates. I wanted to test it in relation to my anxiety, but as luck (ahem) would have it, starting CBD treatment also tied in with the bitchiest part of my menstrual cycle. Two birds, one stone, so to speak.

I’ve been using the YuYo AM Formula 2-3 times a day and I’d describe it as taking the edge off, loosening the knots, releasing the pressure. It’s something I felt in my body, rather than my mind, but the resulting effect certainly helped my mind relax. In no way did I feel impaired and out of control - I felt like my insides were taking a warm bath. It wasn’t an overwhelming feeling, but one that, when I concentrated on it, I could appreciate. I can honestly say that after 10 days of using CBD YuYo AM Formula regularly - just a pipettes-worth under my tongue), I have noticed an overwhelming difference in my sense of wellbeing and my ability to manage my anxiety. It’s as if my heart is beating slower and stronger, my emotional pathways have been greased up and work more smoothly and as for my PMT - I was still a bit of a bitch to be fair, but nothing like the DEFCON 5 level of normal bitchiness. Even my husband said, “You seem more chilled.”

And I guess that’s it. It’s hard to explain the what CBD feels like but what I can say is this: in previous blogs I’ve described my anxiety as a silent screaming inside me. The CBD treatment stopped that screaming and frankly, for me, that was a big deal.

This article is part of a paid partnership with The Chillery.