How often do you experience those times when you have what seems like a thousand racing thoughts circulating within your mind? 

You know the types of thoughts that are being described. Those thoughts that are almost always are followed by a faint, clammy, and anxious shallow breathing that signals the imminent arrival of a worrying rapid increase in your heart rate. If you resonate with any of this then you will most likely want to hear about a strategy that could bring you back to equilibrium faster than usual. Nope, it’s not 50mg of a CBD oil or a quick pull of your vape. Well, that may work too. But, let’s get to that later. The strategy in question is journaling and it is a tool that has been used by historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, the American author Mark Twain and the legendary filmmaker George Lucas. 

The latest research indicates that writing in a journal can lead to better sleep, a stronger immune system, more self-confidence and a higher I.Q. Journaling has even been dubbed the cheapest form of therapy. But, the idea of a cannabis journal maybe resonates to you if you are a career or a patient that has used medical cannabis in the past. If not and you or someone you know is considering starting to integrate a CBD or any other type of cannabinoid into your life, then read on because these five points are for you. 

What is a Cannabis Journal? 

While others use a standard journal to arrange, decompress or simply dump their thoughts into a secure place, a cannabis journal is your place to track, monitor and learn from the products you are taking. 

A cannabis journal can be an extremely important tool for optimising your dosing, creating self-awareness about your experiences in using cannabis, and it can even assist you to make discoveries about what flower strains, oils, balms or edibles have the most desired effect for combating ailments or promoting key areas of your health that includes your sleep, mental health, physical health, and more.

While a cannabis journal does not have to be undertaken in a set format, you can see below for ideas on how you can keep you on track of your cannabis to give you the most optimal benefits. 

How a Cannabis Journal can make you feel your best!

Do you know how much value there is for your health, stability and happiness in simply asking yourself the question “how am I feeling right now?”. Andy Puddicombe, the Buddhist monk and now founder of the meditation app, Headspace describes this best by saying that we (humans) don’t have the capacity to be distracted and aware at the same time. What this means is that a regular practice of checking in with your emotions gives you a capacity to be self-aware of your current circumstances. 

To apply the same principle of “checking in with your cannabis” makes a lot of sense particularly if you are someone that is hearing more about the growing benefits of cannabis and interested to see if it can help reduce your pain, improve your sleep or start improving your anxiety. The benefits of gaining awareness around the type, dosing and method of delivery of the cannabis you are taking is significant to ensure that you gauge the right amount for you. For example, imagine if you decided to start taking a THC based product to assist your pain. There are certain points that you and your doctor would like to know to ensure that the THC is assisting your pain while also maintaining your quality of life across key domains in your life that includes your performance at work, your capacity to remain independent in the community, and other factors that includes the correlations with your mental health and your integration with your loved ones or your peer group. 

What are the best ways to keep a cannabis journal? 

With an increasing demand for cannabis around the world it is not surprising to see different journals becoming available to track, monitor and support you to use cannabis to feel your best. To make it easy for you, we have broken this section into three sections:

Pen and Notepad  

With an ever presence of technology in your life, a therapeutic nostalgia can be associated with the idea of using a pen and notepad to start your cannabis journal. The open space of the lined pages in a book may speak to the creatives that can add drawings and other designs to the dates, timing, reactions, products and experiences that have been associated with the traditional form of journaling. 

A Cannabis Journal

In keeping with tradition of writing or drawing about your cannabis experiences in a journal, there are now several options that are specifically designed to take this experience to the next level. With information about strains, historical information and the animated pages of many of the modern journals, the process of capturing your cannabis experiences in a journal is something you should consider. 

These types of journals can be a great gift and you can think of this like your travel journey as something that you can go back to a later stage for a joyful trip down memory lane throughout the years to come. 

The only word of caution about writing this in either of the above options is the chance of this being lost and forgotten forever. Trust me, if it occurs to you, it can be heartbreaking and all the intricate daily details that made your experiences are gone. 

If this interests you, the GldLeaf Cannabis Journal may be a wise investment. The Patient Journal empowers patients by dramatically simplifying the unknown process that can come with experimenting with cannabis based products. 

Cannabis Tracking Apps  

While there is increase in technology in most aspects of our lives, there is a good reason for this particularly when cannabis tracking apps are akin to your old fashion journal or day planner walking into the future. For the best mobile applications in the cannabis space, you should expect product tracking of flower, oils, edibles, balms and however else you want to take your cannabis. Also, the reminders to take your cannabis and track your experiences plus the guarantee to not lose your precious information makes the technology options appealing. 

If you have a digital cannabis journal or tracker, it should also do more than just track your cannabis. With the increasing science supporting the medical properties of cannabis, you want to see your progress for key areas of your health like sleep, connectivity to your iwatch or fitbit for step counting, integrations with other vitamins, supplements or medications, and also a capacity to seamlessly share this information with your doctor or healthcare provider. 

If this interests you, download OnTracka, the new Australia app that is fresh on the scene to make tracking your cannabis journey a seamless experience. Think of OnTracka like your old fashioned diary or day planner that walked into the future. Including features such as medication tracking, progress reports and mental health support, OnTracka is an easy-to-use daily tool for the everyday cannabis patient. 

Is journaling for you? 

To help answer this question for you, it can be a good idea to consider the reasons that you are considering cannabis. If you are looking at integrating cannabis into your life or the life of a loved one for medical reasons, it would be highly recommended to start documenting this experience to give you and your medical team the best chance of measuring the effectiveness of cannabis. 

If you are more curious about trailing CBD or other cannabinoids to see how it can improve your general health and well-being, then there are also some really strong reasons to suggest that a cannabis journal can be helpful for you. For example, imagine if you were to start trailing a CBD to reduce inflammation, see if it improves your sleep or mood or reduces some pain. As you may or may not know, CBD, by itself, does not cause a high. While this is appealing for some, it may make it more difficult to gauge the immediate benefits of CBD helps your health. Without a cannabis journal, there may be some critical information that you may be missing about important areas of your health. 

How to get started? 

From the information you now have about keeping a cannabis journal, it is a matter of whether or not you feel more inclined to stay on track of your experience through a pen and notepad or if you will head to the app or play store to download one of the free apps like OnTracka. 

Whatever decision you make, be mindful that it is best to track the product, dosing, timing, symptoms that you experienced and then any other correlating information that includes a focus on your sleep, relationships, mental health, and physical well-being.