Pressing the Pause Button - West University Moms

Recently, we showcased the moms behind Press Pause, a female-focused CBD company. We also asked the passionate ladies who started the brand to dispel some myths about CBD—including the stigma and misconceptions around CBD. This week, co-founder Dawn Fable shares with us the many benefits of CBD and one of her primary reasons for starting Press Pause—fighting her own anxiety.

Current studies are showing the potential for CBD to help with various forms of anxiety, from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to PTSD, insomnia and others.  Because anxiety is something so many women—especially moms—struggle with, we hope her story may help anyone struggling. Here’s a bit more about Dawn’s experience with GAD, using CBD to qualm her anxiety, and more.

Thank you so much for sharing your anxiety story! When were you diagnosed with GAD?
Not formally until I was a Junior in college, when I sought out help for my anxiety. It was becoming more debilitating in my everyday life. I think I probably experienced anxiety symptoms before then, but didn’t really know what to make of them and thought like any teenager, I could overcome it. After the birth of my third child, my anxiety was back and almost worse than it had been before (probably a combination of PPD, hormones and the general feeling of being overwhelmed with three young children).  I was disenchanted with the side effects of anxiety medication and wanted to try something natural. CBD changed my life.

How did you decide to try CBD for anxiety? 
Interestingly, my husband and I invested in a CBD company several years ago. I didn’t even know what CBD was and like most people, I associated it with the marijuana industry. As we get more involved with this company, I started meeting people of all different walks of life who had been positively impacted by CBD. I was skeptical at first, but after hearing all of the incredible stories on how CBD had helped others, I gave it a shot.

What was the effect like—was it immediate or did you slowly realize it was helping?
I’m not really sure… I just started to slowly recognize that my anxiety seemed much less. I wasn’t catastrophizing my thoughts as often, I was worrying less, and I felt an overall sense of things rolling off my shoulders a bit easier. An inside joke for our family is always asking one another if we forgot to take our CBD that day if either one of us is losing our cool with each other or the kids!

Too funny. What are your favorite products from your line, for anxiety?
The Press Pause tincture is my go to and as we like to call it, “The Queen Bee.” That’s what I’ve found to have the biggest benefits for my anxiety, tension and sleep. When we formulated the Press Pause CBD line, we were mindful in formulating products that catered towards Moms and the things we are disproportionately impacted by. Often times, we hear stress, anxiety, tension and sleep are at the top of the list!

Now what is a typical day like for you?
Oh gosh, with three kids, two dogs, a husband and full time career outside of Press Pause… That’s a loaded question. On most days, I would refer to it as the “most beautiful disaster I’ve ever been a part of.” I’m sure our days are no different than most families—a lot of hustling and rushing out the door, calling my kids all the wrong names, ordering soccer shorts that are two sizes too big, forgetting about pajama day at school and a lot of dry shampoo. Right!? Thanks to CBD, there’s just a lot less yelling, not getting myself worked up about the insignificant things and feeling more present. I am able to enjoy more of those times that you are able to Press Pause and get lost “in these beautiful moments of life.”

Love that! What would you tell moms out there struggling with anxiety?
Ugh! I’m so sorry, as I’ve been there and it can be consuming, but you’re not alone. I think in today’s society, we put so much pressure on ourselves and have these expectations to be real life super heroes contributing to a lot of our own anxieties. As women, we’re expected to do it all, and often times, we do…with grace. But, not without struggling internally with anxiety and stress. So many of us feel shamed to feel that way and whisper around this topic in fear that we might be judged. For us, Press Pause is so much more than a CBD line. We want to create a mission around self-care and giving one another Permission to Press Pause in your own beautiful disasters. We hope to stop the whispering around mental health and anxiety and share our struggles around this topic as well as share things that have helped our anxiety like CBD. For myself and my best friend and business partner, Torrey…Press Pause was our calling to help do that.

Do you still face a lot of misconceptions about CBD?
Unfortunately, yes, and there is still a stigma. As it’s gotten more attention and become more mainstream, that has gotten better, but we still want to continue the education around the safety of CBD in general and the Press Pause CBD line. CBD is Safe, CBD is effective and CBD does not have any psychoactive effects. As Moms, we worry about getting high and not being able to function in our daily lives—that is not the case with CBD. Opening up those lines of communication and talking to women with concerns has been a huge priority of ours.

You have such a variety of products in your lineup now. What are some others you’re loving at the moment?
Our tincture is our most popular item. It’s economical and it lasts several months. It also allows you to find your personal dose—dose up and dose down for what makes you feel comfortable. So many people combine the tincture with one of our topical products. For instance, we can’t keep our healing balm in stock because people are loving it for tension headaches, on the spot treatment, using it as a relaxation aid before bed and so much more. We’ve formulated our tension and muscle cream for aging bodies. If you’re like me, my body tends to ache a bit more and I’m not recovering from injuries like I used to. Also, we wanted to create a quality product for our aging parents with stiff joints. This is our go to for that! Oh, but we also love our tea…We have 2 flavors now, a Chai with a bit of caffeine and a decaf Bloom option. I sip on a Press Pause CBD tea every afternoon and it gives me that extra boost and I swear, when I get home, there’s not a ton that can rattle me! Rumor has it, it also helps people tremendously with sleep! Our capsules are great too—they’ve really been a hit recently! There is 10mg of CBD in each capsule. And, we just launched a lavender CBD bath bomb which is amazing for relaxing and for holiday gifts!

What are some other ways you manage your GAD?
Besides CBD? Hmmmm… I try to fit out some exercise (when I can) and try to surround myself with people who make me laugh. Laughter really is the best medicine and allows you to escape…

Agreed! What’s the funniest question you’ve gotten about CBD?
Ha, that’s a good one! Women often ask me if CBD helps your sex drive? I always laugh and say, “Well, sort of….. it doesn’t make you wanna slap your husband when he tries to have sex with you, so, YES!”

Ha! Now that CBD has entered the mainstream, how important is it to seek out a quality product?
Oh my goodness, CBD is everywhere! It’s exciting and super problematic at the same time because there’s very little regulation in the industry. As consumers, you don’t know what product you’re getting and the quality of CBD products can be so easily compromised. For all you know, you could be buying a $100 bottle of coconut oil. Our biggest priority is to put out quality products and ensure that we go to great lengths to make our tribe feel safe when using any of our products. We send all of our products through a multitude of 3rd party lab testing pre and post manufacturing, we are very mindful of using only the best and natural ingredients and have full transparency into each of our products by displaying our COA’s or certificate of analysis on our website for each batch. You have to do your homework in this industry!

Anything else you’d like to share at this time?
A lot of people are curious of how we came up with the Press Pause Project name. Like so many of you amazing women, we had a little book club made up of the most beautiful tribe, inside and out, called the “1 Little Word Club.” Each of us were to choose a word that we wanted more of in our lives and were to be held accountable for. It was so crazy because as I looked around that room, from an outside each one of these women looked like they had their lives perfectly together. But from the inside, each one of us were drowning. Whether it was climbing the corporate ladder, struggling in our marriages, navigating thru issues with our children or watching our loved ones age. For one women, her word was PAUSE. She stated that when things started to accelerate wildly out of control, she just wished she could tattoo the PAUSE button on her wrist as a reminder. It was that night that the Press Pause Project was born.

To try Press Pause products, go to https://www.presspauseproject.com and use code LOCALMOMS for 20% off. 

This post is sponsored by Press Pause. 

Join The West University Moms Network Community

Stay up-to-date with what is happening in-and-around the West University Texas community with local events, community highlights, and exclusive deals.