Healing Herbs You Can Smoke

Most people are well aware of medicinal herbs and know they can be eaten, steeped as tea, and turned into tinctures and salves. Did you know that you can also smoke many herbs?

When these herbs are heated to the point of combustion, they can break the blood-brain barrier in less than 10 seconds. This makes smoking the best and fastest way to seek relief when you’re struggling with pain or having issues with mucus building up in your lungs.

Preparing Your Herbal Mixture for Smoking

You can smoke most herbs as is, once they’re dried. However, most people prefer to create a blend of herbs to get the most out of them. In some cases, herbs won’t release certain healing properties until they’re burned, so this may be the best way to use some of them.

To create your own smoking blend, which can be smoked in a rolling paper or a pipe, you want to start out by identifying your need. Are you trying to stop the pain? Beat a lung infection? Boost immunity? Once you know what you’re trying to achieve, you can select the herbs to work with that.

You’ll need a base herb, which should help your remedy work well, but not have a terribly strong flavor. Mullein is an excellent base herb. You’ll want roughly 40-50% of the mixture to be the base.

From there, you add more specific herbs to make up another 40-45% of the mix, such as skullcap and St. John’s Wort to ease anxiety. This could be added to mullein as the base. You now have a perfectly usable herbal smoking blend. However, not all herbs taste great, as we well know, so you may want to add something for flavor, as well. You can try something refreshing like peppermint, calming like lavender, or anise to help with digestion, depending on what your purpose is. You can use up to 5% of flavoring herbs in the mixture.

Some people also like to add some astringent herbs to cut through everything and keep your lungs healthy. These should make up no more than 15% of the total amount of herbs in the mixture.

Keep in mind that over-dried herbs will be unpleasant to smoke, so you can just spritz them lightly with water and rub the leaves together to moisten them ever so slightly. The end result is a much more enjoyable puff. Another option is to add a piece of citrus peel to the container when you package the mix. These will help rehydrate the herbs somewhat, but will also lend a pleasant flavor to them.

Herbal smoking mixtures may be used in a pipe or paper.

Bergamot

Smoke this pungent herb to fight off pulmonary infections. It is packed with oregano oil, which works as a natural antibiotic and anti-septic.

It’s also used to prevent nicotine cravings if you’re trying to quit smoking. The herb will also give you a nice immune boost.

Coltsfoot

You should avoid using too much of this herb in a smoking blend since it can cause some pretty heavy-duty coughing, but small amounts are fine. It’s an expectorant, so works well in cases where a cough is unproductive. This herb is quite mild.

Hyssop

Smoke some hyssop and you’ll not only get rid of the phlegm and mucus clogging up your lungs, you’ll also soothe the mucus membranes in your throat and lungs. It’s usually used to treat emphysema or to clear out the lungs.

However, hyssop is also helpful in treating anxiety, provoking sweating, and increasing focus and concentration.

Korean Ginseng

Ginseng has many healing properties when used traditionally, but when smoked, it offers even more. It enhances breathing by dilating the blood vessels in your lungs, as well as purifying your adrenal glands.

If you tend to stress out often or suffer from high anxiety, you can end up with adrenal fatigue and Korean ginseng is ideal for treating this. It can also give you more energy and may even help prevent lung cancer.

Mugwort

Traditionally, mugwort is used in spiritual rituals, since it can cause mild hallucinations. That being said, it’s also extremely useful for a wide variety of diseases, including anxiety, chronic pain, coughs, and fevers, among others.

It blends very well with other herbs on this list and will help you feel more relaxed when you smoke it.

Mullein

If you’re suffering from a lot of phlegm or mucus in your lungs, smoking mullein will help you break that up and cough it out. It not only helps you cough more productively but also helps clear out lung infections and reduces inflammation.

Since it is flavorless, it works well as the base for a herbal remedy.

Skullcap

Frequently used in salves, skullcap is best smoked to prevent insomnia and calm anxiety. It’s a wonderful soothing agent for a nervous headache or other nervous system issues.

It can be mixed with other herbs for a more powerful effect.

Uva-Ursi

This low-lying herb is also named kinnikinnick and has traditionally been used by Native Americans as a ceremonial herb. It has been used to treat UTIs and other types of infections. Smoking the herb can help clear the lungs and reduce inflammation, as it has astringent properties. You can overdose, so be sure to use only small amounts (no more than 2-4 grams per day) in your herbal remedies.

White Horehound

For those suffering from asthma, white horehound is very useful. It also comes in handy when anyone is dealing with lung diseases, such as bronchitis or whooping cough. It contains marrubiin, which is a natural expectorant. Combined with the natural anti-inflammatory properties of the herb, this makes for an excellent natural remedy for any lung ailment. White horehound grows in the Mediterranean but can be grown in warmer climates elsewhere, too.

Wormwood

This medicinal herb is used for a wide variety of ailments, including pain from muscle cramps. It’s also the main ingredient in absinthe but is a fairly mild hallucinogen. You can also smoke wormwood to get rid of headaches, overall pain, and rheumatism. It has a pleasant flavor to it, so you don’t usually need much to flavor it.

Once you’ve chosen your herbs from this list, you can mix up your favorites and create your very own blends. You may be surprised at how many wonderful combinations you can come up with. If you’ve only used herbs in salves, teas, and tinctures up until now, it may be time to take things to the next level.

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