When most of us think of lavender, luscious purple buds probably come to mind, and lavender is known for its deeply calming aroma and relaxing effects and is often used to infuse bath salts, essential oils, or lavender tea infusions. While the idea of smoking lavender may be a bit foreign, there are plenty of reasons to consider smoking this versatile plant. Not only does it have an extraordinary fragrance, but it also has unique healing properties. Is there any harm in smoking Lavender? Let’s take a look at the influence of lavender smoking.
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What Is Lavender?
Lavender is a small flowering shrub with fragrant purple flowers that belongs to the mint family. Lavender grows naturally in Mediterranean mountains and North Africa, but today it is grown all over the world due to its widespread use.
Lavender oil is a common ingredient in aromatherapy, and dried lavender flowers are used to make medicinal teas. Many body care products, hair care products, cleaning products, and fragrances contain lavender extract.
What Does Smoking Lavender Do?
Lavender is an herb that has long been a soothing herb with a variety of benefits, such as helping with stress, depression, anxiety, and pain. Whether drank as tea or using lavender essential oil in aromatherapy, lavender is an excellent herb to relieve stress and promote relaxation.
Much of the soothing effects of lavender can be attributed to its primary terpene, linalool. Terpenes are organic compounds that affect the smell, taste, and even color of plants. Linalool is the natural scent of lavender, which is famous for what provides the calming and healing properties of lavender.
Smoking lavender allows the terpenes in lavender, such as linalool, to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream. This way people can benefit from lavender’s many health benefits more quickly. Also, when you smoke a vanilla-like lavender, your home will be filled with the wonderful aroma of lavender, like incense, creating a calm and relaxing environment in your home.
Is It OK To Smoke Lavender
The simple answer is yes. It’s perfectly fine to smoke lavender and reap some of the benefits of using this herb.
Although we do want to show that smoking in general is an unhealthy habit. If you happen to be addicted to tobacco, smoking lavender may help kick the habit. Plus, combining it with other herbs like chamomile, rose, or cannabis helps create a more powerful herbal blend with multiple health benefits.
Smoking Lavender Pros and Cons
Pros:
You can smoke lavender in a dry herb sucker, or roll it into a cigarette. If you have fresh lavender you can smoke it, if you don’t buy dried you just need to dry it first. Lavender is nicotine free
Anyone who has tried to quit smoking will tell you that quitting smoking is never easy. This is because regular cigarettes are made from tobacco, which contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance. However, smoking lavender means you don’t have any addictive substances.
Additionally, the withdrawal symptoms that develop after quitting can cause anxiety and depression in quitters, and smoking lavender can help relieve that anxiety and calm your mood.
- You won’t get drunk if you smoke it
While some people like to be excited, others would rather not be excited. So while smoking lavender will give you a relaxing feeling, it won’t have any psychoactive effects. That means it won’t get you excited.
- it has a soothing effect
The best part about lavender is its calming properties. When you smoke, your body absorbs terpenes, like linalool, which have calming and anti-anxiety properties. This help promote relaxation and elevate the user’s mood.
But remember, when smoking lavender, use the flower or plant form, not a lavender essential oil. Smoking or inhaling essential oils, even natural ones, is not safe.
- Reduce anxiety and stress
Over the years, several studies have examined the anxiety-reducing properties of lavender. These studies have shown that lavender, whether inhaled or taken orally, can help reduce anxiety levels.
- Improve sleep quality
Lavender has been used to improve sleep quality since ancient Greece for its natural calming properties. Additionally, several studies have shown that lavender can improve mild sleep disturbances, helping people sleep better, and longer, and wake up feeling refreshed.
- Manage Depression
Although there is not much research on lavender for depression. Some promising research has observed lavender as a complementary treatment for depression.
Cons:
- Lavender is bad for pets
While lavender may be relaxing for humans, it isn’t for pets like cats and dogs. Lavender contains linalool and linalool acetate, which are toxic to cats and dogs if inhaled or eaten.
How To Smoke Lavender With A Dry Herb Vaporizer
As mentioned above, there is some promising evidence for the benefits of inhaling lavender using steam. Like inhalation therapy, hay sucking also allows you to inhale beneficial compounds deep into your lungs without the irritation and inflammation associated with smoke.
Instead of burning dried herbal material, a vaporizer heats the plant material in a chamber that releases its active ingredients in the form of steam rather than smoke. There is no spicy smell and no toxins from the burning of the flames in the experience.
Hay sprayers are designed to handle dry plant products such as lavender buds. DynaVap has a range of hay vaporizers, such as the Omni range, which are very easy to use, portable, discreet, and super efficient.
If you’re curious about smoking lavender with a hay sprayer, here are some ways to do it.
- For best results, grind lavender. You can use the DynaVap device’s built-in grinder or your favorite grinder. The grinding level (fine or coarse) may depend on the evaporator. For example, conduction vaporizers perform better with fine grinding, while convection vaporizers perform better with coarse grinding. If in doubt, do a moderate grind. Herbs can also be mixed – if you want to mix a little, add another optional botanical to personalize your herbal mix. Hair protein, red raspberry leaves, or damiana make a great fluffy base. Peppermint, basil, or rosemary all provide strong flavors. Get creative!
- Fill the vaporizer with the ground mixture. Conductive vaporizers should be filled to the top and tightly packed. Convective or hybrid evaporators are the opposite – they should be packed loosely and then lightly pressed into the oven parts so that they are flush with the edges.
- Heat the DynaVap hay vaporizer until you hear a click. DynaVap vaporizers work without batteries or electronics. Any heat source like a butane lighter torch will work.
- Breathe in and enjoy! Once your vaporizer reaches the desired temperature, get ready for your first hit! Slowly, deeply inhale for about 7 to 10 seconds, then exhale gently.
- Turn off the power and clean your uppers. Let the device cool for a few minutes. If you want to save some lavender for later, it’s best to keep it. If you run out of lavender, grab a cleaning brush and gently remove the used material from the oven while it’s still hot. This prevents any oil or residue from sticking to the oven, so you don’t have to deep clean as often.
Conclusion
We hope this guide to lavender and other smokable herbs was useful to you. If you’re looking for a way to quit smoking, lavender can be a relaxing, satisfying option.