Brown Bear Herbs' Herbal Smoking Blends

Photographer: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz Subject: Verbascum thapsus in Żelisławiec near Szczecin, NW Poland
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Herbal Smoking Blends and Their Uses, Interview with England's NIMH
Below is my recent interview with Alison Morton of England's National Institute of Medical Herbalists regarding the smoking herbs. National Institute of Medical Herbalists, or NIMH, is England's primary professional organization for clinical herbalists. I loved making this across the pond connection and learning more about this organization of herbalists.  As I always say my herbal smoking blends are a risk-reduction method for tobacco cessation. Occasional smoking of non-addictive herbs is far better than habitual consumption of addictive, chemical filled cigarettes (produced by big tobacco). Our herbal smoking blends are made with organic and/or wildcrafted (and tested) herbs. This article appeared in their Spring 2024 edittion of their Power of Plants magazine. Learn more about England's National Institute of Medical Herbalists here.  
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Smoking Lavender, Gentle and Protective
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Smoking Lavender, Gentle and Protective
Lavender is a peaceful, harmonizing herb to smoke. Lavender is our Gentle and Protective herbal smoking blend. Lavender is an adaptogen which means it helps your body manage stress. If you are anxious lavender tends to relax you. If you are depressed it tends to lift your mood. Gentle and Protecitve is a wonderful smoking blend for when you are feeling emotionally or psychically overwhelmed.  Lavender smokes smells so beautiful, making the second hand smoke a pleasurable incense.  
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Video: Damiana and Rose--Herbs in Sexy Smokes for Sensual, Loving Experiences this Valentine's Day
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Video: Damiana and Rose--Herbs in Sexy Smokes for Sensual, Loving Experiences this Valentine's Day
Damiana is a traditional aphrodisiac that has historically been used for many sexual issues including nerves!, performance anxiety, premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, and getting back into the saddle after negative experiences. Rose helps make sure that the heart is part of the sensual connection!   Damiana and rose are in my Sexy Smokes herbal smoking blend along with blackberry leaf, hibiscus, and mullein. Due to the centering, connective nature of these herbs, I hear of people that have gotten off of porn using Sexy Smokes. That is a win for mutual respect and human connection. :)
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Video: Herbs for Artists
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Video: Herbs for Artists
This video looks at our herbal formulas that support artists and creatives. I'm Lily Arati Michaud the herbalist and founder of Brown Bear Herbs. I am also an artist so these are fun products for me too.   Artist's Dream Tea (for better dreams and creative blocks) Starts at 13 seconds. Color Wheel (inspired vision flower and gem essence) starts at 3 min 18 seconds.  Clear Mind Herbal Smoking Blend (focus, creatives who smoke while they work) starts at 4 min 52 seconds. Sexy Smokes Herbal Smoking Blend (sensual creative work!) Starts at 6 min 36 seconds. 
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Clear Mind Herbal Cigarettes--We hear these help with ADHD
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Clear Mind Herbal Cigarettes--We hear these help with ADHD
    Clear Mind herbal smoking blend is one of our lightest blends (Gentle and Protective is also super light). Clear Mind herbal cigarettes are formulated to support writers and creatives who smoke while they work. This blend is non-habit forming and provides a lower-risk smoking option than tobacco. Many of our clients have reported that this blend helps with ADHD and anxiety. If your anxiety is more of the too many thoughts, mental type, I recommend Clear Mind. Purchase here.  If your anxiety manifests as physical tension, try Take it Easy. Click here to purchase now. If you tend towards emotional overwhelm or psychic overwhelm, Gentle and Protective has a reputation for being soothing and comforting. Buy here. 
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The Social, our herbal smoking blend for social smokers and the music scene.
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The Social, our herbal smoking blend for social smokers and the music scene.
    Watch the Video: I think of the herbs in this blend as a team of social lubricants. Go yerba santa, California poppy, and violet :)   Use this one if you are being social and/or dealing with peer pressure or are struggling with drug and alcohol use.  This smoking blend has limited availability! Some of the herbs are hard to come by. So grab it when you can. Find it here when it is in stock.
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New Video on Using Take it Easy herbal cigarettes for Quitting Tobacco
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New Video on Using Take it Easy herbal cigarettes for Quitting Tobacco
  New video on our Take it Easy herbal cigarettes. This herbal smoking blend was formulated to make tobacco and nicotine withdrawal easier! This herbal cigarette is grounding, great for work break smoking, and can even help with headaches with associated neck tension. This herbal smoking blend contains organic and/or wildcrafted mullein, lobelia, skullcap, catnip, and rose. Lobelia interacts with the same neurotransmitters as nicotine but is not addictive. It helps ease cravings for nicotine. Mullein has historically been smoked for lung support and is in all of our herbal cigarettes to help support your lungs as you quit smoking tobacco. Skullcap and catnip are relaxing and help with the irritablity that often accompanies nicotine withdrawal. Rose is soothing to heart energy which is often damaged by chronic, habitual smoking.
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This image of a devil and angel baby both smoking a cigarette comes from Faith Boxx at Teepublic. I have added "Big tobacco companies" near the devil and "Brown Bear Herbs" near the angel baby.
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Are Herbal Cigarettes Okay for You? Brown Bear Herbs vs Big Tobacco
Smoking herbs has historically been integrated into many cultures in a balanced way. According to the American Lung Association, "There are approximately 600 ingredients in (big tobacco) cigarettes. When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemicals." Herbal cigarettes offer a risk-reduction method for quitting tobacco. You can have one of our additive-free herbal cigarettes while you break your addiction to tobacco. The herbs in the blends can support you with your stress responses. Read the full blog post:
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Lady Luck Herbal Smoking Blend is Back!
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Lady Luck Herbal Smoking Blend is Back!
Our luckiest herbal smoking blend is back! Each Lady Luck pack is filled with herbs that have been historically used to improve luck. And...each pack purchase makes a charitable donation to help spread the luck. Lady Luck Vibes: 
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Grounding with Take It Easy
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Grounding with Take It Easy
Our Take it Easy herbal smoking blend was made to ease withdrawal symptoms from nicotine. It is our most grounding herbal smoking blend, which is probably why it helps so much when nerves are irritated and tension is high for those first days off tobacco.  I love this blend for getting out of my head after a frustrating day. It tends to drop those shoulders and help dial back the steam coming out of your ears. Try it next time you are frustrated at work, or if you need to wind down before bed. Off-label use tip: try Take It Easy for headaches related to neck problems. If it is going to work for you, you will know within a minute or so. :)
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Addiction & Community: Joyful Networks Reduce Addiction-Based Behaviors
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Addiction & Community: Joyful Networks Reduce Addiction-Based Behaviors
Our 7/3/23 newsletter. Scroll to the footer to subscribe. This newsletter announces our new blog on Community Building here. "Rat Park": Lessons on Community & Joyful Living In the 1970's Dr Bruce Alexander did some studies on rats and addiction. He found that rats placed alone in a cage with a choice of water or water and drugs (cocaine or heroine) (and nothing else) would take drugs repeatedly until they died. If instead they were placed in a stimulating environment with other rats, still with access to the same substances, they did not use them very much.* I am not into animal studies! But, one of my favorite discoveries came from a study where bunnies were force-fed high-fat diets. One group of bunnies had really positive health outcomes. What was the difference? Their researcher for that group of bunnies couldn't help but pet and love on them when they were feeding them. Love is strong medicine! According to an article on this rabbit love study in the New York Post, "Chronic loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, heavy alcohol use or obesity, as reported by a 2010 study in PLOS Medicine." Read it here. Yikes!  Both studies really motivate one towards holistic living. Our bodies are not machines, and our relationships are vital to our well-being. I have started a new, ongoing, blog about community building which has long been a passion of mine. According to the US surgeon general as many as half of adults are feeling lonely and like their existence has little meaning. For humans, having a fun and interesting life is also great for managing or avoiding falling into addiction. So, after you master your tobacco addiction, or whatever journey brought you here, stay connected to Brown Bear Herb to learn about healthier living, including understanding how your sense of community can be improved. This will help you and your people have better, healthier lives! Read my latest post here.  Let's work together to feel more connected. Please connect. I would love to share your resources about community building. If you are interested in doing work with herbs in your community, I can facilitate that through my position at Herbalists Without Borders. Have a great day! Arati     Balancing Family & Profession During This Moon This full moon is in Capricorn on July 3rd. This astro report takes you through the next two weeks, til just prior to the full moon in Cancer on 7/17/23. This full moon is likely to increase any sense of stress between the demands of family (Cancer, the current sun and Mercury placement) and that of your professional life (Capricorn, where the moon & Pluto are). You are likely to be communicating about it with Mercury along for the ride. Jupiter in Taurus supports the full moon bringing the potential for big positive shifts. The ruler of Capricorn is in Pisces, in retrograde. The aspect is also supportive. The energies will be best utilized for structuring areas related to secrets, sorrows, and self-sabotage (in the family/work arenas). Reflect on unsightly situations, things you may not want to admit (like addictions and undermining behaviors of all kinds), and be prepared to do the work to clear things up. Use the next two weeks to figure out ways to release or reduce these problems. There is also quite a bit of tension between Mars and Venus in firey Leo and Uranus in Taurus for another week. These two energies feel chaotic together. The tension eases by the tenth.  To best use this time, find creative expression. Do some sort of art project or performance. Otherwise, you might find your self-expression (in the form of arguments or other communications) met with unsettling resistance.  
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How to Quit Smoking Tobacco with our Organic Herbal Smoking Blends
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How to Quit Smoking Tobacco with our Organic Herbal Smoking Blends
Guide to quitting tobacco with Brown Bear Herbs herbal smoking blend: Step 1: Understand when and why you smoke. This will help you pick the best smoking blend(s). Step 2: Choose your pack--will you like filtered smokes or our classics? Step 3: Anticipate how many packs you will need. Plan to get down to 2 of our cigarettes a day within a day or two. Step 4: Congratulate yourself for breaking your addiction! Make sure to keep a pack or two of your favorite Brown Bear Herbs organic herbal smoking blends on hand for difficult or tempting times so you don't start smoking tobacco again.
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Herbalism, Air Quality, Asthma, & Renewal
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Herbalism, Air Quality, Asthma, & Renewal
A discussion of herbs for lung health to remind you that in spite of air quality issues, you can have healthy lungs. I look at stories of healing including my father getting off of hospice with Easter Lily flower essence. I also share a couple stories of healing asthma and pneumonia with the herbs mullein, cardomom, and grindelia. Herbs, including smoking mullein have a long history of being used to heal and support our lungs. Don't despair when air conditions are poor. Find herbal allies to support your lungs and work and make decisions for a more sustainable future. My work focuses on helping people go from smoking as a form of enslavement to empowerment by harnessing plant medicine and releasing addiction. But I also do individual herb consultations.
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Clear Mind for Anxiety and ADHD
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Clear Mind for Anxiety and ADHD
If you are a tobacco or marijuana smoker and have anxiety or ADHD, try our Clear Mind organic herbal smoking blend.  Our smoking blends are non-addictive and the herbs in them address the underlying reasons why people smoke. I see from our reviews that many people with ADHD and anxiety symptoms find relief from smoking Clear Mind. Clear Mind is also great for creatives who smoke while they work and mj fans who want to feel clearer but not sped up or jittery from stimulents.
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Layers of the Aura from Forever Conscious
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Smoke Carries Wishes to The Spirit
How do we connect to Spirit through the physical world?  Spirit permeates the physical. When our auric field (picture above) is strong we feel connected to spirit. Spirit is not just far off in the heavens, it is around and in each of us. The same is true for plants, animals, minerals...the Earth. We put energy into the things we make, touch, and use. Even our ideas and emotions carry our energy.  With the new moon in Taurus (enjoying the physical world) and Jupiter (mental expansion and spiritual inquiry) in Taurus, now is the perfect time find the spiritual in the physical. 
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Newsletter: Smoking Flowers and the Solar Eclipse in Aries
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Newsletter: Smoking Flowers and the Solar Eclipse in Aries
Here in Portland, Oregon the trees lining the streets and gardens are filled with blossoms. As hard as life can get, when I see all those flowers, the sense of renewal and magic is real. Flowers are a particularly potent part of a plant. Their energy has emotional and energetic healing properties. We use many flowers in our smoking blends: rose, lavender, hibiscus, linden, and violet, to name a few.   Plus, a rare hybrid solar eclipse in Aries. This one will have long lasting affects for many, it does depend on your natal astrology (birth chart).
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Guerrilla Puffs
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Guerrilla Puffs
  I made this smoking blend when Trump was first elected. There was a lot of panic happening. A couple of my friends moved out of the country. We were all worried what would happen. I started to see people slip into political apathy. This would not do!  I wanted to make a smoking blend that would help people stay engaged politically and not get overwhelmed. I had an image in my mind's eye about activists plotting in a room filled with tobacco smoke. I was thinging of all the herbs that would love to make the world a better place! Hello, climate change is real and plants don't have voting rights (nettles?) or arms to throw bricks (dandelion!?).   So I started researching plants to help with the impacts of mass hysteria and the ability stay action-oriented. To test the herbs my team would watch the news before smoking. We landed on this beautiful balance of organic and/or wildcrafted red clover, mullein leaf and flower, calendula, lemon balm, and holy basil (tulsi).  Click here to watch my video with more information. I hope that you will take Angela Davis' messages and these plants to heart and get up and fight for the rights of our people. Who are our people? The inhabitants of this planet. We all need access to healthcare, housing, food and body sovereignty. Currently, the rights of women and children are under siege, globally and very much so in the US. Everyone in sympathy is needed to bring us to a fair, responsible future.  We cannot advance as a global culture while simultaneously undermining over half of our population.  Lots of love, Arati from our March 15, 2023 newsletter
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Herbs for Aura Health
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Herbs for Aura Health
Arati is discussing herbs for a strong energetic field. Yarrow, St. John's Wort, Devil's Club and more.
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Quit Smoking Tobacco with Herbs. Recognize Your Emotions
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Quit Smoking Tobacco with Herbs. Recognize Your Emotions
New Video! Learn which smoking blends/herbs will be helpful for you on your journey to transform smoking and quit smoking tobacco. Want to try a few herbal cigarette varieties? Our smoke sampler, My New Ciggies, is fun. Try five herbal smoking blends, or have the variety to share with friends.   She is discussing increasing awareness of our emotions, so we can increase decision-making time. This gives us more opportunity to make good decisions, rather than falling into unhealthy coping patterns, like addictions. When we have self-assessment time, we can choose to smoke healthier substances that address our needs, engage in yoga, text a friend, or do something else self-nurturing, rather than self-limiting. Meditiation is a great tool for increasing the space between emotion and reaction. She gives basic meditation instructions in this video too.
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Tobacco Flower essence for Quitting Tobacco?
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Tobacco Flower essence for Quitting Tobacco?
I find flower and gem essences to be very helpful for emotional and mental concerns. One major thing I have learned working with herbs for 20+ years is the importance of using the entire plant. If you develop side effects or allergies to an herb you can't or won't avoid, try using another part of the plant. Tobacco flower essence is known for helping with tobacco & marijuana dependency. 
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Grounding Herbs
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Grounding Herbs
Take it Easy, Sexy Smokes and Astral in Body are all grounding smokes that work very differently! Take it Easy is wonderful if you have tension around your shoulders, neck and/or head. The herbs tend to relax that area, including dropping you out of your brain. As an alternative to tobacco, it is a great smoke for easing work frustrations, or to clear your head before bed. Sexy Smokes herbs are excellent at bringing your energy into the sensual realm. If you have trouble being too mental or goal focused with sexy time, this blend is great for helping you enjoy the moment. I wouldn't say it is hard to get mental like Take it Easy, you just have other things to focus on. Also it is helpful for improving confidence, which makes it fun to smoke during creative or social times. I think this has a connection with anxiety and mental agitation. It is hard to be too worried when you are feeling confident!  Astral in Body might be an unexpected option for a "grounding" smoke. Socially this blend is a bit of a wild card. However as a solo smoke, when the moon is full or in a difficult sign for you, it is grounding and centering. It tends to bring your awareness to the energy around your body and bring your energy downwards. If you are looking for a slightly eccentric herb experience, while learning more about your body's energy...I would choose Astral.  In general, I find that most herbal aphrodisiacs, herbs for reproductive and lower digestive tract health are grounding. Some examples available on our website include: Lady's Thumb,  ASMR tincture, & Black Cohosh.  Nervines like skullcap, in our Mother's Little Helper tea, are helpful at soothing frayed nerves.  Energetic boundary healing through herbs like yarrow (in Astral in Body herbal cigarettes and Blood and Boundaries herbal bath), St. John's Wort, and Devil's Club is another approach, if you are feeling overly sensitive to the world around you.  Many black gemstones, like black tourmaline, are also very grounding.  I encourage you to learn about different tools for grounding and see what feels best for you. I think one of the most beautiful and powerful things that we can do is share our experiences. So, as you learn, please share too.  Arati
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Herbs for Back Support
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Herbs for Back Support
In this video, I discuss my Back Support tincture for lower back issues, like nerve pain and bulging discs. Valerian for muscle spasm, True Solomon's Seal (made properly from the fresh root!) for ligament adjustment, whether too tight or too loose.   Also, Take it Easy herbal smoking blend (you can also drink the loose herbs as a tea) is often helpful for headaches with a neck components that is twisty--like asymmetrical whiplash or a waking with a kinked neck. Black Cohosh tincture is more suited for symmetrical whiplash.  All herbs mentioned above are available on this site!  
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