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Cannabis is an amazing plant with many strains that help you achieve different kinds of highs, but did you know that adding smokable herbs to your weed could really up your smoking game?

Herbal smoking blends allow you to craft a more targeted experience and inhale with intention.

Cannabis companion plants are herbs with certain properties that pair nicely with weed, and can personalize your joint or bowl to suit your needs.

If you’re interested in a more intentional smoking experience, here are three herbal recipes to enhance your high:

"Keep Things Moving" Herbal Smoking Blend

Many indica strains and strains high in CBD are known to be both mentally and physically calming.

But sometimes if you smoke too much you may find yourself feeling a little weighed-down or “couched.” 

The herb damiana (Turnera diffusa) can help with this. Damiana emanates a warm and fuzzy body high which helps to counteract the “couched” effect of CBD.

This herb gently disperses warmth and gets blood moving to the periphery and surface of your body.

Damiana is also an aphrodisiac, increasing blood flow in the pelvis and boosting sensitivity down there, which is another plus!

Along with these physical effects, damiana lightens the spirit and motivates the mind.

Adding damiana to your weed or CBD hemp flower can enliven a dreary day and help shake a heavy, down-in-the-dumps mood.

Recipe:

Keep Things Moving Herbal Smoking Blend

Ingredients:

- 1 part cannabis

- 1 part damiana

Directions:

Simply grind both herbs together and enjoy via your smoking method of choice! 

"Stay Grounded"  Herbal Smoking Blend

Sativa strains are great for directing your energy upwards for mentally invigorating activities and creative projects.

Sativas and strains high in THC can be very uplifting, but if you lift off a little too much you may find yourself spacing-out and unable to focus.

To counter this, try mixing wood betony and dried rose petals with your weed.

Wood betony (Stachy officinalis) is a grounding herb that helps reseat you in your body. Adding wood betony to your smoke is like throwing an anchor down – you can get high with the peace of mind that you won’t float too far away.

Rose petals (Rosa damascena) pair well in a smoke recipe with wood betony. In addition to adding a nice floral flavor and scent, rose helps cool you down if you find yourself getting a little too heated.

Rose’s gentle psychological effect calms and brings back comfort in stressful situations. Rose is also known to be helpful for easing feelings of loneliness, especially when paired with wood betony.

Recipe: 

Stay Grounded Herbal Smoking Blend

Ingredients: 

- 2 parts cannabis

- 1 part wood betony

- ½ part rose petals (dried)

Directions:

Grind cannabis and wood betony together. Add mixture to your rolling papers or bowl. Lightly crush and sprinkle rose petals on top with your fingers, and enjoy!

"Drift Off To Dreamworld"  Herbal Smoking Blend

Unwinding with weed at the end of a long, stressful day is great, but sometimes your worries can’t help but stick around once you’re high.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) and passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) are two favorite herbs for bedtime blends, and are often referred to by herbalists as “S & P” because they work together as well as salt and pepper.

Both skullcap and passionflower can help quiet circular, repetitive, and obsessive thoughts that can keep us up at night.

Passionflower also has a sleep-inducing effect if you’re behind on your sleep. 

Lavender (Lavandula spp.) is another great herb for nighttime blends. Its terpene profile targets the nervous system to help ease tension, physical discomfort, and stress.

Lavender is a fantastic cannabis companion, especially with indica strains, since a synergistic, or entourage effect, between the two magnifies their tension-dissolving properties.

When smoked before bed, the herb mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) increases the intensity of your dreaming experience and improves dream recall.

You know how when you’ve been smoking weed for awhile and then you stop, your dreams are crazy?

That’s because cannabis suppresses rapid eye movement or REM sleep which is responsible for the intense dreams we tend to remember, but mugwort can bring your dreams back!

It also reduces waking up in the middle of the night, which disrupts your sleep cycles.

Recipe: 

Dreamworld Herbal Smoking Blend

Ingredients:

– 2 parts cannabis

– 1 part mugwort

– 1 part lavender

– ½ part skullcap

– ½ part passionflower

Directions:

Grind cannabis, mugwort, skullcap, and passionflower together. Mix whole lavender flowers into the ground blend, and add to your rolling papers or bowl.

“Pulse dosing” is recommended for sleep blends: take a puff every 20 minutes during the hour before bed.

Caution: Passionflower is contraindicated for people taking beta-blockers.

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This blog post was originally written for and published on Miss Marijuana, and has since been edited.

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.