4 ms·

Good thing I just smoke cigars. I've found they mellow out me after a long, hard day. Maybe it's the atmosphere in which I immerse myself... on my patio, liste

• King-Aaron 5y ago
  It'll certainly be the atmosphere that's primarily calming you, however I recall reading years ago (so don't quote me) about the catch-22 of smoking. When you're smoking - or rather in the breaks between smoking - the vascular system undergoes hypertension, which then is marginally reduced by the relaxation that another hit of nicotine provides. So your baseline 'stress' increases as a result of smoking, and having another cigarette/cigar temporarily reduces that. So the net effect of not smoking plus your relaxing environment would be more relaxing without the cigars in the first place.
  • eurasiantiger 5y ago
    That has nothing to do with nicotine and everything to do with monoamine oxidase inhibitors in tobacco smoke.
  • disgruntledphd2 5y ago
    > When you're smoking - or rather in the breaks between smoking - the vascular system undergoes hypertension, which then is marginally reduced by the relaxation that another hit of nicotine provides. So your baseline 'stress' increases as a result of smoking, and having another cigarette/cigar temporarily reduces that. So the net effect of not smoking plus your relaxing environment would be more relaxing without the cigars in the first place. This theory was popularised by Allen Carr in his Easy Way to Stop Smoking (or at least that's where I heard it, and the book was published in the early 80s).