Nina Marta is famously minimalist when teaching beginners. She does not use a large bong or a tightly rolled cigarette. Instead, she prepared a low-resistance glass pipe with a small, loose pack of mild, dried herbal mint (a non-nicotine, low-tar training aid).
"Never teach a beginner with high-nicotine tobacco or potent cannabis," she warned the workshop observers. "You are teaching a motor skill, not intoxication. Save the potency for week two."
She demonstrated the correct flame technique:
Then, she handed the pipe to Leo.
Once the student masters the empty straw drill, Nina introduces the "Darth Vader" pause. After the student draws the mock air into their mouth, closing off the throat, they must hold it there for 3 seconds.
“Your mouth is now a smoke terrarium,” she jokes. “The smoke is resting on your tongue. It is hot. It is spicy. Do not swallow it.”
Here, Nina Marta teaching a beginner how to inhale smoking diverges from traditional advice. Most people say, "Inhale immediately." Nina says, "Wait." Why? Because the first few seconds of smoke in the mouth allow it to cool from combustion temperature (around 900°F at the cherry) to a manageable 120°F by the time it mixes with saliva and air. That pause saves the throat. nina marta teaching a beginner how to inhale smoking
"Close your lips around the straw. Do not seal them like a vacuum. Just a gentle, soft seal. Now, use your cheeks to pull a tiny puff of air into your mouth—not your lungs. Just your mouth."
Leo puffed his cheeks slightly.
"Good. That’s called the 'mouth draw.' A beginner mistakes this for inhaling. It is not. It is merely collecting."
Nina Marta: "Remove the pipe from your lips. Now, you have a mouthful of smoke. Do you feel it?"
Leo nodded, lips closed.
Nina Marta: "Open your lips slightly. Do NOT blow out. Instead, take a normal breath through your mouth, right through the smoke. Let the fresh air chase the smoke down." Nina Marta is famously minimalist when teaching beginners
This is the critical moment. Most beginners try to inhale and swallow simultaneously, which closes the epiglottis. Marta’s method separates the actions: collect first, then inhale.
Most beginners cough because they try to exhale all the smoke at once like a dragon. Nina Marta teaches the "Sailor's Exhale"—a slow, controlled leak.
She demonstrates by making a tiny "O" with her lips and letting a thin stream of smoke escape for five full seconds. “Do not push the smoke out. Do not force it. Relax your diaphragm and let the pressure of your lungs squeeze the smoke out like a tube of toothpaste from the bottom.”
This slow exhale prevents the rapid temperature change that triggers the cough reflex. When you blast smoke out, cold air rushes in behind it, shocking the bronchi. Slow release means no shock.
In a popular unlisted workshop video titled "Nina Marta Teaching a Beginner How to Inhale Smoking (No Cough Method)," Nina works with a student named Leo, a 24-year-old who has never smoked anything due to asthma anxiety.
Leo attempts his first real puff. He draws too hard, filling his mouth with dense smoke. He panics. His eyes water. Nina places her hand on his sternum. “Stay here. Do not inhale yet. Feel the smoke on your tongue. Is it burning?” Then, she handed the pipe to Leo
“Yes,” he whispers.
“Open your mouth slightly. Let 20% of it drift out. Now, close your mouth and inhale through your nose. Not your mouth.”
Nose inhale? This is another Nina Marta trick. If the smoke is still too hot for a mouth-lung inhale, inhale it through the nose. The nasal passages have more moisture and a longer pathway, cooling the smoke further. Leo inhales through his nose. His shoulders drop. He exhales through his mouth. No cough.
Leo grins. “I did it. That didn’t hurt.”
Nina Marta nods. “You didn’t smoke. You performed a controlled respiratory event.”
Marta reminded him of the half-exhale. Leo released a thin, smooth stream of grey smoke. Not a forceful blow, but a gentle sigh.
The room applauded softly.
When you finally smoke for real, time your inhale. Never inhale for longer than one second in your first week. A deep five-second inhale is for experts. You are a beginner. Be proud of the mini-puff.