Why Does a Wee Pipe Relax Us?

The preparation, packing, lighting, and ember tending is a meditative practice. Welcome to Zen brother.

Might be the repetition and cadence of smoking. I can get a nice rythym going for a hour or however long the pipe lasts. Not to mention being alone with your pipe and thoughts.
Interesting what you say about nicotine. I agree there's more to it than just the vitamin N. I get in that contemplative mood whether it's a low or high nic blend, and Snus never did the same thing even though it's packed with nicotine.

Part of it is the nicotine, part is the ritual and forced slowness, part is the continual oral gratification, and part I'm sure is the power of suggestion.

I think it is all of the above. The Zen aspect, the ritual keeping, the solitude, the breathing and of course the nicotine.
fordm60 - I don't know how often you changed out your dip, but, way back when I wouldn't leave it longer than 30 minutes before I felt it was depleting. Maybe that has something to do with it. It has been a LONG time and I might not remember accurately. ::

First off, great choice in thread topic. I'm excited to see what people have to say on this one!

YMMV, but I think chasingembers has the right idea. The pipe smoking culture--or at the very least the culture found on this forum--tends to ritualize the processes involved in smoking.

From selecting a pipe and a blend...

to packing the bowl...

to putting a flame to the leaf...

to tasting the smoke...

to cleaning the pipe and readying it for its next use, the smoker is encouraged to slow down and maintain a certain mindfulness throughout the experience. It's meditative. Many folks around here will likely attest to the fact that smoking while in the wrong state of mind (in a hurry, worried, preoccupied, etc.) has a distinct negative impact. Heck, even washing the dishes can be therapeutic when approached in the same manner as pipe smoking! But dirty dishes don't smell or taste as good. ::

For those of you who find a pipe relaxing I think most of it comes from the expectation that it will be. If one only smokes a pipe in a situation where one anticipates relaxing it'll happen.
Some of us may begin the process at work, looking forward to a slowing down of the day. The last meal of the day, perhaps a glass of something, settling into a comfortable chair in a stress free and quiet place (a man room, a den, creek side, the back deck, etc.). Perhaps a some music or a book help set the mood. Some people can relax with the model trains, a musical instrument or some such.
The pipe is simply part and parcel of the routine one has established to perhaps, wall off the stress of the day or do some quiet problem solving. Some may use the pipe to divert the mind by sitting and trying to detect the various flavors of a selected blend. Others work hard dissecting the pipe in their mind, is it a good smoker? A great smoker? Draw too tight? Loose? We relax by putting ourselves in a safe, comfortable place physically and mentally. Many relax in a warm bath.
Anything one does to divert the mind from pressing problems or the work rut will contribute to relaxing if that is the goal of the diversion. It's not the pipe, the music, the train set, etc. It's the mind set and the protection your chosen "safe" area which allows you to shed stress or pressure. The pipe is simply one of the many tools people use to achieve relaxation. The pipe itself is not endowed with any mystical powers, its role is to help in the transition, the slowing down.
And, there's always the nicotine. Acknowledge it or not, even the one pipe a week smoker is most likely, at a subconscious level, looking forward to the rewarding the brain with a bit of nicotine.

I am in the same boat as warren. I believe a lot of us go into with the expectation that we will get to calm don and relax with a pipe. "Bought the thought" is the phrase that comes to mind.

Has just the aroma been mentioned yet? Pipearoma therapy

"Why Does a Wee Pipe Relax Us?"
Well, everyone tends to feel relaxed after a wee...

Interesting, some still will always post on threads where I mention that I use my pipe to help me sleep, that their pipe use makes them antsy and jittery like a pack of cigarettes smoked in a short time would make one feel. I'm not sure that, for myself, it is the ritual or anticipation that makes me relaxed. However, regular Virginias or VaPers smoked during the day don't make me sleepy. It does relax me, for working under magnification with tiny, tiny stones, or resetting, or prong work, stuff that you need a very steady hand, I like to have a pipe in clench. But, when I smoke a strong blend, my eyes start to get droopy and I am ready to just fall asleep when I close my eyes, even when I smoke them in the middle of the day. Maybe it is pairing my smokes with endless cups of coffee during the day. And, at night I just drink water with my stronger smokes.
Heck, I don't know. Maybe it's magic. It's impossible to truly and objectively assess your own brain, but it is easy to feel the effects. I still feel like it is the way the tobacco is absorbed. I have never dipped, but could it be the amount of nicotine in the dip? Maybe it is more along the lines of a VaPer or Virginia, instead of a strong rope or the stronger burleys. I can't imagine dipping to relax for sleep. I would want to sip something before bed like water, and dip doesn't seem like it would be conducive to drinking something.

Well - these are just my thoughts about my own experience. YMMV.
I think a pipe is like a "worry stone" in that it gives me something to physically do while contemplating something else. Seldom do I just sit and smoke; I'm almost always reflecting on a topic regardless of the importance. In a way, it lets me separate physical and mental activity without the two overlapping each other.
Then there's the entire tactile experience - size, shape, texture and bowl temperature. It's a physical input for mental stimulus (even though I just said they don't overlap).
In turn, I think the slow deliberate process of pipe smoking forces us to separate from the hectic pace of the world.
::

"Pipearoma therapy." Awesome.

hobbit: Very well written.

Chasingembers basically answered it. For me it's the ritual.

nictotine, in smaller doses, both stimulates the brain and acts as a depressant, so-to-speak. When I did my research on this last year for a freshman paper, it tricks the brain by stimulating activity, yet allowing for a calming effect. Put that into a ritual of taking time, slowing down, and just sitting with your pipe/with friends or alone, it is a combination of the 2 more than likely. Quite interesting how it works, really