The Healing Properties of Incense Burners
Incense has had a beautiful relationship with spirituality for centuries. As a spiritual experience rejuvenates your mind and body, incense stimulates your senses and enhances them. That is why, since ancient times, people have used burning incense to perform rituals, meditation, worship, and Yoga.
If you have begun your spiritual journey just recently or are well into it and looking to take it a step further, burning incense at home might be a good idea. Wondering why we say that? Check out some healing properties of incense burners, their spiritual benefits, and much more below!
Incense and Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is an age-old healing method that uses aromatics derived from natural elements like plants. It aims to heal the mind, body, and spirit all at once by stimulating one's sense of smell. While it has existed for many years in some Asian countries, it has started gaining popularity in the rest of the world quite recently.
Aromatherapy uses a variety of aromatics, including burning incense. The incense used by Aromatherapists usually contains some essential oils. Common scents include cinnamon, rose, eucalyptus, lemongrass, sandalwood, frankincense, lavender, patchouli, chamomile, etc.
Aromatherapy can give you a calm soul, focused mind, enhanced senses, soothed body, and increased energy. So it truly has myriad benefits. But with so many benefits come several misconceptions and a tonne of misinformation. To know what these myths are, keep reading!
Aromatherapy Myths To Stay Away From
1. Aromatherapy Can Cure Any Disease Naturally
If this one were true, it would indeed be a magical treatment. But it's not! No genuine aromatherapist will ever claim to cure a disease simply with Aromatherapy. They'll simply tell you that aromatherapy is an alternative care and relief method for many diseases.
For example, sandalwood and lavender essential oils or incense can alleviate your stress and anxiety and make you calmer, focused, and spiritually grounded. But they can never cure conditions like depression or anxiety disorder.
2. You Can Never Have Any Bad Effects From Aromatherapy
Just because it's natural doesn't mean it doesn't have any side effects whatsoever.
Many people are allergic to certain essential oils. Moreover, these oils can have potent drug interactions too. Excessive or unmonitored consumption of essential oils is dangerous.
If you're unfamiliar with safety guidelines concerning essential oils, it's a good idea to consult a certified aromatherapist or physician before using them.
3. Anyone Can Perform Aromatherapy
While aromatherapy isn't medicine, performing it at home by yourself may not be wise.
A certified aromatherapist has a profound knowledge of different incense and when to use them. They also know all safety guidelines and will never subject you to harm.
So whenever you seek aromatherapy, prefer visiting a licensed aromatherapist instead of doing it yourself.
However, remember that burning incense to enhance your home's atmosphere and make it fragrant or for worship/meditation is wonderful. You can buy an incense burner and your favourite scented incense sticks or cones and light them up whenever you wish to enter the world of aromatherapy.
Spiritual Healing Properties of Incense
Up until now, you've learned quite a bit about the physical and mental healing properties of incense and its relation to aromatherapy. But if you're wondering what kind of spiritual healing different incense can bring about, read on!
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is a yellowish-brown wood derived from Santalum trees. These woods have a flowery scent and are considered highly sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and several other Asian religions. Many Hindus prefer to burn sandalwood incense because they believe it brings them closer to God.
The Indian alternative medicine branch called Ayurveda also believes in sandalwood's spiritual and physiological healing properties. When inhaled, the warm, creamy, woody scent can bring about relaxation and boost energy.
Frankincense
Frankincense is another popular incense used frequently by Aromatherapists for its healing qualities. Derived from the Boswellia tree, it is an aromatic resin with many medicinal properties.
Burning frankincense releases a psychoactive compound that acts as a mood-lifter. It eliminates stress, anxiety, and tension and can even be effective against depression. In aromatherapy, frankincense sticks or coils are burned to bring mental peace and increased spiritual energy.
Frankincense spiritual benefits are acknowledged by many religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism.
Sambrani, a type of frankincense highly popular in Asia, is used for its earthy and woody fragrance. Burning Sambrani incense indoors can make one feel like they are outdoors. In other words, it brings the atmosphere of the outdoors into your home.
Lavender
Lavender incense is highly popular amongst Aromatherapists because of its stress and pain-relief properties. Moreover, it increases focus and calmness, which makes it perfect for when you're meditating.
If you're feeling restless and stressed, lighting lavender-based incense can soothe your mind and provide you with the perfect atmosphere to internalise the divine.
Incense burning holds various spiritual significance for different people. Some believe that incense smoke carries their prayer to the heavens.
Others see incense ash as a symbolism of how our bodies are mortal and turn to dirt after death, while just like the fragrance, the virtues and karma of a soul remain alive.
One other significant spiritual healing property of incense comes from its relation to Chakras.
Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means "wheels". It refers to centres of energy within the human body. The body is believed to have seven chakras, all at the site of some large bundle of nerves or a significant organ.
Keeping these chakras balanced and open is crucial to spiritual and mental health. Aromatherapists often use a different kind of incense to balance the chakras.
- To balance the root chakra, which is the base of all other chakras, frankincense, benzoin, and Angelica root incense is very effective.
- The sacral chakra, the source of creativity and healthy sexual desire, gets balanced well by Bergamot, Neroli, and cardamom.
- For the solar plexus chakra, which is associated with self-respect and identity, cinnamon, clove, and cedarwood incense are great.
- The heart chakra is responsible for love and relationships. To keep it balanced, incense made of jasmine, cypress, and geranium is amazing.
- Communication is crucial to success, both personal and professional. The throat chakra, associated with communication, can be balanced effectively using basil, chamomile, and cypress incense.
- The third eye chakra, linked with memory, intelligence, and wisdom, can be stimulated and balanced using angelica root and sandalwood incense.
- Finally, the crown chakra, which dictates our sense of reality, superiority, and inferiority, responds positively to cedarwood, frankincense, and galbanum incense.
Therefore, burning the right incense can heal your soul and make you perfectly balanced. It can aid your spiritual journey, making it all the more enjoyable. It can truly heal you inside and out.